Ducting and Switch/knob question

Just curious, my 84 project has all the necessary plastic ducting for under the dash but I am missing a few key components, such as the entire fan motor (squirrel cage as I call it), heater core, and even the A/C heat control/knob assembly so I have decided for now to just run her without any of it and am looking for an option to plug the large rectangular firewall hole where I assume the motor assembly/heater core would mount.  What would be the best option to do this without just welding in a plate.  I want to leave it relatively easy to convert back in case a future owner, or myself down the road decides to buy all the necessary components to re-route the inner dash ducting.

Next, I need a new set of switches (left side of the steering wheel, I assume dome lighting adjustment, and headlight controls).  Where do you guys find these things other than a junkyard, as I am having a problem locating bullnose trucks in any local yards.  I am sure Amazon is probably a good start for knock-offs but I was hoping to go with refurbs or used original parts.

I may get out to the shop tomorrow afternoon, and can look at the "squirrel cage" I have to see if it is flat.  But, I'm thinking it is and you may be able to put a plate on it to seal it off.

Or, maybe we can collectively scrounge up the parts you need?

As for the switches, which are the headlight and wiper switches, we may be able to scrounge them as well.  Would that be of interest or do you want new?

I really just need the switches to be honest, the entire heating system was ripped out of this truck and shes not plumbed for a heater core, which I understand is fairly easy to do but just not much of a concern for me at the moment....I would be really interested in the light/wiper switches and the AC/Heat control unit so I can at least plug the hole.  I can throw some money, trade/barter, etc.  I am not sure what all I could barter with related to the truck because I need basically all of it, but I do have ties with several wholesale parts companies and could cut people some serious low prices for the assist.  Skyjacker, bilstein, rancho, tires, pro comp, basically any after market things I can do.  Not trying to make a sales pitch, just trying to figure out what I could offer in return...cash of course being an option

To give you an idea, this is my current engine compartment....everything on the left side (passenger) is missing which I assume would be all the heater goodies such as the motor, plastic air box(es), heater core, etc.  That hole you see on the left is what I am talking about.

Let me see what I have.  But, it won't happen immediately as my wife just had eye surgery this morning and we have check-up appointments tomorrow and later this week.

But, some of the others may have the parts and jump in, which is fine.  We are a family.

As for blocking the holes off, it looks like I remembered it - flat.  So a piece of aluminum bolted down should do it for the big holes, and hole plugs for the round ones.  Or, maybe you'll get lucky and we may find all the parts collectively and you can just put it together the way it is supposed to go?

It would be easy enough to bolt a piece of metal there using the factory bolt holes... maybe seal it with some foam weatherstripping... but depending on how you use the truck you may really want to consider replacing that stuff so you have windshield defrost/de-fog capability 😬.

No hurry here sir, I greatly appreciate all the advice thus far as well.  If we can collectively get things going and make some deals here and there that would be great.  I would like to return her to the way she was meant to be, although I do enjoy the "hot rod" style nature of what she is right now....if that is the right way to phrase it .  She is only an 84 but I feel like it already has its own story to tell.

Let's start a list of the things we, collectively, think you need.  From what I've understood, you need:

The underhood HVAC plastic piece

A/C evaporator that goes in the underhood part

Heater core

Blower motor

HVAC controls: But, which one.  You don't have a signature to tell us what your truck is.  Does it have dual tanks?  The switch for the tanks goes in the HVAC control panel.

Headlight switch: Do you need the wiring to it?

Wiper switch: Do you need the wiring to it?

Ducting: You said you have the underdash ducting.  All of it?

HVAC motors: Are there several metal, probably shiny, vacuum motors attached to the ductwork?

Are there vacuum hoses attached and to the vacuum motors and coming a common header?

Vacuum hoses near the passenger's side hood hinge, and two going into the cab where they stop at a connector?

Temp control cable.  If your truck had factory A/C the temperature would have been controlled via a cable.  It goes from the top lever in the HVAC control panel to the blend door near the heater core.

What am I missing, guys?  I started looking at what I have and quickly started thinking "But what about..." and decided we need a list.

I will just modify the list, thanks for all this by the way.

-The underhood HVAC plastic piece
-A/C evaporator that goes in the underhood part
-Heater core
-Blower motor
-HVAC control for a single tank truck
-Headlight switch, no wiring necessary
-Wiper switch, no wiring necessary
-Ducting: I only have 3 basic parts for the under dash ducting.  2 long pieces that connect together to link the driver and passenger air vents, and I have the defrost portion.
-HVAC motors: would need it all, as I have nothing, only the 3 internal ducts with nothing else attached to them. (no necessary vacuum motors, etc)
-Vacuum hoses near the passenger's side hood hinge: no I do not have any of this, however I can create any necessary hoses unless they have rare and specific connectors.
-Temp control cable.  I do not know if my truck originally came with A/C or not, I have not even looked to see if there was a compressor on the motor.  I just assumed there was not since the previous owner(s) gutted all the heat and possible AC components.

