Last week the Seattle area became unseasonably cold. During the past three years that the 7-Oh-Fun has been flying we had not seen temps in the 20s.

Disclaimer: No warranty is implied and no liability is accepted. This sort of preheater will require supervision. Do not leave unattended.

What to do? If necessity is the mother of invention, then the Lowe's next to the airport was the father.

I found  the following cheap items:

• UtiliTech Cermamic Electric Space Heater ($25 electric heater, Item #485219)
• Plastic vent ($5, Item #328910)
• Flexible vent tubing ($10, Item #40529)
• Aluminum tape ($5, Item #433282)
• Tube spring clamps ($2, Item #55597) 

Here are all the parts before assembly:

After unpacking the parts I took the aluminum tape and masked off the sides of the heater to prepare for the vent being attached.

I then removed the louvers from the vent and taped it with the aluminum tape over the heater with the round tube adapter pointing out.

Finally I used the clamp to attach the tubing. Towels were used to plug the front of the cowling. The free end of the tubing was inserted into the lower rear area of the cowling. The oscillation feature of the heater was turned off. 

You can also see that I used a VERY low powered hairdryer pointed at the oil tank to assist.

The heater was adjusted to be "not too hot" with the fan on high. The whole system took my oil and engine from 24F to 48F in about 30 minutes.

Good luck!