fitting under dash trims fouled by heater box

PostPost by: skelteanema » Sat Sep 09, 2017 6:20 am

Hi all,
I have purchased two new underdash trim pieces. I am trying to fit them but can't get a good fit because they are fouling on the corner of the heater box.

It is as if the heater box is too close to the dash, or too low. Is this possible?

I have the old trim pieces, and the previous owner has modified them by putting an indent to accomodate the heater box. the was achieved with fibreglass, and the trims were covered in leather to cover the modification. I want the au naturale. I could heat the plastic and put an indent in, hopefully without damage, but I would rather get them to fit properly

Has anybody else experienced this? Is it possoble to move the heater box back a bit. Only needs about 5mm.

Any suggestions welcome. It is an Elan S3 DHC.

Skittle
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PostPost by: oldelanman » Sat Sep 09, 2017 9:05 am

The height of the heater box is fixed by the support bracket and the distance to the back of the dash should be determined by two 'legs' attached to the lower edge of the casing which the dash bears on to push the heater forward into it's locating 'notch' in the body, seems like these 'legs may have been bent when the dash was screwed in. The front edge of the heater box sits on felt in the notch and from memory I think it is somewhat thinner than the rest of the felt used for insulation - maybe 1/4" instead of 1/2" thick. If the felt used was too thick it would move the heater backwards and might cause the problem you have.

heater-002.jpg and


heater-assemble-before-refurbb.jpg and
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PostPost by: elanner » Sat Sep 09, 2017 11:38 am

I can't help with a solution but I had a similar situation. When I purchased my Elan the under-dash trims, made of fibreglass, had small slots cut in them to fit around the corners of the heater box, which apparently protruded too far.

When I purchased a new dashboard I also purchased a pair of new under-dash trims (from R. D. Enterprises) on the basis that I would fix the heater box position while doing the dash, and dump the old under-dash trims (which were in poor shape anyway).

However, while the dash was out I spent a long time trying to figure out how to move the heater box back a bit, but couldn't see what was wrong. After giving up and fitting the dashboard I was very pleased to find that the new under-dash trims fit just fine and didn't foul the heater box.

So, if your heater box appears to be correctly fitted, don't write off the possibility that your new under-dash trims are wrong.

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PostPost by: oldelanman » Sat Sep 09, 2017 12:51 pm

Well I don't know if it helps but my RHS trim happens to be off at the moment and it does have a witness mark where it has been in contact with the corner of heater box. The trim is original and hasn't been modified. The gap between the heater box and the dash is 1" (25mm) and in my case the ignition switch would prevent it moving any closer.
Another thought ... do both trims foul or just one side ? Maybe the heater has moved sideways.

2017-09-09-13.32.50.jpg and
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PostPost by: skelteanema » Sat Sep 09, 2017 8:45 pm

Thanks for the suggestions. looks like I will need to pull off the dash and have a look. Didn't want to do that, but it looks inevitable if I want to get the new trims on.By hand,iI can feel a space behind the heater box, so it may not be located back in its slot far enough.
Will let you know how it goes.
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