Fresh air vents (cooler knackers)

[Nabbott]

Thought there may be interest from poor impoverished souls like me who don't have AC fitted to their car and don't relish the thought of the equivalent of open heart bypass surgery in order to retro fit it and thus keep ones knackers cool(er) in the summer.....

My car runs the aeroscreens and has a modified rear clip (to accommodate Kinsler throttle bodies), all of which contribute to very uncomfortable cabin temperatures. Most of this is caused by cockpit vacuum turbulence (wind blowing over the aeroscreen voiding the cabin and sucking air in from the rear deck) for which I plenty of modifications planned. However, positively pressurizing the cockpit with 'fresh air' certainly seems like a 'no brainer'.

I didn't want to run the risk of ruining the dashboard so instead settled on installing vents underneath
[/URL]

But I did want to be able to control the flow and came upon the idea of fitting 'blast gates'. These are used in wood working shops for connecting saws etc. to dust extraction equipment - just the job!

Closed:

Open:

[Nabbott]

Next the vents in the front clip. I didn't fancy taking up the entire vents so installed these to try and ensure that the brakes got some air too:



I'll be using the inner of the two. Then all we need to do is to connect the blast gates with the ducts, with some pipe and we're away...

Note that you'd struggle to come straight out of the body with the fitting/pipe so have angled the union away from the front wheel. This way i'll be able to secure the back section of the pipe to the 'baulkhead':

[Nabbott]

Cost so far around £170 sourced from 4 suppliers. I'll post up the finished article when the baulkhead clips arrive and I'm able to finish the pipe run.

[UltimaCH]

You can also go the way "Spatz" did on his orange Can-Am. This can also be done with the cockpit already fitted.
Uwe, I hope you don't mind if I copied and loaded your photo here...

[Nabbott]

Yes I'd seen that (it's where the idea originally germinated) however, I'm running one each side to give me 2x the potential airflow...

[confusionhunter]

Watching intently!

[UltimaCH]

2x the potential airflow, you will certainly need a comb...

[Nabbott]

Excuse the white cable ties (I'll replace with black ones when I re-stock). I'm happy with the baulk-head fitting (supplied by an online plumbers):



I used some heat shrink to secure the pipes (principally out of neatness) they work superbly well on this sort of application:



Unfortunately the 'final installment' of this modification (i.e. just how effective the vents are at cooling my knackers will have to wait as the rear clip is going in for repair and whilst it's there I need to attend to my leaky input seal on the gearbox.....

[BogBeast]

Thanks for this, as another owner without a/c, something like this (together with removable/openable side windows) has been on my 'list'..

Is there enough 'concertina' in pipe to prevent it kinking when the front clip closes? Plus have you got any part reference/on-line link for the angled fitting?

ta!

[Nabbott]

It does kink somewhat when closed - how much of a difference this'll make remains to be seen.....

Blast gate (Axminster Tools) part no. 410067
Double Duct (Demon Tweeks) Part no. MSD7008
Adhesive lined heat Shrink (Demon Tweeks) part no. GLOJC90
Air hose reducers (Demon Tweeks) 2 step -76>63mmOD Cubiscan
Any 76mm ducting Hose (bought mine from Auto Silicone Hoses - Mirfield) £33.86 for 3m
Baulkhead clip - JTM Plumbing part no. RLC013

I made the angle by cutting down the Air hose reducers, knowing that they'd be covered by the heat shrink sleeves. Let me know if you need anything else.

Nabbott