Demister vents (defroster)

[Michael C Henry]

A heater deroster has been on my list of things I want. The dash is coming out so it is a good time to get busy.I've been looking at the defroster vents that Finishline offers.There is the polished sheet OEM and the chromed cast lovers, Which and why?Ant other options that you've seen or used?
And about the heater part .What do you do ?, just clamp off the hoses and let them puke under dash?

[Mr.Fixit]

Which louvers is probubly more of an aesthetic question instead of function.
For the heater, the heater core is easy. Just get a heater core (mini radiator) and plumb the 5/8" coolant lines through it, with a shutoff valve preferrably. The harder part is making or finding a box to contain it, a fan to blow the air, and ducting to connect it all together to the dash vents. Somebody probubly sells nice street rod conversion deals like this, maybe like the vintage air A/C units for undr dash.

There are also "all electric" car heaters available, I don't know who sells them or how good they are. But they don't need the engine coolant for heat, they have an electric heater and fan.

[A Cobra guy]

Go for the street rod type heater core. Mine came from E-M but I'm sure it was a 3rd party part. It is about a 6inch cube with a 2 speed fan. Louver doors on 3 sides can be opened or closed to let heat into the cockpit area. The more you close them the more heat is diverted to the defrosters. I have the cast louvers which I think look good. I know you have a glove box in your dash. Mine is very shallow on ther left side to make room for the heater core. I don't know if E-M had 2 glove box inserts but if not that material will be a lot easier to work with than makeing up a heater core from scratch.

[rdorman]

I got my heater/defroster unit from vintage air. Works great. Mine is actually mounted on top of the passenger side foot box tucked up under the fender. No hot water in the cockpit. The 'stamped' aluminum looking louver was the original type. Not sure what was used to the heat portion.

[Roscoe]

One thing: no matter which vent cover you use consider painting it a non reflective color. Mine would reflect off the windshield and was very annoying. Painted them black.

Roscoe

[HighPlainsDrifter]

Michael;
The stripes drawing shows that 1/2 the vents should be painted if you want the authentic look.
I used a compact vintage air heater/defrost kit, works good.Email me if you would like details of the body stripes/vents.
Perry.

[Michael C Henry]

When I asked for feedback I was concerned with despersion , or lack of, placement from windsheild ,looks ,problems with crap falling inside, and any other thing you can tell me about.Did you have a problem w/the duct being too short and only clearing a small hole.Was yours too intense and cracked windsheild? How about placement of vents or even heater .What would have done differently?I cleared the windsheild (late night during summer) by warming engine and letting hood set ajar on closed hood latches.I realy do not like the working on the car as much as the driving.I do not want this to be less than a complete succes,no do overs.I loose a lot of driving time to the weather .It's cool and damp a lot of the time here in western Washington.Liescense and insurance are as if the vehicles never cool off.I'm looking for any tidd bit of info. The car is all white no stripes,Black interior.

[Captain Speed]

I got my heater from Europa in England. It bolts directly on the firewall and works good, but we don't have the same weather as you do. The vents are the stamped ones from Finish line. I painted them the same as the body color and they blend in quite well. I don't think the installation of this or other systems is just a quick "bolt on" . You have the wiring,pluming, and cutting. Plus blower controls. Sounds like FUN.

[Michael C Henry]

I know nothing is easy.I have the dash out now.I have several projects going on at the same time and space..The heater defroster ,tip the windsheild to match new side curtains.Install new master switch in the middle of dash,install glove box, sand blast dash (rusting) some coating(not know exactly) cover w/ padded viynl,Oh ! I have a fresened engine I have not started and broken in yet either.Jump in anywhere.
See painting the the stamped vents hadn't occured to me.
How far from the glass. Was yours too close and a small hole or cracked glass.To far glass never clears nicely? how big a slot to cot for vent. Tell me something I don't know.

[Captain Speed]

Don't know about Everett Morrison cars but the Contemporary cars have a 1.5 inch cowl hoop that is almost in the way. I installed my vents 10 inches on centerline from the windshield post on each side and about 1.5 inches aft of the windshield. This placed the demister in what appeared to be in front of my face. The slot was about 4 inches by 1/8 inch.

[Michael C Henry]

How did that work out? any complaints, other than the cowl hoop ?and which vent are you using?

[Steve Siedlecki]

Michael,
I had run into some unique problems when installing my heater defrost setup in my midstates. As capt speed noted, the cowl hoops can get in the way. Also you need to watch out for the gauge backs and wiring. I converted midway into my build to the autometer gauges which are larger then sw or vdo. I had clearance problems with the duct work... Bob at midstates has devised a "crevice tool conversion" which allows the mounting of the defroster hose on the driver side. Basically it's a vacuum cleaner crevice tool that has a milled slot into it. The angled end is fiberglassed over the seal it. The hose just slips over the other end and clamped. There are also 2 holes that line up with the mister vents to bolt it all in. He also has a steel funnel with a mounting bracket that goes to a round tube for the other side to mount.
Steve