Well. I finally got tired of cold feet in my '61 Hawk. Plenty of heat comes from the passenger seat heater. But that does not make its way to driver's foot well. I solved this by fabricating and inserting a "Tee" into the driver's side defroster supply air duct, with the side of the Tee diverting warm air to my feet. I could not find a pre made Tee valve that would fit the hose, so I made one.
Here's how I did it. I found cardboard tube that was the slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the air hose. About 2" if I remember right. But check your own hose to be sure. I then fabricated a Tee from the cardboard tubing and glued it up. I think I used a paper towel roll, but not 100% sure as I had various things laying around.
As cardboard, it is quite delicate. To stiffen it up, I wrapped the cardboard tee with a light fiberglass tape and epoxy. Once it set up, I pulled out the cardboard (mostly) sanded the rough edges out. The final OD was the ID of the defroster air hose. Finally, I installed a simple air damper valve in the Tee where the air discharged to my feet to regulate flow and insure that there was enough flow to the defroster. I did this by hole cutting a disc of thin plywood to serve as a damper, then drilling a hole in the tee for a piece of wood dowel. I then pushed the dowel into the holes, attached the circular plywood and bingo, instant damper. I sprayed it semi flat black so that it blends into the dash plumbing in case any mice happen to be critiquing my work.
I find that it takes about 1/4 open on the damper for sufficient air flow to my feet with no noticeable impact on defrost air flow. One can reach up under the dash and adjust manually by feel without have to go upside down to do it. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos until after it was installed. So here it is installed. Not pretty. But functional, or so the mice have told me.
Any questions, send them along.
Al K
Here's how I did it. I found cardboard tube that was the slightly smaller than the inside diameter of the air hose. About 2" if I remember right. But check your own hose to be sure. I then fabricated a Tee from the cardboard tubing and glued it up. I think I used a paper towel roll, but not 100% sure as I had various things laying around.
As cardboard, it is quite delicate. To stiffen it up, I wrapped the cardboard tee with a light fiberglass tape and epoxy. Once it set up, I pulled out the cardboard (mostly) sanded the rough edges out. The final OD was the ID of the defroster air hose. Finally, I installed a simple air damper valve in the Tee where the air discharged to my feet to regulate flow and insure that there was enough flow to the defroster. I did this by hole cutting a disc of thin plywood to serve as a damper, then drilling a hole in the tee for a piece of wood dowel. I then pushed the dowel into the holes, attached the circular plywood and bingo, instant damper. I sprayed it semi flat black so that it blends into the dash plumbing in case any mice happen to be critiquing my work.
I find that it takes about 1/4 open on the damper for sufficient air flow to my feet with no noticeable impact on defrost air flow. One can reach up under the dash and adjust manually by feel without have to go upside down to do it. Unfortunately, I did not take any photos until after it was installed. So here it is installed. Not pretty. But functional, or so the mice have told me.
Any questions, send them along.
Al K
I assume it was a org accessory.
Comment