Any upgrade 'hacks' to the stock heater blower fan?

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7900_Blazer

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Its cold today in Texas.. 22 degrees at noon. My old 75' Blazer does not yet have any door soundproofing (insulation) or floor soundproofing/carpet... lots of windows and its a fairly large space to heat...

Anyone know of any update 'hacks' to the stock blower fan - to push more air? Heated air is plenty hot... but I need to replace the blower fan anyway so I thought maybe someone might have 'upgraded' the volume of air being pushed... somehow...

Thoughts?
 

Originalthor

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I got a suburban with no rear heat and my heater core kicked the bucket and got a new one. It flowed way better then the 30 year old one. Also check were the ducting hooks up. Sometimes the plastic breaks and creates some bad airflow.

The new heater core made me going from long johns driving around to keeping them in the underwear drawer. And its -20s Celsius for most of my winters.
 

7900_Blazer

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I’ll do that, thank you.
 

75gmck25

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This is one upgrade that seems to be more complicated than it should be.

There was a heavy duty heater option, but it may have just used the A/C blower motor. Some motors use a press-on blower wheel, and others have nut on the end of the shaft. The shaft length and wheel depth also differ, so you need one to match the truck.

I’d take yours out, and then at the store I would match it to what their book shows to make sure it will fit.

Another common problem is that junk has fallen down the defroster vent and is preventing the blend door from fully opening and closing. You need to make sure all the air is really going through the heater core.
 

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They have some really nice automotive insulation out now that works really well and cost WAY less than Dynamat, they also have a dense foam product that works well and is much lighter weight than butyl type insulation. Heater wouldn't have to work as hard if it had a little insulation. With all the metal and glass in these trucks it takes some effort to heat or cool then.
 

Bextreme04

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I bought a set of killmat and then a 4ftx25ft roll of foil backed closed cell insulation. Killmat goes down first in large panel areas, firewall, trans tunnel, and doors. Then the roll of closed cell insulation gets glued down over the entire inside. Don't forget the roof. Then make sure you get some kind of tint on all of your windows, even if it is super light tint it will stop a ton of heat transfer.
The killmat is mostly for sound deadening and vibration reduction.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0751G6TMV/

The closed cell foam is the heat insulating material. Its way more than you need for a single car, but I used some in my travel trailer to insulate under beds and under the storage tanks and also in my other car as well.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00PX2C8DC/
 

Camar068

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My old 75' Blazer does not yet have any door soundproofing (insulation)
There was an extensive post about door insulation recently. I think it was about 6 months ago.
 

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I put one big sheet of the insulation from Summit in each of my doors and you could tell the difference even without the door panels on.
Eric
 

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As usual, thank you all for your ideas/experience! Super helpful.
 

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Everyone from the North should know the answer. It’s called a winter front, it fits in front of the grill blocking off the cold air coming threw and helps a lot with cab temps. There is usually a couple of flaps sewn in that can be opened if the ambiant temp climbs while you are out cruising. I don’t have my truck with me right now but if you look at the photo you can see the snaps install to which the winter front attaches.
 

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Matt69olds

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Everyone from the North should know the answer. It’s called a winter front, it fits in front of the grill blocking off the cold air coming threw and helps a lot with cab temps. There is usually a couple of flaps sewn in that can be opened if the ambiant temp climbs while you are out cruising. I don’t have my truck with me right now but if you look at the photo you can see the snaps install to which the winter front attaches.

For those of us who a REALLY cheap, a piece of cardboard works great and it’s basically free.

There is a flattened pizza box wedged between the radiator and A/C condenser on my Ram truck as I’m typing this. Even with the engine block heater, it takes quite awhile to warm up when it’s really cold. The cardboard does help the engine warm up faster, and help keep heat in when it’s really cold.

Just make sure you remember to remove it in the spring!!!
 

AuroraGirl

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There was an extensive post about door insulation recently. I think it was about 6 months ago.
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AuroraGirl

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This is one upgrade that seems to be more complicated than it should be.

There was a heavy duty heater option, but it may have just used the A/C blower motor. Some motors use a press-on blower wheel, and others have nut on the end of the shaft. The shaft length and wheel depth also differ, so you need one to match the truck.

I’d take yours out, and then at the store I would match it to what their book shows to make sure it will fit.

Another common problem is that junk has fallen down the defroster vent and is preventing the blend door from fully opening and closing. You need to make sure all the air is really going through the heater core.
Yeah its been hard to pin down what the damn cold climate package does other than disallow the Use of AC RPO and a bigger battery, possibly alt(forgot), and antifreeze % factory fill new. Its vague everywhere official and its also not talked about a lot.

The fan idea is interesting, does an AC Fan fit on the manual heater thing? I was thinking maybe the heater core could be larger but without making the fins harder to push air through relatively speaking, but i havent seen anything about a larger heater core than normal heater has.

wait, is the standard heater core bigger than AC? If so, the fan idea maybe is on track.
 

AuroraGirl

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Everyone from the North should know the answer. It’s called a winter front, it fits in front of the grill blocking off the cold air coming threw and helps a lot with cab temps. There is usually a couple of flaps sewn in that can be opened if the ambiant temp climbs while you are out cruising. I don’t have my truck with me right now but if you look at the photo you can see the snaps install to which the winter front attaches.
Needs some 1930s shutters for a tractor
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Engines run cold on kerosene , silly little low compression quirk of the era. And kerosene doesnt combust very efficiently cold, like you wash your cylinders and fill your crankcase if you run it out of the temp range.. if you use your shutters and switch from gasoline at the right time, then you dont need to drain nearly as much kerosene from your oil so much. saving you time on for other fun things
 

JohnRod

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I put in a toggle switch, between the fan motor and the dash switch, so I can turn the fan OFF, when its cold. also keeps it from running all the time. Hi comes on regardless of toggle position. blue wire I think. I also used a clothes hanger rod, on brackets above the shoulder harness. then I hung clear plastic down behind the front seat. Redneck 1/2!! and yes I think AC fans are diff. than non-AC. Rod in AZ
 

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