[mckennachristo]

If you mount the heater all the way to the left you don't have to drop the shield, mine is on left side and I didn't drop it.

This could be the answer I was looking to hear. Would love to not need to take it all out.

We took the heat shield off. I had the advantage of being at my friends garage where he has a lift. Putting it back on was a bitch.

Did the exhaust have to drop down as well when you take the heat shield off? I was expecting it to be a "standalone" thing but how mine appears bolted in it is also holding up the exhaust.
With what you, @phil, and @DETstru said I might just make sure I run it all the way to the left of the passenger seat (left toward driver side that is if I'm reading this right) and not worry about the heat shield.

I got one of the bigger mounting brackets for it, versus the flimsy one that comes with it, and I'm using riv nuts to attach to the floor so it should be easy to pre-attach everything to the mounting plate before I drop it into the floor. I'm hoping y'all may have just saved me some headache with this heat shield business!

If youre still reading this - any pointers on where to run the exhaust out from there? Trying to figure out safe mounting locations since it's right by the gas tank there and want to make sure i run it all at a downward angle without bends as much as possible.

Thank you, Great Promaster hivemind!

 

[mckennachristo]

My opinion is install your heater somewhere else. When it breaks, AND IT WILL BREAK, it's a total pita to remove it so you can service it. I'm going through this right now and trying to figure out what how to get around the heat shield problem.

I'm at a point build wise that it would be like 15 steps back for me to install it elsewhere and I really value the space saving of under the seat.

I could be wrong, but the floor is thicker metal than muck of the van. Will a riv nut work?

I sure hope it will! Also your video was fantastic! I wish I had found it on my youtube rabbit hole I fell into with promasters and heater installs.

@DETstru your pics are fantastic and exactly what I was looking for, and it's good to hear the rivnuts worked for you. That was part of my "hopefully it will be easier to service this way" plan. Where I'm at in my build under the seat annoyingly makes the most sense for where my build is at. One of those things that makes me wish I could start with a whole clean slate. Didnt initially think I would want the heater but found over the last two winters I really really really reallllllly want a real heater!

 

[mckennachristo]

@DETstru Thanks for the tips!! I'm feeling significantly less intimated by this install after this thread. I have to accept there will be some PITA things to deal with mounting it in this location your mounting via rivnuts and pics of where you ran things helps immensely.

 

[mckennachristo]

when you design, contemplate beyond the present.

Something you really dont realize the truth to until you're deep into your first van build. So so so so so many things I would do different now that I have the experience of building out the majority of the van that would just be way too much to do over again at this point.

In my Van 2.0 I'll probably put mine behind the drivers seat. But Van 2.0 will probably have a different layout and might even be a 159.

my heater was an afterthought so I took the path of least resistance and did the passenger seat.

This is where I am 100%. I would do it different in van 2.0, but as my heater was an afterthought, I too am taking the under seat route.

 

[mckennachristo]

@phil that series of pics is fantastic and gives a great view of where it's all run. I really appreciate it!