Remove fresh air blower in track car (71T)?

ZCAT3 · 05-14-2004, 10:42 PM

So I bit the bullet and sold my 87 Carrera for a 71T track car. The T is pretty gutted and has no heater or AC. The fresh air blower does not work - assuming the pull switch next to the lighter is for the blower?? In any case, I don't care if it works as the windows will be providing air to the cabin. Is there any reason I can't just pull all of that stuff out of the trunk and be done with it? Heck, it must weigh at least 10 pounds.

ZCAT3 · 05-14-2004, 10:51 PM

Here is a picture of the offending and apparently useless parts (as an aside, the fresh air blower parts apparently did not change at all from 1971 to 1987):

And a prettier picture from the other end:

geof33 · 05-14-2004, 11:36 PM

Gotta ask... Why is there an o2 sensor hanging above the right carb?? Or, is that some other thing?

Todd Simpson · 05-15-2004, 06:18 AM

'71T track car....good choice!

The fresh air blower comes on when you move the top lever on the dash about half way over. There should be three speeds, though mine is down to 2 these days.

Check the plug on the fan itself, it's a 4 pin connector and check the connections in the dash below if you want to get it working again.

I use my car on the street to and from the track and it helps clear the windshield and blows a little air on my legs in hot weather. There's lots of other places to lose weight, last weigh in for me was 2195, and that's with a 3.2.

ttweed · ttweed's Garage

Quote:

Originally posted by geof33
Gotta ask... Why is there an o2 sensor hanging above the right carb?? Or, is that some other thing?

This is not a carb setup, it looks like EFI to me. The little black cylindrical part below the fuel rail on the throttle body is an electronic injector, not an 02 sensor, which would be mounted in the exhaust system.

BTW, I have also left the blower in my track car even though it has no heat to aid in defrosting the windshield, which can still fog at times.

YMMV,
TT

Schrup · Schrup's Garage

Lose it!!!

ZCAT3 · 05-15-2004, 08:25 AM

Tod - I have no levers on the dash as I did in my 87 Carrera - I wonder if that was removed altogether?? In fact, a Hot Lap timer is mounted in that space.

As for the thingy haning over the right air filter, that is an air intake temperature sensor. The car is running an Electromotive EFI system.

Here is a picture of the dash - not much there:

And a few more of the car -

geof33 · 05-15-2004, 08:31 AM

Oh ya... I was wondering about how the stacks look!!! Very cool!!

Jack Olsen · 05-15-2004, 08:45 AM

Smart Racing makes a piece that fits behind the hood center vent and directs air right to (and through) the clock hole. I've always thought it would be easy to make a poor man's version of this.

Then again, if the rules allow it, blocking off the vent from the outside will improve your aero.

ZCAT3 · 05-15-2004, 09:09 AM

Well the clock doesn't work either so perhaps a fresh air duct through that hole is not a bad idea (only $200 from Smart Racing). Heck the clock must weigh at least a pound.

On the subject of gauges, how hard is it to add an oil level gauge (my car only has a fuel gauge).

Todd Simpson · 05-15-2004, 02:39 PM

Yeah, they took out your slider deal, stock it was just like your Carrera...dash is different too, a '71 had no vents in the dash. Might as well pull the blower out now.

Just pulling the clock out may give you a lot of airflow, though I'll bet the kit is better. I also pulled out my dash top speaker and a ton of air comes through there too. Did I mention Summit Point is HOT in the summer?

Adding an oil level gauge should be easy. Just get a combination gauge from a 911, then put the matching sender in the oil tank.

rattlsnak · rattlsnak's Garage

For what its worth, I just spent two hours cleaning and bringing my fresh air blower back to life in my 72 race car. It weighs @ 4 lbs total. It also houses the mixer box and I need it here in the Southeast for defroster purposes.

ZCAT3 · 05-16-2004, 08:45 AM

Well I went through this yesterday and pulled everything out. The fan housing sure seemed light. I wanted to see why it wouldn't work so I opened it up and lo and behold - an empty compartment with no fan at all. I wanted to be able to have some fresh air flow from the dash, so after looking at the Smart Racing clock vent (for $200) it dawned on me that I could make a similar deal out of the parts I already have.

There are 2 things to pay attention to: 1) the obvious issue is getting fresh air to flow into the cabin, and 2) there needs to be a drain tube for water that gets in through the hood vent. The stock blower housing has this built in. You can see in the picture that the blower housing connects to the floor of the trunk - that is a drain tube. In any case, I removed all the extra tubing and the heater and defroster valves and then was left with an empty blower box with one intake (the hood vent) and two outlets. The outleft on the driver's side had a flapper valve in it, so I closed that valve and then ducted the center dash vent to the passenger side outlet. Now all the air that comes in the hood vent is ducted to the center dash vent. I can close this off from inside the car with the vent controls if need be. It works really well - at even moderate speed (say 25 MPH) you get a really nice flow of fresh air through the center vents. And it did not cost $200.