My '84

[SJTD]

Trimmed the passenger side to about 1? to add a horizontal plenum. Tried forming a strip of ABS to the final shape. It?ll be easier to make it in two pieces.





Made a form the same size as the defroster outlet. Heated and formed the first part of the curve and stapled it to the form.





Heated about an inch at a time and rolled it around the form leaving the left part tangent where it?ll attach to the duct.





Test fit.





Test fit in the dash.





Formed a V to attach the other side of the plenum to the duct.





Riveted the V to the duct. Used some urethane windshield sealant between the pieces.





Finished. Used ABS cement between the V and the plenum and riveted the other side. Glued a flat piece on the left end.









In place in the dash with the hose installed.

[SJTD]

Been out of town for a week. Finished the driver side before I left.






Just have to attach the new to the old and fill the gaps.

[Randyzzz]

Nice tech tip! I'll be doing the same thing later this year, good to see your take on the problem.

[SJTD]

Thanks.

I've seen several threads where guys have used the Vintage Air unit but only pichers of the thing hanging on the firewall. No pics of the ducting.

I'd like to see how others have done it.

[serehill]

Yeah i have to agree really cool

Where did you get the material ?

[jeepman1]

x2

x3

[SJTD]

I got the ABS on Amazon.

Not the cheapest source but more convenient than buying 4 x 8 sheets locally.

[jeepman1]

Nice spring mounts, in your free time, make about 20 sets.. I'm sure they would find good homes

[SJTD]

Been a while. Layed off , transfer to Pueblo not happening due to layoffs , sold Lompoc house , payed off other house with profit .

After trying several photo hosting sites I subscribed to PB. Much faster due to no adds. Nothing wrong with paying for something I use.

Been working on the AC ducting. Don't want to use the vacuum cleaner hose they provide so been making ducts out of the ABS.

2" Drain pipe has just a little smaller OD than the hose ID when it's stretched tight so I used it for a form.


Driver side outer end



Inner end



Formed the ABS with a heat gun and gloves



Inside of same bend trimmed



Trim fixture. Really fast for plain elbows, didn't work for the ends



Gluing the halves together. The screw has washer on the inside also to align the edges



Driver side parts finished. All joints have a patch over them or are overlapped. Not relying on glued butt joints.



Finished driver side. This joint will have a piece of the vacuum hose for flex and vibration isolation. Same for one joint on each duct


Similar process for the others. Had to do some reforming with the heat gun here and there due to interference with wipers and adjacent ducts but overall with the smooth interior that's actually bigger than the hose when relaxed I think I'm better off.

[SJTD]

Stock dash won't work. With the AC and ducting there's no room for the stereo or glove box. I also want a 2 DIN or larger display and need center AC outlets. Don't really want knee coolers like the stock system.

Rather than trying to work around the stock ashtray and clock opening and trying to fit a tablet in the center I figured it'd be easier to start fresh so I put in a 1/8" x 1/2" bar across the bottom and a piece of sheet for a clean start.



Filled in the sides so they are flat. Going to have a storage space beneath the screen.



Made the frame for the screen



Test fit of the screen



The cutouts for the AC vents and screen. Put in piece of 1/4" tubing for the frame of the cubby hole.



The front of the cubby hole installed. It'll be maybe 3" deep made out of ABS.



Ducting and dash pretty much finished. Driver side defrost runs diagonally across the center opening. Haven't decided if I'm going use the vacuum hose or make a duct.




The drive side defroster I made didn't fit so I ended up modifying the stock one similar to the passenger side.

[JPSwapMohn]

Subscribed!

You are doing what i thought would not work.. using the older dash and updating it. I love it! I assume this would not work with the original HVAC instead of the Vintage? Too bulky, or is the Vintage just better output? Vintage comes with it's own control panel, correct? where are you mounting it? And what about the heater? (or does the Vintage do both?

Sucks that stereo and such won't fit center section. You could bulge that section out a bit, blend it in and maybe get stereo in there?

Are you going to make the hole on the passenger side where the "speaker grill" goes into a glovebox? I think a hinged panel there that is same size with the old grill on it would be very cool.

Very envious of your skills and perseverance! So many of these full-on builds get set aside and never revived.

Any issues with the foam sprayed in the roof over time? The headliner came out great as well and I am sure the trim and such will hold it up just fine.

Thank you for linking to my question thread!
b

[SJTD]

The VA system is heat/air/dehumidified defrost. Only bad thing is there's no fresh air inlet but the passenger vent is right down there. I'm considering ducting it directly into the AC inlet.

I like how the center turned out once I decided to take the plunge except it looks like a face. I think the Android will be better than a two DIN stereo system for nav. There are stereo systems that can be controlled by Android devices but I think I'm just going to mount the removable faceplate from a single DIN below the cubby. I'm reading that they can be mounted remotely. I don't need a CD player.

Yeah, the beeg hole on the passenger side will be the glovebox.

No issues with the foam. No lingering smell.

[Kaiserjeeps]

What a completely awesome build! Glad to see it surface.

[Frank Ziebert]

Just when I think I have my project all planned out in my head I see another awsome bunch of awsome ideas. Thanks a lot!

Great work BTW.

[SJTD]

Thanks guys, considering the source that's high praise.

Worked on converting the auto column to manual. Didn't want to leave the auto stuff in there. After I was well along I found out an XJ manual column was pretty much a bolt it. Oh well, save a few bucks.

One of the first things I did was tack this nut plate in place. It's what the bearing/tilt assembly bolts to and I'm pretty sure it won't need to be loose anymore. Even if it does it was worth tacking since I don't think I exagerate when I say I had to install/remove the tilt assembly twenty or more times in getting everything fitted up.



Had to cut this out. The shift tube that runs down the column is pressed into this and supports the shroud.



After attempting to fill the hole for the shift lever I decided I should weld in a plug rather than just fill it in. Dunno what I was thinking.



I hesitate to show this. I'm no great welder but really stink with aluminum. Fortunately it's just a plug, not structural.



Doesn't look so bad after some clean up. Turns out I had to remove a lot of material because I'm installing the shroud upside down to put the indicator at the bottom. I wasn't about to try welding up that notch right on the edge of the shroud.



Outside doesn't look too bad , especially with the glare. There's some pitting and lack of penetration but again it's just a plug. Nothing a little filler won't fix.



Then I dropped it. Had to make a mandrel to get it round again. This is actually the "face plate" I made for my lathe years ago. I drill and tap it wherever needed to mount oddball parts and reface it when it gets too full of holes. Or bevel the edge to straighten Jeep parts. Probably an inch thinner than it was when I made it.



Some of he shroud mounts. Since the shift tube is no longer supporting the shroud it bolts to these.



Can't believe I didn't get a picher of the shroud mounted but I'm not going to assemble it again untless I have to!

To mount it, two long screws come in from the top of the shroud at about 10 and 2 o'clock and go into the aluminum tilt mount block. Nuts on the inside backed against the shroud locate it. One screw on the bottom goes into that boss on the right in the above pic.

The lower end of the shroud bolts to three bosses, two of which are on the left.

The one on the far left is one of the four column mounts.