I pulled my stock duct out which vents to my defrost on my 83 CJ7 in order to put in an aftermarket guage. Due to the guage's depth into the dash, the old duct is just too fat and bulky to work anymore. Anyone have any alternatives that I might be able to use in the old duct's place?
Yesterday I bought a new plastic one to replace my torn almost paper like vent. Would a more flexible plastic vent work for you? how tight is the fit back there?
The part that's a problem for me is the Plastic casing connecting to the vent outlet near the window. When I drilled out the dash for the new gauge I found the plastic casing on the other side which I drilled into. The gap from dash to casing was an inch or less. Very tight for any gauge.
So I need a replacement for the casing and the accordian duct to the new casing.
Here is an idea for you. Continue on drilling so the gauge physically fits right through the vent then run a small silicone bead around it to keep it basically air tight if it doesn't fit snug enough. Drill careful and it could fit tight enough not to need glue (silicone).
Even if you go through the flex duct, you can drill 1/8" holes in the edges of the hole at or through the strap and nut and bolt the duct onto the plastic vent. A bit of silicone or even foam insulation spray would seal it.
You are in California right? So defrost isn't as critical as up here in Canada and if you tossed in the big GM blower motor, you still would have double the flow vs 3 times with no gauge stuck in the vent. ;-)
Just a thought.....
Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
I'm working on the same problem. I won't have my solution installed for a few weeks, so I can't send you photos yet, but here's what I'm doing:
I'm removing the stock oval ductwork and the plastic manifold that it connects to. By manifold I mean the plastic piece that the oval ductwork connects to just under the windshield. This is actually the piece that interferes with the gauges.
I am making a new manifold out of PVC pipe parts cut longitudinally in half. This manifold has 90 degree elbows at each end and a piece of PVC pipe in the middle. I'll cut it longitudinally halfway through the pipe to create a flat surface to butt up against the bottom of the body cowl under the windshield. The 90 degree elbows will point down, and will be at the ends of the manifold, rather than in the middle, as on the old manifold.
I've made an outlet adaptor that goes on top of the heater box. This adaptor has two PVC flanges and replaces the single oval duct flange.
I'll then run 2 round hoses from the two new flanges on top of the heater box up to the elbows on the new manifold. These hoses, instead of running up the center like the single oval hose does, will each run up around the sides of the gauges.
I hope that explanation is understandable, but if not, ping me back in mid-November and I can send you some photos of these new parts installed.
The gauges, in my case, have already been bought and the hole in the dash drilled. So, A. I can't return the gauge. and B. Even if I did there is still not enough room for any gauge to fit against the stock oval ductwork as Jeff discribed because it is too close to the dash.
That's what I use to run the supercharger in my ZJ. It is designed to hold high pressure/vac at high temp and not to collapse. Think of it as super duty drier hose. :)
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