Heated rear screens

[Ambleton]

Hello

I understand in the 80's a popular aftermarket accessory was to add a heated element to your rear screen for demist and defrost.

Heated rear screens have been standard for while now. Thinking about it, I cant say I've been in a car post 1990 that hasn't had a heated rear screen.

Holden make/sell a heated rear screen kit which is a big self adhesive sticker (essentially) with the flexible element attached. Has anyone got one? Have experience using or fitting one? Got any thoughts or feedback?

Also interested in tales of yesteryear of the kits or mods when they were the latest cutting edge "must have".

Linky below:

https://www.holden.co.uk/p/screen_heater_12_volt

Thanks all

[Keep it stiff]

I fitted one, late 70's, I think it was a Smiths. At the time they were a very popular DIY improvement, remember we are talking about the time when the difference in a Cortina L or GL spec was getting one door mirror or two!

[dontlookdown]

I do remember seeing them, more a 70s than 80s thing I think. By the 80s most cars had a heated rear window, the spec battle then moved on to whether you got a rear wiper as well;)

The stick on aftermarket heater elements were v thick and seemed to cover half the glass as I recall!

[reddiesel]

For some reason I always associate them with the Morris 1000 , inevitably discoloured and seldom completely attached . The Seventies thanks to the rise of Japanese Cars I suppose heralded the highpoint of aftermarket accessories . Is that fair to say ? Alan Sugar with his Amstrad Radios in Car Mechanics would be a good man to ask .

[981Boxess]

Back in the day you had the stick on Smiths type which was one size fits all.
There was also another stick on type that you cut to width and then had metal bars on ends to join all the heated lines up.

Might sound a bit pants but if fitted properly they worked perfectly well.

[TarquinMX5]

I'd also say more 70s than 80s, and more likely late 60s onwards.

Cars were starting to have HRW options in the early 60s, at which time the stick-on anti-mist panel, without any heating elements, was probably the most common. Provided they (HRW panel) were fitted correctly, they were okay.

Edited by TarquinMX5 on Saturday 27th January 11:08

[mph]

I once owned a Mk3 Zephyr 4 where a previous owner had cut slots in the rear parcel shelf.

These were supplied with air via ducting from a small fan fitted in the boot and a toggle switch on the dash.

Unfortunately I only owned the car in the summer months so have no idea whether it was effective.

[Riley Blue]

981Boxess said:

Back in the day you had the stick on Smiths type which was one size fits all.
There was also another stick on type that you cut to width and then had metal bars on ends to join all the heated lines up.

Might sound a bit pants but if fitted properly they worked perfectly well.

The Holden one linked to above is that type (the fitting instructions can be downloaded).

I've been wondered about one for my Riley which has a tendency to mist up in wet weather but it's not high on my priority list. I've been told they use use a lot of 'electric'.

[tapkaJohnD]

There was, and still is, a variant, that was a miniature one-bar electric fire, that you stuck to the lower edge of the window, and relied on convection to demist/de-ice. They didn't suffer from the yellowing/detachment/broken wire problems that the stick-on ones did.

New ones are available: https://www.vintagecarparts.co.uk/products/ca1384-...

John

[Ambleton]

Riley Blue said:

The Holden one linked to above is that type (the fitting instructions can be downloaded).

I've been wondered about one for my Riley which has a tendency to mist up in wet weather but it's not high on my priority list. I've been told they use use a lot of 'electric'.

I'd be amazed if the current draw is bigger than 10A.

You can get (and I intend to) a heated front laminated screen for the A35, just like a Ford one, made by pilkington I believe. That draws 10A.

[P5BNij]

Our neighbour's 1965 Mk1 Mini had one of these stick on types fitted by the dealer when new...

[healeyneil]

Used to fit them in my minis back in the 70s. Eventually the terminals would unstick and tear off .

[Riley Blue]

Ambleton said:

Riley Blue said:

The Holden one linked to above is that type (the fitting instructions can be downloaded).

I've been wondered about one for my Riley which has a tendency to mist up in wet weather but it's not high on my priority list. I've been told they use use a lot of 'electric'.

I'd be amazed if the current draw is bigger than 10A.

You can get (and I intend to) a heated front laminated screen for the A35, just like a Ford one, made by pilkington I believe. That draws 10A.

My informant didn't elaborate so I'd no figure to give. Fortunately the Riley's heater demists the front screen well enough.

[garythesign]

Fitted on to my Anglia

Worked perfectly for the time I had the car.

As Riley says, they did draw a fair bit of current. You could see the headlights dim when you switched it on.

Will you be running an alternator on the A35? I remember my mum having an A35. Great little car.

[Keep it stiff]

TarquinMX5 said:

I'd also say more 70s than 80s, and more likely late 60s onwards.

Cars were starting to have HRW options in the early 60s, at which time the stick-on anti-mist panel, without any heating elements, was probably the most common. Provided they (HRW panel) were fitted correctly, they were okay.

Edited by TarquinMX5 on Saturday 27th January 11:08

Remember that those us us who started driving in the 70's and 80's were buying 60's models as our 1st/2nd cars and hence DIY aftermarket upgrades were very much the norm, fitting radios for example. There were 60's cars of course that did not have heaters!

[Ambleton]

garythesign said:

Fitted on to my Anglia

Worked perfectly for the time I had the car.

As Riley says, they did draw a fair bit of current. You could see the headlights dim when you switched it on.

Will you be running an alternator on the A35? I remember my mum having an A35. Great little car.

Yes. If you want to follow the build theres a big old thread here:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[aeropilot]

TarquinMX5 said:

I'd also say more 70s than 80s, and more likely late 60s onwards.

Cars were starting to have HRW options in the early 60s, at which time the stick-on anti-mist panel, without any heating elements, was probably the most common. Provided they (HRW panel) were fitted correctly, they were okay.

I agree, definitely not in the 80's, as even by the mid 70's most cars had a factory hrw fitted. Even my 1973 Mini 1000 had a factory hrw when I bought it in 1980!

I do remember them still being sold as aftermarket in the early 80's as there were still a fair few 1960's and earlier cars around needing them, or needing replacements.

[Yertis]

Definitely a ‘60s/early ‘70s thing. ‘80s aftermarket ‘big thing’ was a sunroof, and huge speakers for the hifi.

[coppice]

I remember perving over a parked metallic blue E-Type in Castleford as a car mad 15 year old. The dial rich dash , the racy steering wheel , the sexy faired in headlights - God , and wow, the Triplex Sundym rear window , with a hint of green and tracked by wires of the heating element. Dad's Herald had none of these things - but the Dolomite which arrived in 73 at least had the heated screen .

[Mr Tidy]

My first car in 1976 was a 1967 MK2 Cortina that a previous owner had fitted with a Smiths stick-on electric heater element. It worked pretty well when I could use it! Having just a dynamo I couldn't use it for long if I wanted the headlights, heater blower and wipers going before the engine would cut out.

In 1977 I replaced it with a 1970 Fiat 125 and fitted a stick-on electric one to that, but being a less than patient teenager I managed to get a kink in it. Trying to remove the kink I managed to split it. But I made a couple of holes in the element each side of the break and wound some domestic fuse wire through the holes. It wasn't pretty but worked fine, and with an alternator on the car I didn't have to keep juggling with other electrics!