Heater (blower fan) upgrade

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  • Mohawk
    232 I6
    • Oct 25, 2005
    • 89

    Heater (blower fan) upgrade

    With the rapid approach of winter, it became clear pretty quickly that the heater in my recently acquired J10 left something to be desired. It was noisy and just plain didn't move much air.
    My search for a replacement at the local parts houses either came up empty or were, I thought, too expensive.
    Since I'm also a CJ guy, I got to thinking (don't worry. I'm ok), maybe the same upgrade that works for the CJ guys might work for the FSJ.
    I picked up a blower motor at AutismZone for a '78 Chevy pickup. Part# PM102. $20 with a lifetime warranty. I would have picked up the squirrel cage too but it was unavailable.
    Comparing the two motors, side by side, I decided this just might work.



    The original motor has a ground wire attached. The Chevy part grounds through the body. No big deal. The squirrel cage from the J10 was held on to the motor shaft with a tiny, pain in the butt clamp that I promptly shot across the driveway, never to be seen again. Oops. No big deal. The Chevy motor uses a nut to retain the cage.
    The biggest difference now became apparent. The J10 cage on the Chevy motor extended quite a bit more, into the blower duct. Perhaps with a Chevy squirrel cage, this might not be a problem... I don't know. I may look into that at a later date.



    With the blower motor removed, I made a template and cut a spacer from a plastic, 3/8" thick cutting board (as in kitchen) that I picked up at the grocery store for $5.



    A word of advice, if you try this mod. Don't use a jig saw to cut the plastic. It will just melt the plastic and make a mess, even on the lowest speed. I used a coping saw. I also had to drill new holes in the blower motor mounting flange to match the holes in my fan duct. You can probably drill new holes in the duct to accomplish the same thing. As a matter of fact, I may have saved myself some headaches if I had done just that.

    The original wire that plugged to the original motor plugs right onto the new motor. Beautiful. I clipped the ground wire off of the old motor, crimped on an eyelet, and grounded from a mounting screw to the original ground point. Now, for the moment of truth...



    It not only works but works better than I expected. Even with the massive air leaks my J truck has and sub zero temperatures, during my 70 mile/day round trip commute, the cab is toasty warm and I have one less source of noise in the old beast. I have no doubt that once I seal up the cab with new weather stripping and plug unnecessary holes in the firewall, that I'll be able to roast turkeys on the passenger seat.
  • Heavy_Metal_Thunder_81
    Cherokee Outlaw
    • Jan 10, 2006
    • 7292

    #2
    -Jonny B.
    1979 Cherokee Golden Eagle - UNDER CONSTRUCTION
    7" Alcan springs, BJ's HD shackles - 35x12.5x15 BFG Mud Terrains
    AMC 401 - Pro-Flo 4 EFI
    NV4500/NWF BB/NP205 - Triple Stick'd
    F D44 - 4.10, Eaton E-Locker
    R M23 - 4.10, Detroit Locker

    1979 Cherokee Chief - Parts
    1979 Cherokee Chief - Parts
    1979 Wagoneer - Sold
    1981 Cherokee Chief - Cubed

    Comment

    • cself
      232 I6
      • Jan 13, 2008
      • 68

      #3
      Okay....I'm thick in the head. What was the purpose of the cutting board? I know you said it was a spacer, but why do you need the spacer? Great mod in my opinion as I've been wondering what I could do to increase the fan speed for both a/c and heat. For the cost this seems like a great way to go.

      Comment

      • Mohawk
        232 I6
        • Oct 25, 2005
        • 89

        #4
        The AMC fan on the Chevy motor extended too far into the blower duct. It's possible that the spacer may not be needed if the Chey fan is used. I still need to look into that.

        Comment

        • Gambler68
          Rabble Rouser
          • Feb 29, 2004
          • 14082

          #5
          Nice! I think even a wood (not mdf) would work fine as a spacer, just seal it. Nice mod, I may try that next winter.
          1979 Chero S "Sundog" 1979 Chero S "Hammer"
          1968 327 J3000 1978 J10SWB
          The Edge... there is no honest way to explain it because the only people who really know where it is are the ones who have gone over.
          Hunter S. Thompson .

          Comment

          • 3rdelement
            350 Buick
            • Nov 25, 2009
            • 1119

            #6
            wow. thats ingenious. great idea!
            Richard Ricketts
            build thread: click HERE
            1985 Jeep Grand Wagoneer {woodless}-Edelbrock 1406 carb, Edelbrock Sp2p Intake, Hella ecode headlights, bixenon HID 5000k headlights, mb quart 6.5" component speakers f&r, alpine cde-100 deck, final edition grill, Hella 550 fog lights, 1991 window regulators, cs144, aluminum coolant&washer tanks

            Comment

            • KyooMac
              258 I6
              • Oct 26, 2006
              • 464

              #7
              Nice hack! Were you in the service? Or just a long time Jeep fan?

              Comment

              • Mohawk
                232 I6
                • Oct 25, 2005
                • 89

                #8
                I also have a '77 CJ5 and this is definitely not my first Jeep. If you can't find what you want/need, modify/make it!

                Comment

                • jaber
                  Dragin Az
                  • Oct 17, 2003
                  • 8104

                  #9
                  Nice mod.

                  I do have to say, when the heater in these things work, they really cook.
                  Jeff

                  '43 cj2a
                  '51 Willys p/u
                  '51 Willys Parkway Conversion
                  '68 Panel Delivery
                  '74 CJ5
                  '75 J-20 Wrecker
                  '75 J-20 Cummins service bed
                  '77 J-10 p/u
                  '79 Cherokee
                  '88 Grand Wagoneer
                  '98 Grand Cherokee

                  Comment

                  • grand_wag_85
                    Murphy's Law Poster Child
                    • Dec 03, 2003
                    • 10719

                    #10
                    I will be doing this mod on my J truck!
                    You know it's bad when your car's on the EPA's 10 most wanted list!

                    '82 J10
                    '88 GW
                    '77 J10 Golden Eagle 401


                    Comment

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