[puddleglum]

Originally Posted by orange4boy

Three words: Coolant tank heater.

They come in models up to 1500 watts. I use one on my Prius and it takes 40 minutes to heat the coolant from cold to operating temp. Not just warm... actual operating temperature. Cuts my fuel consumption in half on short trips.

A space heater would only work well (but slowly) if you have a well insulated and airtight engine compartment.

I think your talking about a canister style recirculating block heater, right? I think that would probably be the best, but I haven't figured out how I would install one since there is no block drain and the thermostat is in the lower rad hose. I just realized last night that the OE block heater looks like it screws in. If I can find out what thread it is, maybe I could use that port. What wattage heater are you using?

Thanks for all the responses. It's sure nice to be able to bounce ideas off others, to find the flaws before I start, especially when they're kind of odd like this one.