Poor Man’s Swamp Cooler

Anybody who collects older cars, especially VW’s, want’s to have a Swamp Cooler in their collection. If you don’t know what a Swamp Cooler is, click here! If can find a vintage swamp cooler in decent condition, plan to pay 4 to 7 hundred dollars for it. If you find one in really good condition, you’ll pay even more. I’ve always had my eyes open for one, but never willing to pay that much for one. A while back, a fellow enthusiast contacted me about a guy in Texas who makes replica’s of the old swamp coolers.

This replica swamp cooler is just what you need to give your ride that vintage look. I originally made one of these swamp coolers for my corvair. I received so many compliments I decided to make more for those who didn’t want to pay the big bucks for an original one. So here it is; this one up for sale is new. It is only a replica as in it is hollow so you don’t add water to this one. However it is functional as a blower, it really moves a lot of air into the car. You can also add ice to the cooler by simply pouring it in the window slot. I get compliments and people asking if its original every time I drive my car. This swamp cooler is professionally built using precision machined parts. It is made from solid 3/8″ thick industrial grade plastic. It is very heavy duty and weighs 8lbs (which is less then the dry weight of an original one). It will mount nice and snug. There won’t be any rattles or vibrations even at highway speeds. This one up for auction is just like the ones pictured except it is NOT PAINTED. It is ready and very easy to paint, all that is required is fine sanding to clean and prep the surface then apply your choice of paint. The grill is removable so you can paint the inside black which helps hide the lack of internal parts. If you need any guidance with painting just let me know and I can walk you through it.

After reading some of the testimonies on his Etsy page, I thought it may be worth looking in to. He charges 160 dollars for his swamp coolers, plus 25 dollars shipping. Ships in about 2 weeks after order is placed. I went ahead and ordered one and sure enough, a couple of weeks later it arrived. The quality of the build is outstanding. Since it’s sort of a “universal” fit, for my ’68 Beetle I had to modify the strip that fits into the window channel just a bit, no big deal. I decided to paint mine to mimic the side striping on my Beetle. That’s pretty much when everything went down hill. The 2 brands of paint I was using didn’t play well with each other. I was using Dupli Color paint with a Krylon clear coat. The Krylon paint destroyed the Dupli Color base coat. After a few beers and a few choice words, I decided to strip all the paint and start over, only using one color instead of two. So, after many hours of striping paint and sanding, the re-spray went well and I’m very pleased with the results. I still have less than 200 dollars in the project and for what it is, I’m very pleased. I’ll still keep my eye open for a vintage swamp cooler, but for now, this will do just fine! If you’re interested in one of these replica’s, check out Brian’s Etsy page by clicking here! I believe that as the time of this post, he’s on a one month vacation and not taking any orders, but will be back soon!

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