I have a 71 Etype and the fresh air intake system wasnt introduced until 1972. Has anyone fitted the system to a 71? Or is there another feasible way to add fresh air to the cabin?*
During the summer you can remove the heater coil.
Best advice Ive seen!!!
Not a lot of air coming thru the heater box
I didnât know ealier series 3 didnât have the footwell vents. They do bring a good amount of air at speed.
The key part are the vent boxes (circled in red) which mate to a hole in the bonnet structure. The vent boxes have a shut off flap, and send air to the foot well with some ducting.
Even if you added the boxes, duct and cut the hole thru the firewall, unless the bonnet has the sheet metal scoops, you wonât get anything.
In addition to what Pascal has said, I seldom use them as I find them to be remarkably âinefficientâ at delivering fresh air except in the winter. Not sure it would be worth the effort to retrofit especially since I doubt the earlier cars will have the ducting built into the bonnet.
Cheers,
LLynn
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Thanks Lynn, Guess Iâll install a new AC compressor and, as a last resort, open the windows! LOL!
Iâve been thinking the same on my 1971 Series 3 FHC. Yep, the heater doesnât provide much air, and itâs usually warm anyway. I think anything that runs through the engine bay will be getting warm. My solution on a recent 100 mile trip in July was to âborrowâ the black 2" flex hose from my Shopvac, tape it open-end-forward to the right side mirror, and run the other end to my footwell - or wherever I wanted fresh air. Worked great and was hardly noticeable! Those who did notice thought it was neat - well, except for the concours judges . . .
280ZXs had, in an effort to cool the fuel injectors, the niftiest little plastic air horn, that worked wonderfully, which when tucked around a door window with a 1.125â hose, directed to oneâs feet, did the same thing.
Found a pic!
Seems primitive but canât argue with results! Will need one for the passenger side as my wife complains of hot feet too. Maybe a splitter on the outlet end of the hose to allow air to reach both footwells!
Sorry but the 71 does have fresh air into the cabin via the underdash vents - turn the heater off and turn on the fan - ok it is not a lot of air but fresh air is available in the cabin.
The later additional air intakes can be fitted if required.
Tried that solution Garry but the air coming out of the vents is from the engine compartment. ie: HOT! Still trying to work out a way to pipe in outside air to the cabin. Fortunately I live at 49 degrees North so most days are not unbearably warm!
Well you have an issue with either the sealing in the engine bay or your heater not turning off. Fresh air enters the system at the side of the oval main air intake for the radiator. Runs along the square chamber on the under side of the bonnet to the top of the heater box - when the bonnet is closed the air tube is sealed against the top of the heater.
The air then goes past the fan, through the heater matrix and into the cabin to the underdash vent on that side - there is a branch where air goes up to the defrost vents and across to the other side.
So to start you need to work out why cool outside air is not getting to the cabin. - either the foam seal that seals the top of the heater matrix is shot allowing hot air from around the exhaust in or you have a problem with the heater box itself - it is not a simple on off affair as there is an additional thermostat (bimetalic strip???) that adjusts heat - there is also a flap system in there. On my own car I am going to get rid of this and make the heater solely controllable from the cabin control.
Now if it works as it should - at highway speeds there is enough cool air that gets in to cool your feet without the fan but in all other circumstances the fan is needed - but in all circumstances it is not good.
So you need to see what is happening with the standard system as it is clearly faulty but I believe the additional later system which takes air from the front as well will help. I have 40c degree summers and hot outside air did help cool the cabin.
Oh my car is a Jul/Aug 71 build so my heating/cooling will be the same as yours - mine works but in hotter weather not all that well.
Thanks for the explanation. My car was built in June, 71 so is the same as yours. Will check out the system to see if it is operating properly.
Well, itâs been a while since this discussion took place, but I have found the fresh air solution for my 1971 Series 3 E-type. And itâs very simple and inexpensive. Actually, AussieEtype had the answer (thanks, Aussie!): just use the existing heater system. When I had tried this, it blew warm air, even with the âheatâ turned off. So, I installed a new heater water valve, but no improvement. Then recently I installed a separate manual heater water cutoff brass ball valve ($15.00 at Home Depot). Voila! Nice cool outside air to both sides of the footwell - Jetjock, for your wifeâs feet! Works nicely when moving and OK when stopped with heater fan running. Note that for maximum performance the flapper on the under-bonnet heater box should be in the âopenâ position and the flappers behind the dash should be in âheaterâ mode, not âdefrostâ mode.
Thanks for the idea Ferman. Finally put in the new A/C compressor and, naturally, its been too cool to use it much. Tried for two days to put on the belt that XK sent me before finding out they had sent me a Power Steering belt! Once I had the right belt, it went on in 20 minutes. Oh well at least I wasnât paying shop rates. Our local GM shop just raised their hourly rate to $179 an hour! $3 a minute.
Regards, Larry
Ditto for my full-flow (no water shutoff) heater box on my Rover: HUGE difference.
Larry, terrific! Iâm sure that A/C feels great. The fresh air vents only go so far in hot humid weather . . .
I finally got my factory A/C working after installing rebuilt compressor and evaporator, and hoses - two new hoses were faulty. It blows so cold that I just about only use low fan!