Subject: [Shop-talk] Seat Heaters

From: Jim Stone <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 2015 21:15:14 -0500

--===============7505977217923007431==

--Apple-Mail=_37FDB52B-B8F1-4628-9F90-305DA0C863F0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
	charset=utf-8

First, Merry Christmas to everyone.  I hope Santa brought all the tools =
and/or car parts you=E2=80=99d asked for this year.  He was certainly =
good to me: I got everything I need to completely rebuild the seats on =
my Alpine, something that has been on my to do list for quite a while.  =
I am not sure when I will actually get to it, but my plan is to have it =
done before spring arrives.  But, before I start I have been thinking =
that maybe I could extend the top down season a bit by installing seat =
warmers while I am at it.  As far as I can see, they wouldn=E2=80=99t =
add more than a couple of minutes to the reupholstery process and the =
wiring shouldn=E2=80=99t be too bad as the car has a modern harness and =
alternator.  I just did a quick search for Seat Warmers on Amazon and =
there are many complete sets (bottom and back for two seats) in the =
$50-80 range, plus a Dorman kit that runs $60 per seat.  =
(http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-628-040-Universal-Seat-Heater/dp/B002U6IL9O/=
ref=3Dsr_1_16?s=3Dautomotive&ie=3DUTF8&qid=3D1451094179&sr=3D1-16&keywords=
=3Dcar+seat+heater =
<http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-628-040-Universal-Seat-Heater/dp/B002U6IL9O/=
ref=3Dsr_1_16?s=3Dautomotive&ie=3DUTF8&qid=3D1451094179&sr=3D1-16&keywords=
=3Dcar+seat+heater>)  Most seem to have decent reviews and I can=E2=80=99t=
 see anything in the Dorman units - besides a brand name - to justify =
doubling the cost.  But, I trust reviews here much more than on Amazon.  =
Has anyone here ever installed universal warmers?  On a Little British =
Car or equivalent?  Any recommendations?

As always, Thanks!=

--Apple-Mail=_37FDB52B-B8F1-4628-9F90-305DA0C863F0
Content-Transfer-Encoding: quoted-printable
	charset=utf-8

<html><head><meta http-equiv=3D"Content-Type" content=3D"text/html =
charset=3Dutf-8"></head><body style=3D"word-wrap: break-word; =
-webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" =
class=3D"">First, Merry Christmas to everyone. &nbsp;I hope Santa =
brought all the tools and/or car parts you=E2=80=99d asked for this =
year. &nbsp;He was certainly good to me: I got everything I need to =
completely rebuild the seats on my Alpine, something that has been on my =
to do list for quite a while. &nbsp;I am not sure when I will actually =
get to it, but my plan is to have it done before spring arrives. =
&nbsp;But, before I start I have been thinking that maybe I could extend =
the top down season a bit by installing seat warmers while I am at it. =
&nbsp;As far as I can see, they wouldn=E2=80=99t add more than a couple =
of minutes to the reupholstery process and the wiring shouldn=E2=80=99t =
be too bad as the car has a modern harness and alternator. &nbsp;I just =
did a quick search for Seat Warmers on Amazon and there are many =
complete sets (bottom and back for two seats) in the $50-80 range, plus =
a Dorman kit that runs $60 per seat. &nbsp;(<a =
href=3D"http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-628-040-Universal-Seat-Heater/dp/B002=
U6IL9O/ref=3Dsr_1_16?s=3Dautomotive&amp;ie=3DUTF8&amp;qid=3D1451094179&amp=
;sr=3D1-16&amp;keywords=3Dcar+seat+heater" =
class=3D"">http://www.amazon.com/Dorman-628-040-Universal-Seat-Heater/dp/B=
002U6IL9O/ref=3Dsr_1_16?s=3Dautomotive&amp;ie=3DUTF8&amp;qid=3D1451094179&=
amp;sr=3D1-16&amp;keywords=3Dcar+seat+heater</a>) &nbsp;Most seem to =
have decent reviews and I can=E2=80=99t see anything in the Dorman units =
- besides a brand name - to justify doubling the cost. &nbsp;But, I =
trust reviews here much more than on Amazon. &nbsp;Has anyone here ever =
installed universal warmers? &nbsp;On a Little British Car or =
equivalent? &nbsp;Any recommendations?<div class=3D""><br =
class=3D""></div><div class=3D"">As always, Thanks!</div></body></html>=

--Apple-Mail=_37FDB52B-B8F1-4628-9F90-305DA0C863F0--

--===============7505977217923007431==
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Content-Disposition: inline

_______________________________________________

[email-masked]
Archive: http://www.team.net/archive

--===============7505977217923007431==--

---

From: "Randall" <[email-masked]>
Date: Fri, 25 Dec 2015 21:23:08 -0800

> and I can't see anything in the Dorman units - 
> besides a brand name -

Not necessarily relevant, but I'll never buy a Dorman product again.  Kind of a long story, but they were the only source I could
find for rear half shafts for my Buick wagon.  I went through 4 of them before realizing that the shafts themselves were not made
properly; the last time actually set the car on fire!

With that axle, the shaft forms the inner race for the wheel bearing, and is supposed to have a hardened area where the rollers run.
I don't know what they did wrong, but on every Dorman shaft, the bearing area spalled away and left a big groove in the axle.  When
it caught fire, I'd been driving in the hills and hadn't noticed that the brake shoes were mostly supporting the car (so the drum
was red hot).  When the seal finally melted from the heat, the axle oil running into the hot drum caught fire.  Big scare, ruined
vacation, and I don't know how many $1000 spent renting a car and a motel room, etc, on top of the $2000 to fix the axle (which had
to be rebuilt again less than 1000 miles later, apparently because the first shop reused the Dorman shaft that hadn't already
failed).

Dorman used to be a quality, mostly made-in-USA name.  But apparently the Dorman family sold the business some years ago, and now
Dorman parts are mostly Chinese junk.

YMMV, IMO, NFI and all that stuff.

-- Randall  

[email-masked]