There is a spotlight with a mirror mounted on the driver's side pillar on my 28 roadster. My question is was that a part of a factory package, dealer add on, or aftermarket? There is also a Chevrolet Heater box installed on the passenger side under the dash attached to the firewall. I can not find info on the heater. It is functional, just not sure if it is supposed to be there.

Any info. on this would be amazing.

A couple of photos of these items will be helpful in identifying them.

You can add photos to your post above by editing it and using the Attachment Manager in the Full Editor.

Cheers, Dean

From the September 1931 Service News: "for the first time , A hot water heater is available to Chevrolet Dealers" . A photo will help to tell if yours is a "genuine Chevrolet accessory". The spotlight would also be an accessory . Not sure when they were offered by Chevrolet.

I could not post on original. Here are the pictures.

The heater looks like a 31-32 heater. Same as one in my 31.

Dave

That is the heater pictured in the Service News article I mentioned above so it is a Genuine Chevrolet accessory as noted on the tag on it.

That is the first HOT WATER heater offered by Chevrolet. Preious to that there was a HOT AIR heater.

. In 1927 only "shoe leather melting" exhaust heaters were offered. I would guess that the "Hot Water Heater" may have been offered as an accessory that could be installed on Older Chevys and other makes. Case in point, in 1937, three radios were offered. The least expensive model is advertized as "designed for installation in all makes of cars". (See photo from accessory booklet.)
.

Thank you for the info on the heater. If it was your car, would you leave it in or take it out?

Any thoughts on the spot light/ mirror?

I like driving my cars year round so the heater would be a plus. If you were going to show it, and it was noticable, you might lose points.

I have a similar spot light and mirror on my 24. I think they were common and handy accessories back in the day. I like mine but seldom drive at night!

Dave

Thanks for the info, I am more of a cruise kind of guy and not a points show. I do like to keep as much originality as possible. The car is mostly complete with a few "up grades". The previous owner added tail lights, 1 fog light, the spot light and the heater. I am planning on deleting the fog light, (bulb is blown), but keeping the rest since they are all still working!

Several folks asked if I was going to hot rod it but it is too original to chop up! Score 1 for the good guys buy preserving a piece of history!

Thank you for preserving this awesome vehicle !! I know " hot rods" are a part of vehicle culture and all.....but for Pete's sake, there are way too many of them as it is. Good grief. That's all I see anymore , pretty much, when going to car shows around my parts ( Central Ohio ) Leave some cars original, or as close to it as possible. That's why I love this site and AACA.....we are people that love antique and classic cars and are dedicated to keeping them original/close to original.

The spotlight looks like an Auto Reel Lite. You can loosen the knurled knob and lift the light out of the mount. Inside the Black ball is a length of wire so that you can carry the light around the car to see things at Night.

That is too cool! I am assuming it would have been an aftermarket part or was it an Chevy upgrade?

Its aftermarket.

I have a question. Is your car a 4 cylinder? Curious where they would have pulled the hot water from to circulate through the heater if it were a 4 cylinder, and how they would get it to flow?
Nice car, keep it as original as possible!
Thanks,
David

There is T off of the lower radiator hose that runs to the heater core, then returns to the water pump. It is functional, even the fan turns. It is a little squeaky but it does move hot air!

It would be better to have the hot water come from the upper radiator hose and then return to the lower hose. In cold weather the water entering the lower hose has been cooled by the radiator before entering the cooling passages in the engine to be heated.

I have seen an adapter that fits between the upper radiator hose and the head to allow a heater hose connection to be attached.

Gentleman you are correct! The T should be located on the upper hose. Cassie was set up this way when I purchased it last January. I do admit it is a nice add-on for the cooler/ colder months. I live in Georgia, with the exception of the last week of colder weather, I am able to drive her year round, as I do with her little sister. That would be a 69 GTO.

Any idea where you saw the T for the upper hose?