Heat exchangers explained

[Welly]

Hi all,

Our recently purchased 1970 Devon does not have any Heat exchangers / heating and following a 3 1/2 hour journey home with gloves, hats , 2 jumpers etc and ice on our nose we have decided this is one of the first jobs we need to do.
The issue I have is I pretty much only just know where to put the fuel let alone fit heat exchangers etc so I need to rely on a local garage for most of any mechanical work to be done and therefore ends up pretty costly. I've today asked the guy in the garage if I can help him do any work on the van to enable me to learn a little ( not to save cash ) but he understandably is reluctant to have me around whilst he is doing the work. I have to rely on him telling me what I need etc so am looking on the web to try and get my head around how it all works. I've seen images that explain it but still struggling.
Does anyone know of any videos about of how to fit the exchangers etc. from what I can tell from pics I've seen, they connect to a muffler and then to a standard pipe?? Does this mean we can not have a modified exhaust with heat exchangers?
Sorry for sounding useless but any help would be much appreciated.

Many thanks

Paul.

 

[who?1]

Hi Paul
Get yourself a Bently manual or How to keep your Volkswagen alive, two books to get you started!

Most stuff isn't rocket science but the stuff that is, the brainiacs on here can always offer helpful advice!

 

[sparkywig]

Hope this helps.

 

[chad]

This might help

: http://myweb.tiscali.co.uk/freemefromthishell/vw/T2%20Heating.htm" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

 

[Happystamps]

Honestly-

If you don't already have heat exchangers, I'd fit an Eberspacher or Propex instead. Not that there's anything wrong with heat exchangers themselves, BUT you could spend £200 on new (aftermarket, not OE quality & heat output) heat exchangers, or you could spend £200 on a 2nd hand Eberspacher and have heat not only while driving, but also while camping or parked up.... And these heaters aren't that difficult to install, they make quite a nice "beginner" project over a couple of weekends when you can still use the van.

Or of course, you could count the pennies, find a bargainous BN4 or similar (mine was £112) and some second hand heat exchangers, and be forced to drive around starkers because it's so toasty.

 

[Welly]

Cheers all,

Think I have an idea how the system works now just unsure what the exchangers fit to. Am I right in saying that they only fit to a standard exhaust setup with silencer etc?
I think my van has J pipes ???? replacing the exchangers. If I was wanting to put exchangers on does this mean I could not fir a different exhaust setup?

 

[Happystamps]

Those stainless steel convoluted pipes- what are they attached to? It looks quite a bit like they're the exhaust and inlet for a supplementary heater....

Yes, you do have J-tubes. I do too. Nice and simple and cheap!

You CAN fit aftermarket exhausts to heat exchangers without an issue. In fact, if you can fit an aftermarket exhaust to your J-tubes, you can fit one to heat exchangers. There are a couple of really high-end exhausts that have their own J-tube section, but mostly you're good to go! Just don't fit a monza/empi 4-tip. For the love of god, don't fit a 4-tip.

 

[Welly]

http://www.justkampers.com/vw-t2-bay-window-parts/t2-bay-exhaust-parts/1600cc-exhausts-heat-exchangers/stainless-steel-single-quiet-pack-vw-t2-split-1500cc-1963-1967-vw-t2-bay-1600cc-1967-1979.html#" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

We were looking at buying this bundle kit but can't see how you would fit the exchangers to it?

 

[Marshy]

I've fitted the same system (mild steel one though) and it's easy to fit, pic below shows where the exhaust fits to the heat exchanger.

 

[Welly]

I've fitted the same system (mild steel one though) and it's easy to fit, pic below shows where the exhaust fits to the heat exchanger.

That's fantastic ,

This was exactly what I was looking for. Time to have a go myself .

Cheers.