A/C Vent -- Where to buy?

scottb · 07-24-2003, 08:59 AM

Awhile back, someone posted here on the Board about an underdash a/c vent they purchased. It was something like $10, and looked like the vent Griffiths sells (without the hose, mounting bracket, etc.). I did a search, but can't find the posting.

Help. Anyone?

Thanks.

ZCAT3 · 07-24-2003, 09:20 AM

Hey Scott - I would be iunterested in this one as well - could be the finishing touch to my "cheap" AC project.

RickM · RickM's Garage

I believe this link will help... No more Bowtie! My center vent kit

scottb · 07-24-2003, 09:56 AM

Thanks, Rick, but that wasn't what I was thinking of.

I think this is the website: Yearwood

Scott

ruf-porsche · ruf-porsche's Garage

Here's the link

http://yearwood.safeshopper.com/391/cat391.htm?404

TerryBPP · 07-24-2003, 10:02 AM

I bought a whole, used, under dash unit just for the vents. I think it was $75.00. I only needed 2 vents but I figured some spares could hurt.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

so the hot241000 rectangular under dash?

http://www.yearwood.com/AirConditioningandHeatinghtm/HOT240001.asp

scottb · 07-24-2003, 10:12 AM

That's what I'm thinking, Todd.

ZCAT3 · 07-24-2003, 10:22 AM

Just as an FYI guys, the Performance Aire bulkhead vent is a lot more involved. Not only do you drill a larger opening in the bulkhead but you actually replace the internal ducting from the evaporator to the vents. The original ducting has a passageway about as thick as a pencil for the bow tie vent and a passageway maybe as thick as a roll of nickels for the other vents. The new ducting greatly enlarges the passageway to the new bulkhead vent and the airflow is increased dramatically at that point. On the down side, this is at the expense of the airflow to the other vents a bit.

nostatic · nostatic's Garage

seems like the airflow is a zero-sum game, unless the fan is putting out more air than the ducts can handle. Assuming that isn't the case, I wouldn't want to go too big, becuase one advantage of the small side vents is you get decent velocity out, so you can actually feel the air stream. The bowtie strikes me as the biggest waste unless you like your feet cool.

ZCAT3 · 07-24-2003, 10:35 AM

The advantage to the Performance Aire kit is that it gives you the coldest air right from the evaporator and you can direct it to some degree. You can also close it off if you want more air to the center and side vents (this would be the best reason for the cheap $10 vent linked above). I have done a bunch of vent temp tests in my 930 (my wife thinks I am insane) and the temp at my bulkhead vent is usually 5 - 10 degrees cooler than at the side vents. Performance Aire wanted to maximize the use of the coldest available air flow. They did do a good job of that - but the price is pretty high. The install also requires the system to be empty as you have to pull out the evaporator.

Bill

scottb · 07-24-2003, 12:59 PM

Zcat: Did you do the PA modification yourself, or did you have PA do it for you? How much was it?

ZCAT3 · 07-24-2003, 01:09 PM

Scott - that was the only thing that I did not do myself. The instructions from PA were terrible. I had my local Porsche shop do it and they were baffled by the instructions as well.

Adman · 07-24-2003, 02:37 PM

Scott...I did the complete PA system installation myself including underbelly condensor.
I read the instruction for the vent installation about 100 times sitting in my Lazy Boy and it just didnt make any sense. Once I went outside and opened the smugglers hatch...it all made sense. I did the complete system so the evaporator was removed. It would not be neccessary to remove the evaporator causing need to discharge the system. If you pull the evaporator box cover off, you will have the access you need. Your completely replacing the air supply plenum that connects to the evaporator blower fan outlet. The new plenum has two outlets instead of one that feed the bulkhead where the bowtie use to be. Inside the car you have pulled the bowtie vent, plugged the hole and drilled 2 holes to the immediate right of the plugged hole using provided template. It took me 2 1/2 hrs to do the job and most of the time was spent second guess myself. PA recommends pulling the evaporator box so you can replace the foam gasketing at the two return air points and around the evaporator inside its box. My car is an '87 and the gaskets were completely broken down. If you dont replace them you risk sucking hot return air to the evaporator and also heating your cold outbound air. It not rocket science. Its just time consuming like just about all other Porsche repairs. Contemporary vehicles require pulling the complete dash to replace an evaporator. We are actually pretty darn lucky in that regard. Good luck with what ever route you take.
Matthew

david914 · 07-24-2003, 03:05 PM

Has anyone been to Griffith's website lately? They have added a variable-speed fan control (I actually thought of that several years ago - DOH!) and a triple under-dash vent kit. I would think the triple vent setup would help.

North Coast Cab · North Coast Cab's Garage

Ok, Ok. I should have finished the job and posted this a while ago. I bought the vent from Yearwood for $11. I used a 1 1/4" pvc male adapter, $.30, and a piece of 2" plastic dryer vent painted black, $1.00. It works great and directs the air exactly where I need it. I used two screws to mount to the bottom of the ashtray and the flexible hose allows it to open completely. My only complaint is the vent has a little chrome ring around it.

JG

ZCAT3 · 07-24-2003, 04:01 PM

Adman - the instructions for the under belly AC condenser were pretty poor as well, with statements such as "the way you position this bracket should be obvious" and other helpful info. But the install of that was pretty simple. I was so tired after pulling and installing all the hoses by myself, I figured that after one confusing read of the vent instructions that I would leave something for my mechanic. An earlier post by you that it took you about 2.5 hours led me to believe my mechanic would be faster than that. Boy was I wrong - it took them at least 3 hours to get it installed (at $100 per hour). PA's instructions actually say you do have to evacuate the system and that you have to remove the temp probe from the top of the evaporator - I believe both of these statements are wrong. In any case, it does pump out cold air for sure.

scottb · 07-24-2003, 04:06 PM

Northcoast:

www.danhard.com has an all black vent. Danhard has a $50 minimum order, however.

I had the same issue with the Yearwood vent -- I didn't like the chrome trim.

I've thought about building a three-way vent like Griffiths. The only stumbling block is some sort of coupler to combine the hoses from all three vents.

Adman · 07-24-2003, 04:39 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by ZCAT3
Adman - the instructions for the under belly AC condenser were pretty poor as well, with statements such as "the way you position this bracket should be obvious" and other helpful info. PA's instructions actually say you do have to evacuate the system and that you have to remove the temp probe from the top of the evaporator - I believe both of these statements are wrong. In any case, it does pump out cold air for sure.

ZCAT3...have to agree that all of the instruction were probably the worst I have ever seen. When I spoke with the tech about the vent instruction he confirmed that the only reason to discharge and pull the evaporator was to make certain the gaskets were fresh. If you didnt you would just be getting a greater volume of warm air. They are covering their butt, basically. Add one more kink to the underbelly install. There is not an "approved" way of installing on a G-50 tranny P-car. Yep...blew me away. There is a hump in the pan for the tranny that you have to bridge. They had to send me spacers and longer screws to make it over the hump and still be supported. So the condensor runs parrallel with the pan across the leading edge and both sides. Then it humps up about 1 1/4" center rear to clear the tranny hump.
Not to defend any aspect of their instruction...but I am not certain how you would explain the crash bar locations. They only seem to fit properly in the intended location.
Matthew

ZCAT3 · 07-24-2003, 06:08 PM

Hey Matthew - I got to avoid the G-50 issue as my car is an 86 930. I can't complain about the results - low 30 degree vent temps in 90 degree ambient heat. Although I did choose to stay with the OEM Nippondenso compressor which seems fine so far (I wish I could say the same for the expensive PA compressor in my 87).

Bill