Heating controls

[paul_round]

Has anybody ever converted the early type to the later ones, ie knob to levers.
Thanks.

[crazy tarzan]

Surely someone has, but why would you want to? Mind you I'm not saying not to.

If you have an early ghia most would recommend to keep it as near stock as possible.

[paul_round]

I have a 68, but it’s on an early pan.

[crazy tarzan]

we should swap pans . . . I have a 58 on a 69 beetle pan with kg pan halves welded in.

I'm thinking you can look through some of the technical articles and find some info on what you're going to need to do.

These are the levers on the tunnel correct? Most likely it's going to require some work on/in the tunnel to accomplish.

[Era Vulgaris]

Man, that seems like a hell of a lot of trouble to go through just to be able to open and close the rear floor vents separately from turning on the heat. Your 68 body should probably still have the valves in the rear floor vents (unless someone removed them). You could probably rig up something DIY to be able to open and close them. Or just wire them permanently open. You get way more heat into the car when those lower rear vents are open.
_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[paul_round]

At the moment, I don't have any heat, PO put in a porsche fan kit, so no hot air outlet. I've been collecting all the tinware to put it back to stock. The car does have heat exchangers, but just wanted the convenience of the later controls, (fits better with a 68 too!) even though it's an earlier pan.

[c21darrel]

Back in the early 80's i would do exactly as Era Vulgaris said. Wire the heater ducts open in winter and close the ducts once weather warmed. A little bailing wire went a long way.
_________________
GhiaBuild
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=481184
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[Era Vulgaris]

Exactly, c21darrel! Since it's been cold, that lever for the rear footwell vents has stayed up in my car, and I basically just use the on/off lever which would be no different than just having the rotary knob.

There's convenience added in the lever systems from the 70's cars, where you can open and close the front footwell vent with the levers to aid in defrosting the front windshield. Those later lever systems allow you to make that decision while the car is moving (and the very late ones give you control to open and close both sides with one lever!), whereas I definitely don't feel safe reaching down and trying to move the metal slider plate that's on my 67 while moving!

But I think a 68 has the exact same setup as 67, so I don't see a whole lot of convenience being added by having the levers. If you just want originality, then go for it. But you might find you did a whole lot of work cutting and welding the tunnel for something that you hardly use. But YMMV
_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue

[doregan]

I just purchased a very nice 1974 Ghia convertible. Haven't had the time or the weather to fully inspect the frame, heater channels, and the rockers, but I am getting absolutely no warm air going to the windshield when the right heating lever is up and the left is down.

I have not seen and diagrams showing how the heated air moves from the heater channels to windshield. Can you provide any help?
Thanks,
Dennis

[70 140]

Does the car have any components of the heat system installed?

Let's see a photo of the engine compartment and another of the exhaust system.

[doregan]

Got to figure out how to add pics to the post.

It looks as though all of the components are there - heater boxes, flexible tubes, etc. When I had the car inspected, my mechanic said he needed to do some welding on one (or both) of the heater boxes and said there holes in the rocker panel(s) that I could patch. I had him replace the shifter (extremely sloppy) and do the welding on the heater box, I asked that he see if he could seal the rocker panels. I do not know if he did.

I seem to be getting heat from under the rear "seat," but whoever put in the carpeting has the carpeting covering the heat tubes.

Did VW cut holes in the carpeting for these two tubes? Or was there no carpeting at all.

Back to my original question: how does the heat get from the rockers up to the dashboard? This gives me a sense of the geometry involved, but still does not answer the question. http://1971karmannghia.blogspot.com/2013/08/project-heater-channel-replacement.html

[70 140]

Sounds like you have the basics of a heating system. Yes, the factory cut holes in the carpet for the rear heat ducts. There is a metal trim ring that surrounds each opening to finish the carpet. Hopefully yours are just covered over.

The best way to figure the system out is to go through the owners manual. There are a lot of little details.

Check under the rear seat, there should be some muffling material wrapped around the y pipes (splitting the heat from rear seat to heater channel) on each side of the car. If it's loose or missing, the heat will blow out the perforated tubing. Use cable ties to snug it down if necessary.

In the front trunk, make sure the Y pipes that supply the defrost vents and divert between fresh nostril air and heated air are functioning. It's tough to get your hands in there, but if you need too, manually flip the flap to heat.

Here's a 1959 sales ad that has a nifty heat system diagram. Although most people consider the lowlight a less attractive Karmann Ghia, the heating concept is similar to later cars.

[Bleyseng]

On the later cars the little lever on the wheel well controls the heat to your feet or to defrost. On my 70 the diverter arm behind the black plastic foot outlet was buggered so I closed it so all the air would go to the defrost. When I want more heat I open the rear outlets and the car heats of quickly.
_________________
70 Ghia Black convert-9/69 build date-stock w/133k 1600 SP-barn find now with a rebuilt tranny and engine
77 Westy 2.0L w/Ljet, Camper Special engine-95hp and with LSD!(sold)
76 Porsche 914 2.1L L20c, 120hp Djet (sold)
87 Syncro Westy Titan Red 2.1L 2 knob 100k miles

[doregan]

[Era Vulgaris]

74 didn't have the lever in the wheel well. That was (IIRC) 69-71.

The lever systems changed over the years, as far as which lever controlled which function, so best to look up the manual for your year.
https://www.thesamba.com/vw/archives/manuals/74_kg.php

In 74, the lever next to the passenger seat turns heat on or off. The lever next to the driver seat opens and closes BOTH the front and rear footwells. So when this lever is down, all footwell vents are closed and heat is directed to the defrost vents in the dash. There is a system of cables that opens and closes these vents. If the vents aren't opening and closing it's likely the cables are disconnected or missing. If the cables aren't functioning you can still manually open and close the front footwell vents. Take a close look at the vent and you'll see how to do it. I had to do this on the driver's side on my old 74, as the cable on that side was missing.
_________________
Currently own:
66 Karmann Ghia, L390 Gulf Blue, under construction, here: www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=760505&highlight=
99 Mazda MX-5 10AE, Sapphire Blue Mica, 6 speed, LSD

Previously owned:
98 Porsche Boxster, silver, 2.5L -- 67 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1500sp -- 98 BMW Z3, Atlanta Blue Metallic, 2.8L I6 -- 75 Porsche 914, Laguna Blue, 2270cc -- 72 Porsche 914, Signal Orange, 1.7 FI -- 74 Karmann Ghia, Black, 1600dp -- 74 Triumph TR6 with O.D., sapphire blue