• Notice for iPhone users: DO NOT use the image size reduction option when uploading photos to the forum. This causes portrait images to post as landscape. We have added a warning to the image insert pop-up as well.

Alaskan postal heater box question

og48

Basic User
City
Amador City
State
Ca
I’m cleaning out some parts and found a heater box in my postal parts? My question is….Is this original?IMG_5907.jpeg
 
The Postal had a RHD (mirror image to LHD) heater, this isn't it. I'm wondering if it was an auxiliary heater fitted to some. There's a few web hits for a Model 356 Hupp heater.

Does it have a fan in it?
 
This was mounted behind the emergency brake lever on the floor. Yes, it has a fan. Just curious if it’s original and if someone restoring a postal would be interested in it.
 
Some postals from the northern regions of Alaska had supplemental heaters. I think some were kerosene fueled and other were tied into the engine coolant. I believe all were retrofitted in Alaska by the local maintenance crews. But this is only hearsay from past research I have done. I don’t recall the brands or types of supplemental heaters used. I’ll bet it was whatever brand they could source at the time. I think the fuel powered ones were used in the really brutal cold regions as the engine could not produce enough heat to keep the cabin warm. Some even had a vinyl curtain to keep the front warm while allowing the parcel compartment in the rear to get cold.

Here is an old post where Eric saw a second heater on one.

 
Here is Eric’s documentation from MATI.


This indicates some had a Wabasto HL32 gas fired heater.
 
Beat me to it. Yep, the gas fired heater was what I knew about and I'm guessing that's what you have there.
 
The heater box above is an aftermarket engine coolant fed unit. It was used in the Morgan cars.


I’ll bet it was used in all kinds of older vehicles to add supplemental heat.
 
Back
Top