Fresh air blockoff plate (by wipers) the $9 solution

[SoCal70RSR]

For those of you who have removed your fresh air system here is a solution for a block off plate so
air and water doesn't get into the trunk.

Home depot sells a door sill that's made out of thin flexible aluminum for about $9. It won't rust and it
has ridges so it's a nice look instead of a plain piece of sheetmetal. I can't remember the size of the
door sill but it's longer than 22 inches, which is roughly the size of the fresh air opening.

Use your original mesh to trace the shape, once you have the correct shape cut it with scisors or whatever
works for you, have some patience here. Use a file to smooth out the edges. To get the contour, use a
round pipe, I used my hydraulic jack's pole.

Tape it to the back of the fresh air "grill" and drill the holes. Attach and use some putty/sealer to
further seal any openings.

Here are some pics of the process:

[81 911 SC]

Looks good. I am in the process of pulling my AC so I might just use this idea.

[DW SD]

SWEET! I need one of those BIG TIME!
Where did you buy the sealer? And where did you put the sealer? Will it come off the body later?

Great job!

Doug

[t6dpilot]

Great idea! I may use that on my car if I keep the blower system out. Just out of curiosity, how do you keep the windows defogged or do you not have to worry about that in SoCal?

I also have another related question (sort of). Do you utilize the charcoal canister and fuel vapor box to vent fuel fumes? I do not have any of that in my light weight car and am wondering how other R Gruppe style cars have addressed this issue. Is it necessary to have the original venting system? The Euro cars did not. Thanks.

[SoCal70RSR]

I bought the sealer some time ago at an Auto Body Shop... it's very useful around the car. Once the grill has been fastened, use the sealer (or something similar) through the back, it shouldn't really touch your nice paint, and if it does you should be able to use a lemon based cleaner in case you have to remove it.

My car is setup with the backdate heat so that should help in defogging the windshield... Good question on the fuel fumes situation, my car is not running yet, but I know I'll deal with that, so I'm interested in a good solution as well.

[ZOA NOM]

Perfect for the Track Whore.

[Jack Olsen]

Has anyone come up with the $9 solution to equal the Smart Racing fresh air duct replacement? It's a box that goes behind the front intake, and it leads to a 3-inch duct that you can run straight through the clock hole (or any other way) into the cockpit. I'd love to see one that delivers more fresh air at speed, but can also be easily turned off back at the source.

[Zeke]

Originally posted by Jack Olsen
Has anyone come up with the $9 solution to equal the Smart Racing fresh air duct replacement? It's a box that goes behind the front intake, and it leads to a 3-inch duct that you can run straight through the clock hole (or any other way) into the cockpit. I'd love to see one that delivers more fresh air at speed, but can also be easily turned off back at the source.

I doan think thatz gonna happen. Sounds like neat deal. Can't a duct mounted butterfly either controlled form under the dash, or by a remote cable, shut something like that off?

The always off $9 solution is a clean job! Nice work.

[DW SD]

You've got to have the butterfly or whatever valve seal as well. If it is open, it must also drain h20 out, which gets more complicated.

But......
A $20 solution might be.......A combination of the The factory cowl air box (which isn't too heavy, if you remove and block off the motor), an air outlet which fits the clock hole and some ducting.

You block off an outlet on the air box, set the butterfly valves manually and find an air outlet which fits in the clock hole and add ducting to the outlet. I think aircraft spruce would have the air outlet and ducting, if you can live with the factory airbox.

Doug

[davenixon911]

Not to revive an old thread but I backdated my heat in my 911sc and built a custom fresh air setup for my dashboard vents. I chose not to do a block off and retain the dash vents for fresh air only (fair weather car).

I bought a Big Box (Lowe’s) 14” shop vac attachment for $18. Cut some plastic from a storage bin and made a 2.5” air intake scoop I connected to my dash vents. If you’re feeling ambitious (I was not) you could put a simple butterfly valve on it to shut it on and off (from parts left over from my backdate).

I’ll probably add a drain hose at the bottom of the air hose if I ever got caught in the rain.

Here’s the build process I used. Really cheap and super easy.

[davenixon911]

Originally Posted by Jack Olsen

Has anyone come up with the $9 solution to equal the Smart Racing fresh air duct replacement? It's a box that goes behind the front intake, and it leads to a 3-inch duct that you can run straight through the clock hole (or any other way) into the cockpit. I'd love to see one that delivers more fresh air at speed, but can also be easily turned off back at the source.

Not $9 but an $18 version that retains air directly into the cabin.

[SpyderMike]

I used ABS drain pipe from Home Depot. It fit perfectly and snugly in the channels. I glued some ends on it and a drilled for a drain and glued a tube adapter in. It works great and already has a black finish.

[echecsqueen]

Nice

[gus91326]

You could use woodworking blast gates to act as the butterfly for fresh air/closed.

[Dpmulvan]

Originally Posted by gus91326

You could use woodworking blast gates to act as the butterfly for fresh air/closed.

Control the flow of air and material through duct systems.

ABS plastic gates work with plastic duct and duct hose. They withstand impact and abrasion. Gates with a stay-put slide do not require a locking screw.

3D CAD models availableFor technical drawings and 3-D models, click on a part number.
ABS Plastic Gates
Overall
Duct
Size Male
OD Wd. Ht. Dp. Slide
Color Gate
Color Features Connection
Type Each
ABS Plastic Slide
3 2 7/8" 4 1/2" 8 1/8" 3 1/16" Black Black Stay-Put Slide Press Fit 38405K91 $8.16
4 3 7/8" 5 1/2" 10 1/8" 3 5/16" Black Black Stay-Put Slide Press Fit 38405K92 12.45
5 4 7/8" 6 1/2" 12 1/8" 3 5/16" Black Black Stay-Put Slide Press Fit 38405K97 14.19
6 5 7/8" 7 1/2" 14 1/4" 3 5/16" Black Black Stay-Put Slide Press Fit 38405K98 17.07