Securing eyeball vent pipes to heater

[Bigbaldybloke]

I?ve searched on here and found lots on the heater and vent pipes but not how the eyeball vent pipes are secured to the outlets on the heater. I have all the original parts that have been off the car for over 30 years. The vent pipe fits snugly over the eyeball vent itself, but at the heater end it neither fits over the heater outlet pipe or inside it. So, how is it meant to be secured, duct tape or something similar or am I missing some sort of collar that fits over both pieces and holds them together.
I should have said this is on an early Plus 2.
In the meantime I?ll continue trying to connect up the heater controls through the radio and ashtray openings, oh joy!

[wotsisname]

my similar age car had black duct tape or equivalent wrapped around the pipes.. i think this was on both ends (would have to look at my original and very tatty pipe to be sure) - was definitely on the heater end.... I assume this was original , but the car was 18yrs old when I acquired it....
any tips on dash fitting are welcome as i've nearly got to that stage

[RichC]

yep that sounds right

[RichC]

yep that sounds right

[RichardHawkins]

Baldy, (hope that is not offensive)

My car is a series 4 two seater, so I don't know if what I am about to say is correct for a plus 2.

If I remember correctly the heater has two rubber elbows (rather like a grommet with elbow attached) could this be what you are missing?

I bought replacements from Sue Miller.

Richard Hawkins

[Bigbaldybloke]

Thanks all and no offence taken Richard as I am rather folically challenged!

I?ve been out and bought a roll of black duct tape. The drivers side is done and seems nice and secure with a couple of layers of tape at the heater end. The pipe fits tightly on to the eyeball vent unit so doesn?t need tape as once the dash is bolted in there is no room for it to come off. Haven?t done the passenger side yet as I?m awaiting delivery of the glove box lamp so have the dash partly out for access to fit that. Needed a quick mod to the harness as my original glovebox didn?t have a light in it. When testing it that?s when I found the interior light switch had failed so needed to replace that while the dash was still partially out. Other bits I am waiting for is the smaller ducts to the demister vent which is probably what Richard was referring to. On mine the originals were thin corrugated plastic tube which proceeded to shatter as soon as I tried to bend them back into place.

As for tips on replacing the dash, I?d rather take the engine out and put it back than take the dash out. When putting it back the first and most fiddly job has to be reconnect the cables to the heater control levers, the lower lever is a real fiddle to connect. Access through the radio slot and ash tray hole are limited! Connect the dash wiring harness to the rest of the wiring before you secure the dash in place and test everything works. As for changing the dashboard for a new one, take lots of photos especially of all the switch connections and harness wiring route. Make sure your new dash has all the right size holes in the right places, mine was missing a couple and some were the wrong size.

[The Veg]

It was black duct tape in my car, although at the vents end it looked more like several wraps of electrical tape!

Also I found the original ducting to be a bit dirty, and couldn?t clean it without unraveling it. A flexible tube in the same size was challenging to find, until I got some brake-duct hose. The fit is perfect, and the inside is smoother, which should improve airflow a bit. Only trouble is, the coating on it is silicone rubber- so even Gorilla-tape doesn?t want t stick to it. No worries though, as The tape does stick to the spigots and I don?t think the ducting really wants to go anywhere.

Heater cables: when I was taking it all apart I found it easy to just unscrew the lever-assembly from the dashboard so that the dashboard could be pulled away enough to get at the wiring. I?ll do the reverse of this putting it all back together. The first screw might be a tad tricky, but ithe others should be increasingly easy.