Heater Recommendation For Our '70 Cj5?

The CJ5 will be getting hanging pedals soon. I've been looking at the under dash heater units that are available. I'd like to hear your recommendations for an under dash heater I can replace the stock unit with, preferably one that is capable of routing both heat and defrost. Thanks, Jack

 

The stock heater on a 70 CJ5 does produce heat and defrost and works as well as most others you could put under there.

 

I installed Vintage Air Gen-II heaters under the dash in both my 3B and RZR. It should be relatively easy to hook the defrost ducts up to the stock CJ ducting. Compact and they actually put out a lot of air.
https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vta-506101

 

Sarcasm?

 

The stock heater has what we call "the sound of heat". I used the Mojave heater after I did the swing pedals. Bought at Summit. It is unbelievable, and I live in a cold winter climate.

 

Perhaps. But it was a huge improvement over those Harrison's in the flatties. The stock heater is certainly not something I would go to the trouble to relocate for swinging pedals. Just about any of the aftermarket versions are superior.

 

"Sarcasm?"

No, certainly not, and I don't appreciate the implication.

I have not done a hanging pedal conversion and did not realize the stock heater was in the way, until I thought about it more. The stock heater works good enough for this part of the country, which is why I said what I did.

 

He was simply asking if you were being sarcastic. No need to have such a thin skin. Especially since you didn’t think about the op’s question before answering, by your own admission.
And there are aftermarket heaters that are far superior to the stock heater, which on this site has been referred to as a “placebo heater” for many, many years. Many of us have installed the Mojave and Summit heaters listed in the above post with great results and were a huge improvement over stock.

 

Horribly expensive now, but, a first gen Bronco heater box fits beautifully under the passenger dash. I used to work in a Bronco specialty house and that is what I installed.

 

I think I used this one in both the cj5 and the cj6. 40,000BTU is a lot of heat and I'm a cold weather wimp.
Summit Racing SUM-991106 Summit Racing™ Automotive Heaters | Summit Racing

 

the boys 70 has the heater out of a yj fitted under the dash. really didnt fit too bad a little massaging of the firewall with the hammer and a few holes.

 

It looks like the aftermarket heaters at summit and others are quite expensive although probably work very well. The best heater for cheap I came across for my 64 3B was a used under dash aftermarket AC UNIT I got at the local pick and pull for 10 dollars. It had a 3 speed dual squirrel cage fan. It looked about like the summit racing unit. I simply modified the inlet and outlet tubes of the evaporator to fit standard heater hose.
Another source for a heater could be older box style heaters used on heavy trucks and farm equipment. I had a really good unit I had was from a rear seat area in a crewcab f-700 truck that was about 9 in. square and 20 in. long. Mounted it on the floor under the rear seat Worked extremely well.

 

Thanks to all for the good replies. The Vintage Air, Summit and Mojave heaters were the ones I had seen. Sounds like I can't go wrong with any of them. "Sound of heat"/"placebo heat". Love those comments!

 

x2 on the mojave heater! The one is snowshoe cooks me out!

 

Sort of related to James' above post, but if you don't have the under-seat fuel tank, that space works really well for an auxiliary heater. I made one from a J truck heater core and a Honda Accord blower (because I had that). It hangs off my seat bracket. When I installed the Vintage Air unit under the dash, I changed the cable actuated heater valve out for VA's electric servo unit. Like Nate's Snowshoe, it will cook you out of there even at -30 if you leave it on high speed.

 

??? I did not mean any insult or anything....the stock heaters have a well deserved reputation for anemic heat output.
You can see my blower motor upgrade in the tech index
"Placebo" heater upgrade | ECJ5 (earlycj5.com)
Also someone posted on here about changing the stock heater to a recirculating mode (vs the cold fresh air intake tube).
Both of those are outside the scope of this thread, where the OP is asking about afetrmarket replacement units

 

No worry, I wasn't "insulted" just wanted to clarify that I wasn't trying to be sarcastic, and besides Nick already spoke up for you.

I don't come on here to be a smart acre, and my responses are intended to be helpful.

 

It's not really relevant to this thread since the OEM heater doesn't work with swinging pedals but I don't have any major complaints with the OEM heater.

Yeah, it's not as effective as a modern car, but we've got a couple of Jeeps with original heater. One with a soft top and one with a hardtop. Both have been driven in 10 degree weather and the heater keeps it comfortable inside since we're always bundled up anyway.

Proof of Jeeps with factory heaters in the cold: