Vanagon Fresh Air / Recirc Control Kit from Vanistan

[tencentlife]

Thanks for kind words and interest, everybody. I have the first sale, by the way, our friend Dave O'Bryan already laid his good money on the table and I aim not to disappoint him, and for being #1, I thought it fitting to give him a little discount. Sometimes it pays to be quick!

The van's HV box is a bodge, we all know. Most car heater boxes are actually pretty odd affairs, but the so-called reasoning underlying this design is truly outlandish. It's seriously the most feeble and ill-considered HV system I've ever seen in a watercooled car. I would be stunned if no one here HAD worked on an inlet control, since the constant pressurisation of the system is probably its most glaring defect.

So good on you guys for your own efforts. I did see Dave's a couple months ago while hunting around the web for pics of disassembled heater boxes, but I hadn't seen the others' before. My working design was already in use by then, what I wanted was to confirm the existence of the "main cut-off flap" in Bentley's blow-up. Turns out there was originally another internal control flap which isolated the upstream side of the heater core, the fan output air, from the plenum that's after the swinging flaps. I think with that flap closed, you could probably get hotter air out the foot and defrost vents while fresh unheated ram air could be routed to the end dash vents and the rear overhead vents as desired. Those early systems dedicated the third lever down to that flap alone, and the top lever faded output between the defrost and foot vents like a lot of cars do. Look in the earliest Vanagon owner's manuals and you can see that described in the vent controls instructions. I'm guessing they eliminated it because the fan presents little restriction so ram air just flows thru it on its own. Of course that wouldn't be that way if they had just provided an inlet closure.

Todd and Andrew liked the defrost diffusers. I like them too, they need a little more work to find the best outlet hole pattern, but it does help some with ice fouling (my electric defrost grid works better, but that has its own snags: installing is a bitch with the glass in place, and the copper traces are easily damaged). I could make up some diffusers if there were interest. Like the fresh air control, materials cost is small but there's a lot of hand labor, so the price ends up pretty high, but most of this audience understands that in such a small market we just don't get economy of scale.
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Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[DwarfVader]

[goffoz]

OK totally impressed
i've been playing with this fresh/recirc problem on and off thu my Ac install
And never thought to go "Out side the box" literally..Wow
Good work...ingenious
I was working on a 4"rotating pipe on the bottom slide..interior
your idea is better /easier

[Slimvest]

This is pretty slick.

While I save my money for yet another upgrade, is there any reason why one couldn't just pull the grill and throw a magnetic strip over the intake holes to block airflow during the winter? You know, the same material people use to stick a temporary business sign on their car door, etc.
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'87 GL w/ Reimo top

[detoxed]

Installing this kit and confused about the cable adjustment per the instructions. The cable attachment on the bell crank assembly looks different from the assembly that came with my kit. If anybody who has installed this kit could help it would be appreciated.

[ledogboy]

I know at some point there were revised instructions, possibly because the kit was revised? I would contact Vanistan to make sure you are working off of the instructions for the right revision.
_________________
1986 Westy Weekender
Now a full camper
1.8t Syncro conversion
Some people call him Maurice...

[figborg]

Should be noted that the URL has changed:
http://www.vanistan.com/cabin_air_control.html
_________________
-- PF
Providence, RI
1986.5 Westy camper (G year code, grey interior), 2WD, manual transmission, Subaru conversion by Vanaru. Spoiled rotten.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=662374

[tencentlife]

Thanks for catching that!
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Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[Honuak]

Normally this time of year I block off most of the fresh air inlet for the winter. But I got this cool kit, very excited to have control over the air in the cab. Die-hard VW engineering fans may not want to read the next line...
The stock heater box is poorly designed at best.
I digress. I am currently stuck at the point pictured above. The pics in the instructions are a bit blurry and I cant tell what I'm doing wrong here. It seems like I should have a set screw in the hole in the hex pivot (middle of pic) but I don't have that screw with my parts (lost it?) and that the cable shouldn't be attached (top of pic). Further, it seems like I should be anchoring the cable housing at the bottom of the pic. Hoping those that have done this job can help.
I don't think it is relevant but I should note that I could not fit the guide tube that goes over the cable housing thru the firewall hole in my van because there were already things going through that I cannot re-route. This is one of those jobs that would be much quicker the second time around. Anyone who lives in the Anchorage AK area that would like some help on this in stall I would be happy to help. Assuming I get it all in.
SAMBA!