Let's work off your list.  However, I think we need to determine what kind of HVAC your truck originally had before we proceed.  Let me go take a pic of Dad's truck's firewall so we can compare it to yours.  That's because there are at least two different firewalls and the HVAC boxes don't interchange.  I think yours is A/C, but let's make sure......

Well, you don't have the factory A/C firewall.  Here's your truck on the left and Dad's truck, which has factory A/C, on the right.  Note that the opening on the right in the picture on your truck is shaped differently than the one on Dad's truck.  Also note that Dad's has an opening that starts at the mid-point of the bulge toward the bottom and ends even with the outside edge of the bulge.  But you don't have that opening.




And below is a shot Dave/FuzzFace2 shot of the passenger's side A/C firewall laid against that of a heater-only firewall.  (Dave, am I telling the truth?)



So, I'm pretty sure that you have the heater firewall, but I'd like someone that knows about those firewalls to confirm it.  Which means that you need a heater HVAC box, heater core, and heater controls - which are different than the A/C stuff.  And, I don't have any of those.  

But, on the good side, your interior ductwork may be correct.  And you shouldn't have any vacuum motors nor vacuum hoses.  Take a look at the HVAC/HVAC Systems page and the Illustrations tab and then the Base Heater tab.  Is that what you have?

On the other hand, I have the headlight and wiper switches.

Yes, the A/C firewall has 3 large rectangular air holes on the passenger side: one for fresh air from the wiper cowl, right beside the recirculate air from the passenger footwell, and then the blown/cooled air going into the cab's HVAC box near the tunnel.

Hello all, small update, I got the interior all put back together for the most part and discovered another broken part unrelated to the ducting (transmission indicator cable that connects just behind the steering wheel is broken so I will need a new one of those which seems to be easily available online for cheap so not a big deal there.  Basically the hard plastic shell that cable rides in is broken about mid way so the cable slides out and causes the inidcator in the cluster to get stuck....not a huge deal there.  Aside from that I got the dash all back together, instrument cluster reinstalled, all the bulbs and lights work, gas gauge works, battery charge gauge works, oil and temp do not work.  So I installed an aftermarket oil/temp twin gauge set to the bottom of the dash which works fine.  I also connected the wiper and headlight switch, and after some wire chasing was able to get the headlights and wipers to work, so thats good.  The headlight switch post is all mangled and bent so I will need to replace that still, and I am missing little bits of hardware that I can just grab from the local big box or small hardware store down the street.  I will update the list above with what I am still lacking if anyone has anything they want to part with for some cash!

-Heater core
-Blower motor
-HVAC control for a single tank truck
-Headlight switch, no wiring necessary
-Ducting: The only portion of the ducting I need is the engine compartment box for a non A/C firewall
-HVAC motors: would need all necessary motor components for a non A/C truck
-any other necessary items for a non A/C truck that connect between the blower motor and the HVAC control assembly be it in cab, or in the engine bay.

That is good progress, for sure. But, I think your list needs a little bit of further explanation. And, by the way, you can figure that out by looking at the part numbers here: HVAC/HVAC Systems.

-Heater core - for a heater-only truck, as that is a different heater core than for an A/C truck. I don't have one of these.

-Blower motor - that's the same blower motor for all of these trucks, whether just heater or A/C. I have a spare one of those, and you can have it for the shipping. But, since it fits in the HVAC box, all-around shipping may be easier/cheaper if you get the motor with the box.

-HVAC control for a single tank truck - Specific to a heater-only truck, and you'll also find in the parts list that 1984 is a one-year wonder. And I don't have any heater-only controls. (I'm remembering that's what your truck is as your signature doesn't say, but I'm hoping I'm right)

-Headlight switch, no wiring necessary I have a spare headlight switch. Yours for the shipping cost. Send me an email by clicking on my name on this post and give me your address.

-Ducting: The only portion of the ducting I need is the engine compartment box for a non A/C firewall - Yes, you need a heater-only HVAC box or, as you said, non A/C. And I don't have any of these.

-HVAC motors: would need all necessary motor components for a non A/C truck - You don't need any HVAC motors. The heater-only system used cables. But you may need those, depending on whether you have them or not. Again, I don't have any.

-any other necessary items for a non A/C truck that connect between the blower motor and the HVAC control assembly be it in cab, or in the engine bay.

Dave is in the house
As pointed out the non-AC truck fire wall only has 2 openings. The AC truck fire wall has 3 openings.
In my picture that Gary posted the red fire wall is non-AC, the maroon is AC.

