sunny fire place

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I bought an antique fire place for my wife for her birthday, and she loves it. But now that I've got it home and looked a little closer, I think it belongs in a creepy horror cartoon type movie....but don't tell my wife! [Alice in Wonderland or?]

My plan is to take the also antique car warmer that's sitting on top and put it into the fireplace so that there is heat close by where she sits. I didn't want to buy one of those ones that are advertised on t.v. for 2/3 hundred and look like cheap crap up close so I decided to do this. I bought the fireplace for $C200.00 and the car warmer was free from my father-in law.
Starting to take it apart;

When I flipped it over I found a tin covering the bottom. I was able to bend it slightly and unhook it to reveal the inside from the bottom.

I oiled the nuts and bolts and will come back to loosen them another day.

The burner portion was between the grate on the top and the tin on the bottom. Originally it was hooked up to natural gas.
I have to figure a safe way to place the car warmer where the burner is going to be removed, and will be replacing the original 2-wire cord with a 3-wire grounded cord. I'd like to figure out how I can safely control the heat output of the unit. I wonder if I can leave the original control on high and put a rheostat or something similar in line of the 3-wire. If anybody has some knowledge of this type of wiring, I'd appreciate input.
Thanks,
Richard

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

Some info on the car heater;
It's a Varcon distributed in Canada by Macleod Stedman limited
"Mod. 777 L R 8822
120 volts 6.6 amps 60 cy
Caution use with wall or base receptacle only"

The wattage = P=Volts x amps P= 792 watts
It seems that this unit is ~ the same as a hair dryer [just guessing, I don't want to run up 2 flights of stairs to check] and that's about where I'd like the electrical consumption to be. I'm hoping the the metal, some of which is cast, will absorb some heat and radiate it more like a regular stove would do. I want to make this somewhat portable so my wife can pull it in front of her chair and warm her toes/feet or pull it along side her chair for a full body warmth. So far the plan is to mount the warmer so the air is directed downwards where it will hit the tin shield covering the bottom and be directed out along the floor.
I have yet to find out what I can safely use to control the current to control the output of the warmer. Any ideas?

Richard