'56 heater

[sidsmith]

my '56 splitty has a round heater that sits on the parcel shelf and even when it's switched off it radiates enough heat to warrant the windows to be wound down. I want to take it out and overhaul/inspect it and still want to drive the car, therefore would it be possible to disconnect the hose from the tap at the back of the block and the metal pipe that runs along by the rocker cover and reconnect another piece of hose to make the circuit and then remove the heater. I know I could just turn the tap off at the back of the block but I was wondering if I just connected a piece of heater hose pipe to bridge the gap so to speak would it do any harm while i'm using the car daily
cheers mungo

[MarkyB]

I could just turn the tap off at the back of the block

That's how it was designed.

"short circuiting" the heater will work too but why bother?

[mike.perry]

If you are removing the heater and still using the car then you need to join the feed and return pipes together where they are disconnected from the back of the heaternor water will flow through the open pipe. The tap will just prevent the water circulating.
How do you get heat out of the heater when the fan is switched off? Have you got a fresh air attachment?
Not a lot goes wrong with those heaters, mainly dust clogging up the matrix which you can clean with a vacuum cleaner, also give the heater a flush through.
It is also worth carefully taking the rheostat switch apart and cleaning off any corrrosion