Now the HVAC box is 2 parts the engine side or outside and the inside part. The fire wall gets sandwiched between the 2 box parts.
Now you are saying you only need the engine side but is that true?
I also don't know / remember if the inside duct work is different between non-AC & AC trucks.

Now the controls. This works by 2 cables IIRC 1 for temp and the other for fresh air but not 100% sure on that with out looking at the box & controls.
What would also need  to be known is if the truck has duel fuel tanks?
I say this because the tank switch is to the right in the HVAC control panel.
Also did they put duel tanks in trucks with out AC?

Gary a question for you. Is there a difference between 81 F100 and his 84 F??? non-AC box & control panels? I have the one out of my truck when I did the swap and I don't plan on using it I just don't know what shipping would be for it as it would be a large box from 27501 here in NC.
Dave ----

Oh on the head light & wiper switches you should be able to get them thru the parts store, at least the head light switch.

On the wiper switch you may want to check if the truck has time delay wipers as it uses a different switch than non-time delay wipers.
Trace out the wiper wiring and if there is a black box it is delay wipers.

I would also look into the heater fan switch when at it so you have that when the time comes.
Dave ----

edit: I checked Auto Zone and they listed all 3 switches, head / wiper / blower fan, for the 84 truck.

Thank you FuzzFace, and no my truck is not dual tanks.  You are correct, although I have most of the under dash ducting, I did find out today while fitting everything that I am missing another inside piece (that firewall piece you mentioned).  When I try to line up the ducting to the firewall opening I am easily 3 or 4 inches shy so There is clearly another box missing.  And yes I need both the interior and exterior boxes.  By the way I am from Greensboro NC so not too far from you.  My navy days brought me up to Hampton Roads VA, but I visit my folks quite a bit so maybe we could arrange a quick meet for some part purchases on my end .  I would need both the inside and outside firewall boxes.

FuzzFace2 wrote

Gary a question for you. Is there a difference between 81 F100 and his 84 F??? non-AC box & control panels? I have the one out of my truck when I did the swap and I don't plan on using it I just don't know what shipping would be for it as it would be a large box from 27501 here in NC.

I think the answer is that the 81 and 84 are different.  But here is the info, so maybe you can see something different than I am?

By the way, you are looking for an entry that says "w/o Hi-Low Vent", which is the high-end heater that has vents on the dash like the A/C system.  But there are several entries w/o telling us which system they have.  I think that means it is the base heater, not Hi-Low Vent.

jstone4646 wrote

Thank you FuzzFace, and no my truck is not dual tanks.  You are correct, although I have most of the under dash ducting, I did find out today while fitting everything that I am missing another inside piece (that firewall piece you mentioned).  When I try to line up the ducting to the firewall opening I am easily 3 or 4 inches shy so There is clearly another box missing.  And yes I need both the interior and exterior boxes.  By the way I am from Greensboro NC so not too far from you.  My navy days brought me up to Hampton Roads VA, but I visit my folks quite a bit so maybe we could arrange a quick meet for some part purchases on my end .  I would need both the inside and outside firewall boxes.

Gary brings up a point I did not know of, but heard of it, Hi-Low Vent system.
Does your truck have vent out lets in the dash like a AC truck would have?
If so I don't know if the box I have would work as the truck it came out of did not have dash vent out lets.

I don't know what to check / measure to see if it would bolt to the fire wall or if the duct work would fit up to yours or not. I do have all the duct work from mine that I am pretty sure will bolt into your truck but the dash vents would not work.

Gary Lewis wrote

FuzzFace2 wrote

Gary a question for you. Is there a difference between 81 F100 and his 84 F??? non-AC box & control panels? I have the one out of my truck when I did the swap and I don't plan on using it I just don't know what shipping would be for it as it would be a large box from 27501 here in NC.

I think the answer is that the 81 and 84 are different.  But here is the info, so maybe you can see something different than I am?

By the way, you are looking for an entry that says "w/o Hi-Low Vent", which is the high-end heater that has vents on the dash like the A/C system.  But there are several entries w/o telling us which system they have.  I think that means it is the base heater, not Hi-Low Vent.

I will look over the box & control better but it is yours if you think it will work.
I am a little under 2 hrs from Greensboro down RT40, just off exit 319 @ RT210 & RT50

I did not know how the Hi-Low vent system was set up and it sounds like the dash looks just like an AC dash.
I wonder if the fire wall is the same for Hi-Low vent & non-AC system?
If so then he could bolt in a non-AC box & duct work and just not have the dash vents work.

I will have to look over the above information better when not so tired, up at 1am with only a short nap when I got home from work at 3pm.
Thanks
Dave ----

I'm pretty sure that the Hi-Low Vent system and the A/C system had the same under-hood box, heater core, etc.  And the heater-only system was the odd one out.