How difficult is adding dash vents

Morning All,

I located a nutmeg interior 1982 bronco 3 hours away from me - not pristine but I guess i'm tired of being home constantly and am curious to check it out for potentially a multitude of parts. My 1981 dash is now looking pretty good if i do say so myself , but i have the most basic hvac system.

This bronco has the vents in the dash which caught my eye (and looks to be in decent condition). I tried searching the site, but didn't see if anyone has tried to upgrade? I'm not necessarily talking adding A/C, but just adding vents so I can get fresh air on my face (I know adding A/C is a lot of work with adding holes to the firewall which I can not do skill-wise).

Part of me (the preservationist!) thinks it may be better to keep the truck original to its factory accessories. But the other part is like....more is more! lol Has anyone done this?

I'd need to pull the dash shell, I assume I can use my existing dash pad which in in better shape, and then id need to pull all the additional ducting. Anything else that would be specific to the higher end heat system?

I'd also be curious if folks know what the push/pull switch between the radio and instrument cluster does?

delco1946 wrote

I'd also be curious if folks know what the push/pull switch between the radio and instrument cluster does?

Possibly an owner installed manual choke?

I did this on my 81. I pulled a complete 85 F-150 system from the radiator support to the dash and put in my originally non A/C truck. If I recall correctly and this was many years ago now but I believe you will have to put the whole A/C box in as it was completely different and would not have anywhere for the dash vent ducting to connect if you did not. I wish I had documented all of that (Like in my radius arm bushing post on here http://forum.garysgaragemahal.com/81-radius-arm-bushing-replacement-tp85133.html) as I do now with pictures and details but that was before all that became the norm and so easily done now days. I do remember having to trim some on the firewall for the A/C box to work correctly. The same dash pad will work. If I remember right I used to access my heater core from under the hood but now is accessed from behind the glove box with the A/C box.

If the arm rest pads are in good shape I would be interested in them. Mine is also nutmeg interior color.

Take a look here: http://www.garysgaragemahal.com/hvac-systems.html
Especially at the Integral A/C tab and the Pictures sub-tab.
You'll see the main plenum has a square hole facing the dash that the ducts hook up to.

What about using some round flex ductwork like the dealer a/c used tied somewhere into your current heat-only plenum?

Now if you could find a comfort vent system...

Eddie - so you bolted the a/c main plenum into your truck? Did you have to make the firewall modifications to do that? I know you said trim but I was thinking from other projects that it was more involved.

Yes I did a complete system core support, dash and everything associated with it down to ever nut bolt and bracket. When ordering parts and pieces I just have to remember to keep in mind this is a 85 model system. Mine would have originally came with the York style compressor had it been equipped with A/C where it now has a FS6 type. I think the plenum box is the same though. I don't remember just how much was involved as it has been awhile for recalling. Seems it was blocking some of the airway passage. Seems like I had to make a couple of different sizeable cuts and make the hole for the A/C wiring harness to pass through which was beside another wire harness down below the box. If I still have and could possibly find the pieces I cut out I will take a picture of them. I usually don't throw stuff away like that for this reason I find myself wanting to go back and refence it for what ever reason.

kramttocs wrote

Did you have to make the firewall modifications to do that? I know you said trim but I was thinking from other projects that it was more involved.

I have this project on my to-do list and even have everything here to do it. It looks like a huge task I think just because of the sheer amount of components and disassembly and assembly required. I've looked at both AC and Non-AC cabs, and they are not much different. I can turn my Non-AC cab into an AC cab in about 5 minutes with a zip-cut disk on the grinder. The biggest thing is that the large 3rd hole (#3) needs to be cut (for recirculation) that isn't present in the Non-AC cab. Then the hole has to be trimmed to fit the heater core tubes through (#2)...currently that is where the heat cable passes through. Other then that, the main hole on the left needs to be trimmed a bit on the bottom. The fresh air hole that is behind the fender is the same on both AC and Non-AC cabs.



I will probably start this before spring. I am now waiting for my new gasket set to arrive from Detroit Muscle Tech. It was a bit of a hassle for me to get it shipped into Canada...delivery has turned into a couple months. Hoping it arrives in February. Once I have the new gasket set, I plan to mount the hvac box so I can trace out the recirc hole in the cab...that way I don't mess it up...lol.

Didn't even know they used A/C in Canada..

81f100custom wrote

Didn't even know they used A/C in Canada..

Ha! Back in the Bullnose days, there were a lot of Non-AC trucks sold in Canada...lol.

Funny, there was a guy on one of the Facebook Bullnose pages last year talking about AC, and he said that he had never seen one without AC, and had owned 5-6 of them.

Thanks for that photo Cory.

I know it's not the cleanest but if not needing to add A/C I'd really take a look at using the flex ductwork. With the dealer a/c the cluster bezel vents each have an oval adapter for the hose. The passenger side vents go into a small duct that has an opening in the back for the evaporator.
You wouldn't be able to do vents only so a trade off in function vs effort.

Rembrant wrote

81f100custom wrote

Funny, there was a guy on one of the Facebook Bullnose pages last year talking about AC, and he said that he had never seen one without AC, and had owned 5-6 of them.

 I have a 1986 XLT Lariat without A/C!

Well i'm thinking I might make the drive Friday to check out the donor vehicle.

I'm excited, I just found and ordered what might be the 2 last NOS nutmeg panels in the world (sort of joking but maybe not!). One is for the slide locks (not what I have) and the other has a crack in it, but otherwise they are beautiful! They gave me a deal too - the shipping from Ohio costs more than what they charged for the panels themselves.

I need to figure how to best patch the slider hole and fix the crack. I'm getting some junkyard wheels blasted and powder coated this week; new tires next week.

Hopefully I can find some odds and ends from the donor, like the nutmeg trim around the windshield, visors, dash with vents if they look to good to pass up, etc. I'm thinking new carpet this spring too.

Now if only there was a jumping Snoopy emoji! :)

Eddie,

I can keep you in mind but I noticed you're in the deep south - shipping would be expensive i'm sure. I did notice in my searches that several warehouses do have NOS armrests - although I think just the passenger side. They were all in the $30-35 price range.

Christopher,

Thanks, yes I have found some of probably the same ones that you are referring to and I need the driver side more than anything. My passenger side is still intact and ok but my driver side is cracked to pieces. I thought maybe shipping would not be to bad since it is a pretty small and light item.