[Showdown]

The gen 1 blower had plastic ends where the hoses connected to. There was a foam gasket that was between the metal body and the plastic ends... it was worthless. I replaced it with a thicker one and then used 2" wide electrical tape to actually seal the interface between the body and the end caps. It's done fine so far but who knows on the longevity.

As far as the gasket blocking the fresh air intake- that's blocked enough water that I don't get any leakage in the trunk but again, I drilled my drain holes to be larger so to accommodate a higher flow of water as I anticipated this being a problem. But unfortunately it's blocked the fresh air as well and that I need to rectify.

I've been pretty disappointed with the CR system since turning it on and receiving a mediocre flow of air. The temperature isn't the problem- it gets plenty cold, which ironically is because the compressor, condenser, drier and plumbing are all stock components available from any number of aftermarket HVAC companies- CR didn't design or invent any of those parts and they work as they should. The problem for me was in the CR designed blower housing and the restrictive Porsche ducting/valves.

I've disassembled my system and created my own valves and digital servo controls for them so that they actually allow airflow.

I'm in the process of designing a second gen version with better valves and a fresh air valve so that I can have fresh air when open and no water ingress (or hot air) when closed. Gen 2 also passes the heat through the blower and new ducting so that the system operates like a modern HVAC system with zones.

I suspect that eventually I'll just throw away the CR blower and housing and salvage the core components and just design my own. I'm reaching the end of tolerating having to hack things that were supposed to be plug and play and very expensive.

With 3D printing, online CNC, and the global marketplace it's never been easier to design and build our own stuff without the lousy customer service, questionable fit and finish and hefty price tag that so many aftermarket parts producers levy on us.

/rant