1940's Wayne heater

[CHUCK4850]

I'm looking for an original Wayne heater, with the fresh air duct and louvered panel that's under the driver's window. It's for my very original 1948 Ford F-5 shorty school bus, that I am restoring back to original.
Chuck
203-288-2769

[Bluesky]

I don't have one. What does it look like, do you have a picture? Is it a Wayne brand? There is a Eureka heater on fleabay: https://www.ebay.com/itm/1941-rat-ro...y3m:rk:12:pf:0

[Tango]

I may still have the heater that came out of my '46 Wayne somewhere but I will have to do some digging. I do know that Wayne sourced parts from all over so there is very likely no "one true original" other than what was/is found in any given bus. I have seen quite a variety of accessories and add-ons just on my year & make (Chevy).



If I can locate it, I will post a pic.

[CHUCK4850]

There were definitely Wayne specific heaters. I have collected a bunch of Wayne brochures from the late 1940's and early 1950's, and they do illustrate them well. The early ones were large triangle shaped units that sat on the floor, to the left of the driver. I have a heater that came out of a '46 or '47, that looks just like the one in the '48 brochure, but the entire bottom is rotted out, part way up the front side. It will take way too many hours to weld it all back together. The front panel is full of delicate louvers, that welding near will be a challenge I would like not to have to accomplish! Also, the duct work and louvered panel that goes behind it, and through the panel under the driver's window was missing. I think that part must have been an option, although the brochures say they all had it. There was no hole to the outside under the window, so it must have not had it. I also took one of the later, more rectangular units out of a '50, and it never had the air intake either. That one is also missing it's bottom. The yard I got that one from has dozens of old buses, but only one old Wayne. I looked at every heater in every bus, and none looked anything like the one in the Wayne.
Chuck

[cadillackid]

waynes definitely had specific heaters.. it seems superior and carpenter farmed out their heaters since way back when but wayne seemed to make their own.



if it were mine, i might be inclined to make a new under-structure with modern motors and heater cores inside and use the original front / side panels as facades to give you the vintage look... I did this in my carpenter so i could have Air-conditioning up front... looks like the factory heater but works much better..
-Christopher

[EastCoastCB]

Originally Posted by cadillackid

waynes definitely had specific heaters.. it seems superior and carpenter farmed out their heaters since way back when but wayne seemed to make their own.



if it were mine, i might be inclined to make a new under-structure with modern motors and heater cores inside and use the original front / side panels as facades to give you the vintage look... I did this in my carpenter so i could have Air-conditioning up front... looks like the factory heater but works much better..
-Christopher

NICE! I was thinking the same thing!

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

Haven't researched it? But if you have the frame that is just rusting out then take it to a local sheetmetal shop and ask them to re-produce it.
If they tell you that they can't do anything thicker than 18-gauge to match? Then they are probably a residential company?
No problem?
Regardless of the factory using there scrap 15-16 guage metal scraps to build the dashboard it being there duct airway at the time and into the 80's.
You can use lesser metal or the same and actually duct the pieces in with tubing. But MR. TANGO is already dealing with a beast of your same era.
The metal and your re-build choices?
Are up to you?

[Tango]

Below is a shot of the "factory" Wayne heater in my rig. Can barely see it on the far right way up under the dash.





As noted, I will try and find it it in the next day or so.


PS...Pay no attention to the brochures...or the man behind the curtain.

[CHUCK4850]

Here are some pages from a 1946 brochure, and a 1950 brochure. I'm not sure how to flip them? The first 2 are from the 1946 brochure. This style was used through 1949. The first picture also shows the louvered panel under the driver's window. They don't show the plenum that connects it to the heater. The second pages are from the 1950 brochure. This unit was used until 1951, as they completely redesigned them again for 1952.
I have one of each, both in need of a lot of work. Neither came with the louvered panel and plenum. I do have a complete set of defroster duct work. If I can't find a rust free one, I will have to reconstruct one of these. Somebody in one of the dry climate states must know where there are some derelict Wayne school buses? These can't be that rare.

[Tango]

Below is the heater that came in my '46 Chevy Wayne. As you can see on the brass tag, it is an Arvin. They supplied heaters for both OEM & aftermarket applications. Mine definitely appeared to have been original.


Was still working when removed. If I still had a "dash"...I would clean it up and use it, but that is no longer an option.

[CHUCK4850]

I have removed several of these from old trucks over the years. Since heaters in trucks were optional back then, several manufacturers offered them as dealer installed accessories. I took one out of my bus that was the same principle, although much cruder. It had enormous water fittings on it, like maybe 1-1/4" or 1-1/2", so it was made for something bigger than a pickup truck cab.
Anyway, I want the correct Wayne heater, that doesn't require extra holes hacked into my now perfect firewall, and actually has a functional defrost setup. They also take in outside fresh air, like the fancy Ford truck heaters of the era, and are thermostatically controlled. Very advanced for the time.
Chuck

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

Probably had full or just a bit smaller radiator size into the coil?
You can still upgrade to something better and reproduce the cover to hide it.
You are asking for an original 40's product coil that is not plugged up and a fan that is not wore out? Probably not gonna find it? Might find the coil/heater core of that era butt it's problaly gonna leak and you might find a blower motor and fan of that era but how long before it goes?
I tried to go out of my way to keep a 1977 truck all original and I have a hard time finding parts for it? Including the heater core that just started leaking.
For you it could be a good time to upgrade to something better and hide it behind a factory cover?

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

Originally Posted by CHUCK4850

I have removed several of these from old trucks over the years. Since heaters in trucks were optional back then, several manufacturers offered them as dealer installed accessories. I took one out of my bus that was the same principle, although much cruder. It had enormous water fittings on it, like maybe 1-1/4" or 1-1/2", so it was made for something bigger than a pickup truck cab.
Anyway, I want the correct Wayne heater, that doesn't require extra holes hacked into my now perfect firewall, and actually has a functional defrost setup. They also take in outside fresh air, like the fancy Ford truck heaters of the era, and are thermostatically controlled. Very advanced for the time.
Chuck

I work with replacement water coils for a living and can give you contact info for a specific coil.
They will send you a sheet that will ask every dimension including the ones most never think about including fins per inch,number of rows in the coil,inlet and outlet size and dimension between the two,casing size, they can build exactly what you put on the paper.
Hope you still have your exact one for measurements?

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

The name of the coil company is capital coil.
My supplier that I work with is Hahn Mason.