Heater Motor Upgrade

Flash69 · Jan 30, 2005

Mark Troy...You had better hope your misses dont get on here and see your pics. You will be busted... Good job.

jbeyer · Jan 30, 2005

yeah- the correct place to do the heater box is the living room, not the kitchen.

HotWheels · Jan 30, 2005

Mark Troy said:
I no longer think about getting an aftermarket heater like the heatercraft. This is a wonderful upgrade. Thanks Hotwheels! Where'd you get the idea? Anyhoot I thought I'd add some more photos to this thread.

Glad ur happy with it. thanx for the photos. msmymy has submitted a tech with all the info that I had provided to Jon; sol ook for it shortly.

I have lotsa little techie thingsto make our broncos better. My favorite it the heater and the one for silencing the spare tire rack (cost $ .50)

mtkawboy · Jan 30, 2005

Hotwheels, are these guys saying that the high fan position draws too much for the stock altenator? That seems hard to believe, is it true?

Mark · Jan 30, 2005

mtkawboy said:
Hotwheels, are these guys saying that the high fan position draws too much for the stock altenator? That seems hard to believe, is it true?

If you've got your lights on, wipers on, heater on, then YES! When I had my stock 60 amp alternator it had a HARD time pumping air through the heater, turning the wipers, and turning my turn signals. I'm sure you've heard of the flickering light syndrom - that's due to the weak stock alternator. It sucks!
I will say that with the heater motor upgrade, even with a stock alternator (which will turn it) it will be a BIG improvement.

HotWheels · Jan 30, 2005

mtkawboy said:
Hotwheels, are these guys saying that the high fan position draws too much for the stock altenator? That seems hard to believe, is it true?

depends how tired your system is. Like anything else, it depends on what else is drawing charge.

Colo77Bronco · Jan 30, 2005

I just did the upgrade using the stock squirrel cage so I didn't have to dremel anything. I did the dremel method for a friend prior to doing mine and the stock cage, although smaller, has larger fins. I think mine puts out same if not more air and took MUCH less effort. I did put a nylon nut over the squirrel and used the stock clamp that was on it in my rig. Works great. Even easier way to do an already easy mod!

donks&broncs · Jan 30, 2005

Mark Troy said:
I call Napa up and they want $48 for the motor and $25 for the cage.
For yucks I called Advanced Auto Parts and gave them the Napa part numbers which they crossed with the following happy results
Napa blower motor # 455-1039 = Advance Auto p/n: 35587 for $20
Napa squirrel cage # 655-1406 = Advance Auto p/n: 35602 for $14

That's less than half the moolah ($$) that napa wanted.

In case you don't already know, anything you can get from advanced, checker, kragen, or shucks you can usually order online at www.partsamerica.com for even cheaper. Then select pick it up at the store, drive in, give em your reciept and walk out with your part that they already have pulled for you. It also helps keep your impulse buys down, cuase you don't have to spend much time in the store.

70 sport WA · Feb 1, 2005

Mark Troy said:
You can hook up a 9 volt battery to the motor wires to check if the motor is operational.

This may be a dumb question, but...are you talking about one of those little rectangle jobs that go in fire alarms? Are there larger 9 volt batteries out there?

Thanks! Dan

Mark · Feb 2, 2005

70 sport WA said:
This may be a dumb question, but...are you talking about one of those little rectangle jobs that go in fire alarms? Are there larger 9 volt batteries out there? Thanks! Dan

Yes Dan, the 9volt typical household battery that goes into smoke detectors will turn the motors - not at full speed, but enough to test their functionality.

HotWheels · Feb 2, 2005

Mark Troy said:
Yes Dan, the 9volt typical household battery that goes into smoke detectors will turn the motors - not at full speed, but enough to test their functionality.

Just remember to lick the battery to make sure it is good!

70 sport WA · Feb 2, 2005

HotWheels said:
Just remember to lick the battery to make sure it is good!

Thanks for the reply, Mark. And Mick, I'll tell you what you can do with that battery.... ;D

Dan

HotWheels · Feb 2, 2005

70 sport WA said:
Thanks for the reply, Mark. And Mick, I'll tell you what you can do with that battery.... ;D

Dan

Dan,

I see by your avatar you already have an idea what to do with it....

:-X

Mick

ChrisinWV · Feb 2, 2005

I wonder if the F150 motor would work.......I have an old truck out there that will likely get parted that has a new fan motor in it.......I would compare them if it was out but was just wondering if it might produce the same effects.
I would like to hear more feedback on the stock squirrel.
Is it as loud as the chebby one?
Sounds like similar results for less work.
This means there is a big difference in the motor itself.
The F150 is a 78 that I am referring to.
Kind of a pain to tear apart just to check but if it works it has a new motor and core in it.
Thanks
Chris

trailpsycho · Feb 2, 2005

ChrisWV- Check the part # on both and see if they are the same. HTH

cbfomoco · Feb 2, 2005

yep that is my suggestion too. go to you fav part stor and have them look up one for the chebby and the have them take the number and look in the book to see what else it fits. I tryed doing this but coudl not remember the chebby # when i did.

ChrisinWV · Feb 2, 2005

Well thanks for pointing out the painfully obvious guys......
Partsamerica has nice pics on their site, and clearly shows and as I recall the F150 motor is like a coffee can with a shaft comin out the end.
Not at all shaped like the chevy unit...........HOWEVER, just for kicks I typed in the 81 Granada I got sitting out here waiting to be scrapped and BINGO!!! We have a match.
*Edit* on second look they are not the same, I got my pages mixed up but they look real close and I may just try it anyway.*edit*

I know where I will be getting mine guys, THANKS!
Chris
Great mod and FREE TOO! ;D

teqoso · Feb 3, 2005

Top off, travelling at 60 on the freeway in the early morning. The heater blowing after completing this conversion with stock squirell and chevy motor. We actually had to turn her off because it was getting warm( at least my feat were). Thanks guys for the cheap upgrade. Now to go over to my buddies and do his.

feitctaj · Feb 3, 2005

ChrisinWV said:
Well thanks for pointing out the painfully obvious guys......
Partsamerica has nice pics on their site, and clearly shows and as I recall the F150 motor is like a coffee can with a shaft comin out the end.
Not at all shaped like the chevy unit...........HOWEVER, just for kicks I typed in the 81 Granada I got sitting out here waiting to be scrapped and BINGO!!! We have a match.
*Edit* on second look they are not the same, I got my pages mixed up but they look real close and I may just try it anyway.*edit*

I know where I will be getting mine guys, THANKS!
Chris
Great mod and FREE TOO! ;D

I have found Parts America to be on my list of "do not trust" places. Spent $500 on air conversaion for my tbird , Sheeeeeeesh , what a pos, take it back.. they also did not carry a cage fro the heater upgrade, I only go to them for oil and air fresheners

kwspony · Feb 12, 2005

My heater core took a dump today so I am going to do this upgrade. One question, my bronco has a metal heater box. Did they change to fiberglass at some point?

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