Flappers, e-brakes, cables, levers, blowers, et al...

[Tremelune]

After getting heat to the flapper boxes of my '84, I decided it would be worth it to get the controls and blowers fully operational. With no blower in the engine compartment, defrost is a joke unless the footwell blowers are working properly, so I'm trying to complete the system instead of making do with hot air breathing gently into the car.

My '84 had autoheat, and I don't intend to put it back in. It has an "emergency" lever on it that connects via cable to both flapper boxes. It kind of opens them, but kind of doesn't hold them open, and generally feels jammed up. I'm going to replace the parking brake assembly with the standard two-lever kind, and replace the cable so that the boxes can be controlled individually.

Has anyone ever done this? Running cables seems frightening. Do I need special cable or is this pretty standard cabling?

Once the parking brake is in, I need to do something to the wiring such that the footwell blowers will operate without the "signal" from the rear engine blower that controls that insane relay. Research for the future.

Also, note to self: Put a fuse on each blower circuit.

[Tremelune]

I pulled apart my footwell blowers and found them to be in good working condition, but somewhat full of muck. It was also apparent that one of the squirrel cages was making contact with the housing, which I believe is what causes the squeaking. If it gets bad enough, i believe it also starts fires.









When reattaching the squirrel cage to the shaft, I left a gap of about 1mm. Just over the hair of space that was there before. It spins freely with no squeaking when hooked up to power.

[DRACO A5OG]

Routing is no big deal, just remember how everything goes back especially the eBrake ground or the idiot light will go on :-)

I purchase nickle plated ( anti-rust ) steel cable at ACE, after 4 years it is still holding up.

When removing the cable at the flapper, be warned it will be rust welding and you need a mini vise grip to hold the other end as you attempt to remove the nut. DO NOT just unbolt it, it will shear off the old cable. After everything is routed, you need a helper to lift and lower the levers to adjust the flappers to close and open properly.

Small Air Craft Supply companies sell the Orange Heater hoses.

Hope this helps,

Jim

[wwest]

There is a good reason for the "insane" (reed) relay. If the cabin heat blower is not running then it is possible for the footwell blowers to create a VACUUM at the flapper valve and thereby pull exhaust fumes into the cabin.

As one can see, with the engine compartment blower running FULL BLAST, thereby drawing enough current to "trip" the reed relay, you would have positive pressure at the flapper valves.

[Tremelune]

Handy info on footwell blowers:

Footwell Blowers