Smiths Round heater HELP!

Post by **wynnies** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:21 pm

Hi everyone,

I am a newbie to the forum, and I am in desperate need of some help please. I have a 1957 morris 1000 with the Smiths round type heater. The heater was found to be leaking from the core so our mechanic has removed it so that we could try to get it repaired.

I have been trying to buy a replacement but haven't had any luck.

Anyway my husband needs to drive the car for work, so having driven it today without the heater, he was getting a shower of water and steam from the heater hoses form under the dash.

Could anyone give me some advise on how to stop the water from coming out of the hoses and also stop it from draining the radiator.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Post by **aupickup** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:34 pm

try this on ebay, the seller is very good

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MORRIS-MINOR-EARL ... dZViewItem

Post by **ASL642** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:35 pm

There is a working early round heater advertised by classic vehicle and parts.co.uk dont know whether this helps. I cant help as I have now got the later upgraded mini one fitted but did have one of these once!

Post by **bpr81a** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 8:38 pm

There should be a tap on the back of the cylinder head -a little wheel that you can turn to shut off the water to the heater.

Post by **Mogwai** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:08 pm

join the heater pipes together with a short length of copper pipe or similar the coolant will circulate normaly then with the heater bypassed

Post by **wynnies** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:12 pm

Thank you for your replies.
I have wound the tap on the back to the cylinder head down to shut off the water, but was wondering why the cabin would be filling up with steam when driving. Any ideas?

Post by **wynnies** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 9:24 pm

Many thanks Moqwai. I will try that. Cheers

Post by **alex_holden** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:15 pm

You don't need to make a special copper pipe - just connect one of the the rubber heater hoses to both the inlet and the outlet (ie. one end to the brass valve and the other to the copper pipe that's already on the engine). I ran for a few thousand miles like this last year before I got hold of a replacement heater. Just shutting the valve off isn't enough because it leaves the other end open.

I'm surprised the mechanic gave the car back to you after removing the heater without doing something about the disconnected water pipes in the cabin.

Post by **bigginger** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 10:20 pm

A pain to remove/refit one of the existing pipes though - I'd get hold of a 'new' one to use
a

Post by **DAVIDMCCULLOUGH** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:21 pm

Club spares had a brand new old stock one listed. Shouldnt be hard to find a second hand one though as lots of people take them out and put the later one in!

Post by **wynnies** » Tue Apr 08, 2008 11:34 pm

A huge thank you to you all

Post by **StaffsMoggie** » Thu May 15, 2008 2:57 pm

Just a thought on this, do the round heaters fitted to the Series 1 and 2 Landrovers fit Minors? These are still available new I believe from the Landie specialists.

New elements are available for the round heaters, Holdens Vintage and Classic sell them but they arent cheap! 170 odd quid I think.

Is fitting a late Minor or even a Mini heater an option? Or is originality important?

When the round heater in my old Landie burst I just shoved a Mini unit in there and it was much hotter than the old one!