Suggestions for block heater on SBC 350 ??

[mcintyrederek]

Hi Group,
I am in south-eastern NC where to a lot of people, 30 degrees really isn't "cold."  And even though parking my old '86 C10 in the garage will keep it above 35 or 40 even on the coldest nights, I feed the urge to install a block heater to avoid cold starts.  The truck starts fine with the manual choke I have installed on Qjet, but I just don't like the thoughts of cranking a cold engine.

I have seen dip stick heaters (90 watt), lower radiator hose heaters (Kat's, 600 or 1200 watt), and freeze plug replacement heaters.  Any suggestions or thoughts on what you guys have used in the "colder" climates??   I am most interested in a lower radiator heater due to the simple installation.  Your thoughts on experience with those? 

Thanks.

[Boone83K10]

I need this too. I am in the high country of NC where 30 is a warm day in winter. Let me know what you decide and how well it works.

 Run wha'cha brung...

[CoggedBelt75]

This is what I use....http://www.oreillyauto.com/site/c/detail/ZRO0/3100057/01372.oap?ck=Search_engine+heater+-+freeze+plug_1030105_322&keyword=engine+heater+-+freeze+plug. Our winters get pretty cold here. On my third one in 12 years. First 7 years I ran a single carb with no choke and found the heater put enough heat into the engine for it to fire right up and stay idling without having to sit and baby it. Plus the heater would blow hot air real quick. Then ran EFI up until last August. Didn't need it for the cold starting, but the hot heater air was still nice. Now running twin carbs, no chokes, and busts right off and idles on our 17° temperature this morning. I couldn't imagine not having one. 

[mcintyrederek]

That's the one I have been looking at.  It's the cheapest and looks like the most reliable from the reviews.  I really don't feel like messing with the freeze plugs but that's the price to pay for reliability.  And it hooks right into the engine so it probably warms more evenly.

I have been looking at the lower radiator hose heater where you just cut and splice and install.  The Kat's models 600 watt units don't have the best reviews, though, saying the element burns out prematurely.  One could run the heater through a light dimmer and tame it down to 90 volts or so and prolong the life I'll bet, at the expense of a hundred watts or so.

I used to live right down from Boone about 10 years ago, in Foscoe, right off 105 in a community called South Slope.  I drove an 85 Monte Carlo with 305.  Naturally I parked outside with no carport.  I never had any trouble cranking, but I did let the thing warm up 15 or 20 minutes before even thinking about driving.  On a cold day, after about 20 minutes, driving from Foscoe to Tynecastle would get my engine up to 180.  Then from there to Linville where I worked, I could enjoy some heat.

I am probably going to try the 1 1/2 lower radiator hose heater for starts and let you know how it works. Kat's makes a nice circulating tank heater that has a "Y" connection into the heater hose somehow, but has to be mounted below some points and above some points to work correctly.  Sounds like kind of a pain.

Thanks for the responses.
Derek.

[mcintyrederek]

I finally wound up going with the lower radiator hose heater.  It was the easiest to install and it works great.  The size I used on my '86 C10 is a 1.5" hose heater.  It looks like it's a 2 inch coming out of the bottom of the water pump, but the hose gets smaller as it tapers off about 3 inches below.  I mounted my hose heater about 3 inches from the water pump outlet.

Kats makes these heaters, but the one I found was on Ebay and it was a GM factory accessory heater.  These probably came standard on certain makes and models.  The ones I bought were new old stock, with an instruction manual dated 1979.  As of 12/3/13, the guy has a few more for sale for just over $16 with free shipping.  Go on Ebay, and do a search for "GM RADIATOR HEATER" and you'll see it.  Attached is a pic.

Boy this thing works excellent.  My block temp stays right around 140 degrees even on 20 degree nights.  And, at 20 degrees, it takes about 3 hours to warm up.  So, I set a timer to come on at about 3:00 AM so when I leave the house around 6:30, It's all warm and ready to go.  I still let it run for several minutes before driving, just to let the power steering and tranny fluid warm up.  Kind of wanting to put an oil pan heater on the tranny now.  Anyway, it works very well and keeps the engine nice and warm.  No more cold start ups.

Derek.