1.8 Heating Ducts

srb7f · 11-28-2004, 07:47 PM

As I lay out all the random pipes that came in a box in the trunk of my car 7 years ago, I notice that I seem to be missing a couple pieces. As a result, I have a couple questions about the parts I am missing...
1. I have only a single blower motor which was mounted right behind the driver's seat, and it has a single output on it. Was there originally a T connector which would allow a second hose to be connected (from the passenger J tube) or was there supposed to be another blower motor on the other side? It just doesn't seem that there would be space for this with the battery and ECU.
2. What in the world are the strange shaped pieces of sheet-metal do which I assume bolt underneath the ducting? Are they for protection only, or do they serve to help cool the engine or something?

The car is a 74' 1.8, if that helps. Please help me get this figured out. Steve

jamcleod · jamcleod's Garage

not originally equipped with a "Y" (at least mine doesn't have the "Y") but easily installed if you want it. the "J-tube" on the passengers side was capped. i think there is enough "air pressure/flow" on the passengers side to provide enough heat, especially when the engine has some RPM.

there are some pix/diagrams on this site of the engine sheet metal, in my opinion, all stuff from the factory should be installed.

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

The 70-72 cars had a blower with two separate outlets. The 75-76 cars had a splitter on the outlet of the single-outlet blower. The 73-74 cars only ran the blower outlet to the driver's side heat exchanger.

I'd put all of the lower sheetmetal in place. I'm not certain how strictly necessary it is, but in general Porsche (VW) didn't put too many "extra" parts on the car...

--DD

srb7f · 11-29-2004, 05:52 PM

Interesting...thanks for the help. Is that size of heater hose something you can buy locally at the FLAPS, or do you need to order it special? Also, any idea on where to get a Y connector of the same size? Steve

Dave at Pelican Parts · Dave at Pelican Parts's Garage

I don't know if there are generic equivalents to either of those. I've used the "aircraft quality" replacement hose (or the stock hose) on my cars. The "Y" fitting I got from a wrecking yard. My old 1.8 had a PVC 'T' in the hose when I bought it; it just layed there on top of the fan shroud. Not sure that's a great idea...

--DD

Tidybuoy · 05:42 PM

I installed a splitter on my car. I got the splitter off of a VW Bus at the wrecking yard (I don't know if this is standard on the bus or added).

I think the heater works much better with the splitter and living in California, I like to have the top off at night but with the heater going.

As far as the hose....I ordered mine from Pelican and it was only a few bucks.

The sheet metal pieces that go under the engine are called air cooling guides. They help the cooling air wrap around the entire cylinder (rather than just the top). I have read that they are important for correct engine cooling. I ran my car for years with one side missing but I have finally found a replacement (on E-Bay) and got it installed in a couple of minutes.

There are also a couple of plastic flaps that are mounted to the body, under the car just in front of the engine. These were installed by the factory on the later cars and help to deflect air passing under the car and cause it to enter the engine compartment.

Vern