As above, do you need a working heater/demister to rego a 59? Is it a requirement for roadworthy?
Thanks in advance, Rich

Hi Rich,
Depending on your location, heater, probably not but demister almost certainly,
hth

I think it comes down to whoever inspects the car recently mine was passed however it was on the condition the window washer was repaired. Which seems rather trivial however I think in NSW if the car came with demisters etc then they need to be operating

take it to someone who knows vws, you dont need 1 to pass

Under Australian Design Rules (or ADR's) a heater/demister was required only from 1971. Loads of pre-71 cars didn't have them from the factory. So they can't legally fail you on it.

Cheers,

I just realised how many beetles don't have a working heater demister...

check out all the beetles at car shows etc that don't have heater hoses....


I love My heater... wouldn't be without it...

LEE

Yes air-cooled engines have very effective heaters when they are fitted and adjusted correctly.

However they are not faster than water-cooled cars. My Golf starts to blow warm air in less than 1 minute from cold start-up. This is because water is a more effective conductor of heat from the engine than air is - air can actually be considered an 'insulator'. That's why you can put your hands in a hot oven when you open the door. The air inside is 250 degrees but you don't burn yourself because the air doesn't transmit the heat to your skin very quickly.

Now try putting your hands in boiling water (only 100 degrees) and feel the difference.

Likewise it takes your air-cooled engine longer to heat the air in the exchanger than a water-cooled car does - its cooling system fluid gets hot much faster.

Quote:

Originally posted by bnicho Quote: I love My heater... wouldn't be without it... Me neither. I can't undestand why people fit J-tubes and suffer the cold. Especially when the heaters in a VW can be quite effective and start to work morte quickly than a water-cooled car (as far as I can recall anyway). Maybe they don't use their cars in winter much (trailer queens!?!). Cheers, Would one of the reasons be due to causing the heater channels to rust in the first place? Without a heater you would not get the tempature changes that cause consendation. I am not worried about the cold, last winter I was riding a motorbike to work, rain, hail or shine

I would have thought the airflow through the heater channels would ensure they were dry and deter rusting for a little longer?

BTW: My Moke does not have a heater, but if I derive it in winter I just put on a parka and leave the top up. So I'm not a complete wuss.

That's right, regularly blowing hot air through the heater channels drives out moisture and keeps the insides dry. A good reason to keep the stock heater system working. Plus the cosy smell of a VW heater (in good condition) is part of the joys of being a classic VW owner.

Moisture condenses on surfaces that are colder than the ambient air - as beer drinkers with frosty glasses know. Keep your heater channels warm inside - no condensation.

Early Beetle drivers still keep a hanky in their pockets to wipe the windscreen on cold days - the demister function works OK but not like a modern car! It will clear a patch at the bottom corners but not the centre - you have to wipe that. And yes, in winter VW drivers still have to dress warmly, especially if their drive is in traffic. Not much warmth comes out at idle - heat output is proportional to engine RPM.

Yeah , if some one who is real thura checks it and they look at everything. then yes if it the demister/ Heater (Demister runs off heater) It is an australian standard so technically the cops can defect you for not having a working demister.

True Dylan for cars made after 1971 when the ADRs came in. But earlier cars don't have to have them. Many Brit cars of the '50s and '60s didn't have heaters/demisters (neither did the early Holdens), another reason why early Beetles were better. Then again, the VW Standard didn't have windscreen washers!

I doubt whether any cops would know anything about how ancient Beetles work, given that many of them weren't even born when they were made. '58 Beetles are not required to meet ADRs. They have no compliance plate - end of story. That said, why not get the heater working properly like they should?

They were standard on all Aussie Deluxe Beetles (the only model available for the first 8 years) from 1954, as were heater/demisters. And wind-up windows... !

Is it true that Aussie Minis were better than UK ones? If so it would be the opposite for us - no one would suggest that Aussie VWs were better than German ones - although ours had electric fuel gauges, and kangaroo stamps in various places. Our Superbugs were better than the US-spec ones (they got front drums, we got disks)

Where the Aussie BMC factory was at Zetland in Sydney, today there's a large Audi dealership (I know, I'm getting off the topic).

Yes, Aussie Minis were generally better specced than UK Minis. We got windup windows five years before the UK, and the 998 and 1100 engines (on non-Coopers) a few years before the UK. The later Aussie heaters were better than the UK ones of the same years too. Plus our vans had a chrome removable grille where in the UK it was welded in pressed steel (makes it a pain to remove the dizzy or starter). The early up-spec UK models had nice brocade two tone trim which Aussie's never got. Except for very early cars, ours were all monotone trim. Oh yeah, and our Minis were dipped before painting, so they don't rust as fast.

My Moke and Racer were made at Zetland, but my Traveller is a UK import.

If I can get my 40hp heater boxes to work with a tp and can find some heater knobs and cables for my 68 IRS pan I will have a heater it's going to be a real bitsa my bug

i personally think the working heater caused my karmann ghia sills to rust quicker, i could almost count the bubbles appearing in winter and in summer it slowed down, i think condensation may build up from the heat inside but hey thats just my thoughts...........

thats exactly what happens
if they stayed rust free all the bugs in the Uk that have heaters going almost all year round wouldnt need new heater channels with every oil change

the dry heat from the heaterboxes might keep the inside of the actual heater tube rust free but think about what happens when something is hot inside and cold outside like the windscreen.... condensation forms
the rest is just science