A Refrigerator for Your Car??

[58limited]

Found this on ebay, never heard of them before.The seller has several, I bought one and he has sold a few more. This uses the evaporative properties of gasoline to provide cooling. Vacuum from the carb facilitates the evaporation. I T-fitting is spliced into the fuel line and runs to the fridge unit. The vacuum comes from a hose running from the carburetor to the fridge unit.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/VINT....m14&_trkparms=72:64|66:2|65:12|39:1|240:1318

 

[whirlcool]

I don't know if I would like a fuel line running in the passenger compartment of my car. Aren't there those cool or heat electric coolers that you plug into a power point?

 

[58limited]

I'm hesitant about a gas line too, but it ties into the fuel line before the fuel pump so the gas is not under pressure. If a leak were to develop when the car is running, it shouldn't leak into the interior, rather it would suck air into the main fuel line. But if the car were sitting, gravity could cause gas to leak into the interior. The installation instructions show the T fitting installed higher than the level of the gas tank to prevent this.

 

[sudsmaster]

Gasoline fueled heater

I once looked to buy a '48 Cadillac fastback sedan ("Sedanette"). It came with a gasoline fueled space heater... which fortunately was "not working". The seller said they were not uncommon, but that's the only one I know about. Had I bought the car, I probably would have made sure it was completely disconnected. As it happened, I passed on the vehicle, somewhat to my later regret, since it had such beautiful lines. But it needed a complete repaint and a new interior (someone had redone the entire interior in black vinyl... awful...)

 

[jamiel]

The Corvair also had a gasoline fueled heater...they are available aftermarket now from Webasto.

 

[hydralique]

Gasoline heaters weren't uncommon as options on air-cooled cars in the fifties and sixties. In addition to the Corvair, they were available for certain VWs and Tatras, and possibly Porsche. With a water cooled car there is plenty of heat for all but arctic conditions once the engine is warmed up providing the heater core is large enough. Air cooled engines make the same heat but since it is radiated off the cooling fins on the engine it's really hard to get it into the passenger compartment efficiently. The result is often a system that works great under high load (acceleration) but cools off really fast once the car is idling or cruising.
I once did a trip in unseasonably cold weather (5-10 degrees) from Dallas to east Texas in an old Porsche. I got so cold I ended stopping on the shoulder at regular intervals so I could pull back onto the road runing it up through the gears at full throttle so I'd feel a little heat. I would have killed for a gasoline heater!

I'm surprised that anyone would put such a heater on a '48 Cad, unless the car was operated in Alaska or was old at the time and suffered from a blocked heater core.

 

[iheartmaytag]

My Mother's '61 Corvair had a gas heater. It kept the car quite toasty. Her 65 had a manifold heater--what a waste of space. You got to breathe the smoke and fumes from the oil the little spider engine was throwing off. She didn't get to keep that car very long, however, a Wichita Policeman ran a red light and broadsided it about two months after she got it.

 

[whirlcool]

I had a Corvair back in my college days, and I know what you mean about the burning oil smell when the heater was on. I found that if you kept the engine clean from any wayward oil, it wasn't too bad.
The problem with Corvairs leaking oil were the oil dip tube seals. They'd leak and it was about $400 to replace them. A year later they would be leaking again. From what I have seen, they have been making oil resistant dip tube seals for Corvairs for some years now and they are so good that once you replace them, they are fixed for good, no more engine leaks. I was at a car show this year where the local Corvair Club came and when they left there was not one drop of oil on the ground where those cars were parked.
Quite a few VW bugs have gas heaters, but there is nobody to fix them anymore. There used to be a guy who specialized in repairing them, but he got out of the business a year ago or so. It was common to see used VW's listed with the "Gas Heater" option back in the 60's & 70's. I went shopping yesterday in my bug when it was 32F yeaterday and after I drove a few miles, the interior warmed up nicely with the standard heater. The way to keep a bug's heater system working fine is to make sure no debris gets in the air hoses/vents. I vacuum mine out once a year.

 

[revvinkevin]

A gasoline "powered" fridge for the car???

While yes it's an intriguing idea, I would NEVER want fuel lines inside of the passanger compartment of my car! Too much potential for fumes or leaks or worse, FIRE!

There are other plug-into-the-cigarette-lighter battery powered coolers / fridges (some can even heat instead of cool) available and if this was something I just had to have in my car, I would buy one of those before considering the "gas powered" type.

Yes gas powered heaters in Covairs were an option and they worked well. However, the fuel lines and heater unit itself was installed in the trunk or engine compartment, not inside of the passanger compartment. The only thing inside the car was duct work delivering the heated air.

Just my 2 cents....