Morris Minor Owners Club

Have contacted the supplier of the heater components, but as yet he has not sent through the current trade price list. However it will be possible to graft the new motor and matrix into the old unit. We will need to remanufacture the motor/rotor end of the heater but can leave the original front panel. So unless you grovel under the dash you will be none the wiser that the unit is changed. For those who are more tollerant of 21st century technology invading your minor you will benefit not only from the extra power but also unidirectional car vents in a very discreet unit. I'll take a pic tommorow of the one in my car so you can judge for yourselves and give some feed back before more money is spent on this project. I'll ask for the technical data on the motor to see if it will be a problem to run the unit and a dynamo, somehow think it will be ok!. I think that those not bothered about the original look of the heater may still require a new unit that is sympathetically designed and an asset to their car rather than a bodged scrap yard fix!

For those of you who want a modern heater/demister and aren't bothered about how it looks then you might as well go to a scrap yard and get one for almost nothing from any basic modern car.

Thats easy to say Chris but if it was that easy dont you think it would have been done before as many modern heater units are more or less part of the dash and a guy at work had to have a new matrix fitted in his car (1993) recently and the labour charge alone was for 8 hours work as the dash had to be dismantled, so I dont imagine that many would be suitable for our beloved Moggies, and as for making them fit...........

Hi, just joined this thread, I would also be interested in fitting a better heater, if it was at the right price. Not too bothered about originality as I think that the original is actually quite ugly

I'm also of that opinion, the origional heater looks like a "scrappy bodge" I'd be up for two replacements at the right price

Point taken that a scrapyard bodge job would probably look very messy and I guess it would be hard to fix up the modern plastic dials or knobs in a discreet location. Not that I would personally bother...

For those who are more tollerant of 21st century technology

You make me sound like a technological luddite.... Seriously, I'm not adverse to a bit of modern technology in my car (I have a Clifford Immobiliser for example ) but I wouldn't like to see something which looked totally out of place.

I'm not bothered what the hidden bits look like. For the later cars you could have a flat metal frontplate painted matt black with a vertical lever which looks very similar to the original. However the lever could control the three blower speeds and the off position. Two further switches (perhaps of a similar flip style to the light /windscreen switches) could control the windscreen/car and fresh air/recirculated air options. Hot or cold water flow would continue to be selected via the original button under the glove box controlling the heater valve. That kind of discrete upgrade would have been most welcome this evening as I was driving through a snow shower with mist & ice forming on the screen....

It's a fact that a moggie with a well worn dynamo can barely cope with the lights, wipers & heater on for any amount of time. However I would guess that modern fans & motors would give a lot more oomph than the tired old 1960s efforts in our cars, so as long as the power drawn wasn't disproportionate then it would be a very worthwhile upgrade.