[Honuak]

Shamelessly bumping. I need to solve this as my daily driver just ate its alternator

[dobryan]

You should have a cable tube clamp on the mounting screw on the bottom of the pic. This locks the cable tube in place there. And the cable itself only attaches to the lever, not also to that screw up top. It has to be able to move thru it's range to open and close. There must be a cable clamp somewhere in the kit still.
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Dave O
'87 Westy w/ 2002 Subaru EJ25 and Peloquin TBD

"To travel hopefully is a better thing than to arrive." Robert Louis Stevenson

MD>Canada>AK>WA>OR>CA>AZ>UT>WY>SD
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=620646

Building a bus for travel in Europe (euroBus)
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=695371

The Western Syncro build
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=746794

[Honuak]

[tencentlife]

Hey Dave, the bellcrank assembly has changed since you bought yours so the cable housing is no longer clamped there. Here's the reply I just emailed Honuak:

I think maybe what you’re not getting is that the cable housing is the active element, so when the lever is moved rightward the wire is shortened which causes the housing to be displaced so it pushes upward against the swivel on the bellcrank lever to close the flap. Since the flap opens fully in just the first half of the control lever travel, the housing has to be free of the bellcrank lever as the wire lengthens further so it can drop free of it when the lever is moved the second half of its travel. So the cable wire must be anchored by the hex screw, while the housing is not anchored to the bellcrank lever.
_________________
Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[16CVs]

So what are the possibilities of using this with a Small car in dash AC ? One of the drawbacks to the in dash AC is the loss of fresh air. When installing an in dash air you put a plate over the air plenum and totally block it off.
I wonder if you could use this and tap into the air plenum and Tee it into one of the AC hoses from the Evaporator. So when the AC was off you could again have fresh air.
I need to look at a van with the Air box out and see how far it extends past the opening.

Stacy
_________________
1987 Syncro Westfalia Triple knob (bastard)
1989 Syncro Tristar Triple knob "Swedish"
2013 Jetta Hybrid a true "Zwitter"
Samba member # 14980
Call anytime number 650 722 4914 .
Keep Your van running and upkept tastefully for the love of the hobby.
Don't let your van end up in an "abortions" thread.

[tencentlife]

Except for the control cable, this kit is entirely contained within the inlet scoop, so I can't see how it could interfere with any in-dash AC system. Whether it would be a useful enhancement or not? No idea, depends on the system's airflow layout.
_________________
Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[Honuak]

FWIW I found that a 90 deg angle drill was the only way I could fit the 2-1/8" hole saw in to the space to make the hole for the cabin-air flapper. I used an add-on style but you can get/beg/borrow one that is the actual tool.
Great Kit!

[tencentlife]

That's odd, I'm able to do it with a regular 1/2"-chuck power drill, plenty of room.

You seem to have some funny things about your rig, Ethan, you said there was something occupying the hole I route the cable thru, too, I wonder what that is.

Anyway, glad you like the kit and it's working for you. You'll really appreciate it when the temps drop this winter, I suppose you're already seeing some of that up in the GWN. Down here we normally would have mostly freezing nights by now, but not this year.
_________________
Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[tencentlife]

A little update: the Cabin Air Kit can now be ordered with an independent pull-knob cable control instead of the cable that is integrated with the existing ventilation levers. Price is the same for either.

The pull-knob control is much easier to install and provides smoother more direct operation of the inlet door. Thus is the way I originally developed the kit but then I thought that a lot of owners want things to look totally stock, so I worked out the integrated control. But I decided I should offer both versions.

The pull-knob cable is installed in the lower dash by drilling a 3/8" hole for it. If you don't want to modify the dash you could easily make your own bracket for it, but I won't be providing one. Here's a pic of it installed in the dash itself:

I personally prefer the independent pull-knob, when pushed in as shown the inlet door is closed.

I also came up with new inlet door supports which are based around foam plugs that seal off the odd-shaped ends of the inlet scoop. These do require drilling a small screw hole for each, so I can't claim anymore that the kit installs without any mods to the van body, but these holes are out of sight up in the inlet scoop where rust would never be prone to get started.

There's also a new flapper valve for the recirculating air feature, it has a slightly larger available aperture area for lower restriction. It still won't flow all the air that fan speed 3 could move, but I think I've maxed out what can be done in the available space at the end of the airbox.

A lot of the parts look different from what's depicted at the start of this thread and on my website, at some point I'll do a new display photo but except for the pull-knob all this stuff is invisible when installed, so really who cares what it looks like?
_________________
Shop for unique Vanagon accessories at the Vanistan shop:
https://intrepidoverland.com/vanistan/

Please don't PM here, I will not reply.

Experience is kryptonite to doctrine.

[shizzon]

I have the original version of the kit that used the 3rd position lever in the dash, and have recently added this cable so that I can do a simple pull/push for off/on

(Dorman 55103)
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000COBANA/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o02_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

This was a great improvement for the opening/closing, I had always had problems with the lever not generating enough pull to properly close the door, and now the mechanism works perfectly.

However, even with the door closed there is a substantial amount of air ingress. I'm wondering what sealing solutions others have come up with to fully shut off the air?

Also, has anyone considered installing an air filter behind the bug screen? Most modern cars have a cabin air filter as I understand... seems like it could be nice for dusty roads in the summertime...
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1989 Bostig Syncro Westy

[shizzon]

Oh, and a piece of advice for anyone wanting to do this mod - I recommend putting the handle below the control knob for the rear heater.

The Dorman cable I used has a long rigid piece that goes behind the handle. I first installed it below and to the right of the rear heater control knob, and the rigid part interfered with an air tube in the dash, preventing the cable from being able to actuate. So I had to move it to the left, underneath the rear heater control knob.

YMMV. This whole issue could be avoided if the cable you get doesn't have such a long rigid piece.
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1989 Bostig Syncro Westy