Too much heat!

[ddonatelli]

I need help!

About 6 mos ago, I bought a 1979 Spider. It runs great, and I have spent the last 6 mos. rehabbing the interior. Now, it looks as good as it runs.

I have one major problem. It does not overheat, however, when its been running for 15 mins or more, I start to get incredible heat inside the passenger compartment. My first reaction is that the heat control cable is somehow stuck in the open position. However, I think the heat that is being generated is way more than what you would expect. The other thought I had was that there may be some sort of heat shield missing below the console.

Has anyone else experienced something like this? I would appreciate some insight.

[vandor]

Spiders have very good heaters, so yes, it is possible that the heat is stuck on. The heater valve is accessible from the passenger side footwell, check if moving the center heater lever moves the arm on the valve. My guess is that the valve is stuck.
Originally the lever pulled up closed the valve, but I've seen some aftermarket valves that reversed this.