on the 1600, you've the option of controlling the volume of heated air entering the ductwork; in the height of summer, you'd simply dump it (via the HE flap valve) before it reaches the ducting. If you do away with any pods at the HE end, you'd still need to have the facility to dump this hot air in some way....as you say, this could be done at the reducer/diverter (assuming the lever/flap mechanism works) by removing the tube that normally diverts air to the walkthrough ....I'd put a downwards facing elbow on the outlet, if removing this tube, to prevent water ingress. Controlling the aux fan via a switch on the dash makes sense in your case...rather than a simple on/off, you could could use a three position, or better still, a suitably rated fan speed controller (which would need some looking into) My beef with the stock set-up of both the 1600 and the 2litre is there's no facility to recirculate warm air from the cabin to speed up the heating process in Winter...this would be relatively easy to do in your situation, by installing a Y piece before the intake on the aux fan (which normally just draws air from the engine bay) and then running a length of duct up through the cargo deck/spare wheel well/wherever convenient, into the living space. A word about Polylock: it's much tougher than the aluminium ducting sold on fleabay as 'flexible' air duct, ( 'semi rigid' aluminium is a higher quality version of the stuff used from the doghouse fan to the HE's on 1600s). It's not 100% gas tight, like annular flexible tubing, but as near as damn it. I get the impression that the Y splitter that goes over the rear axle is missing on your bus, for some reason....otherwise, it's a simple case of joining the HEs to this.....if it's missing, you may struggle to get Polylock to conform to fit between the axle and the floor....I've a few inches left over, so I'll have a go and see if it's doable. One more thing......although they are bobbins, and known to melt, which is good enough reason to replace the inner plastic sleeve with expanded metal mesh, if nothing else, the 'concertinas' will provide a limited amount of silencing (very limited IMO). If replacing them with something in a straight through flavour, you may want to think about some kind of silencing further up the line.....it won't be an issue for many, but a simple straight through silencer is easy to make from perforated tubing, wrapped in rockwool inside a canister With this type of silencer airflow reduction is minimal....noise energy is converted to heat as some of the air expands through the perforations....in a heated air system, this is a bonus
@Faust swapping engines has no effect on the heating - to connect HX to Y piece, you just need the risers, control pods and concertinas as originally fitted for that engine, the vans themselves are identical. New heater cables too.
I got the impression that there was nothing there, bar the HEs and he's trying to get round replacing everything that's missing.....but then re read this "but i think i might go down the traditional route as i have now got all the components...." The least i'd do is uncrew the plastic bellows on the concertinas and replace the plastic inner sleeve with metal mesh, and re pack with mineral wool http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/STAINLESS...ment_Lab_Supplies_ET&var=&hash=item3a7c9692b0
Me too - I'll drag out my melting concertina pics in a mo. A coil of thick wire does the job, but we shouldn't have to mess like this with new components, barely any parts are useable, even the outers are too rigid to fit without a bit of a strain - @Paul Weeding 's hernia would pop out!
@Beaver - look at those old tiles in my "interesting" kitchen. You can never get them clean! Save yourself!
Dicky showed me some he had removed and even the wadding stuff had melted into little balls of plastic. While I'm on the subject the outers melt too, so the whole thing is next to useless. Same 20 mile pipes...
I know that one end has a heat resistant gasket wrapped around the split metal collar....this will obviously go to the HE end, but you wouldn't know which end without pulling it apart.... even so....they're complete sh*te
Thanks for all thoughts chaps it's interesting and also very helpful especially Vanorak . I do have the Y section over rear axle , just thought of taking the flexy pipe directly from HE to Y piece and wondered if anyone has ever done it . one of the reasons to prompt thinking like this was the first riser from the HE on the left hand side seemed almost impossible to line up and fit , at one stage trying to twist and fit it screaming like a small child i had to refrain myself from thinking in the old prehistoric theory ( IF YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND IT SMASH IT ) it's quite clear now i will have to split the bracket section off the pipe and re spot weld it back in it' right position , the right hand side lines up fine . So the after market concertina pipes from pods to Y piece are no good so best to fit 60m polylock
Incidentally Vanorak your picture of the under side of bus looks pretty darn clean is it a blast off and fine bitumen spray , mines been treated from new with a bitumen coat and is still stuck on a treat but it looks like it' chucked on with a bucket .
It was arguably the most horrendous job I've ever done in my life....working alone in an abandoned mill in the arse end of Skallyville (Ancoats), after midnight, with rats for company... Bus up on big axle stands...100PSI hobby grit blaster,that needed re filling every five minutes, and unblocking every two..... laying on my back, next to a 500W security light, peering through half an inch of tear-offs gaffered onto a homemade mask....blast cleaning from approximately 12 inches... Came up nice though I zinc etched it, followed by high solids Epoxy, then stonechip in places, then underseal....it'll still rust out though With hindsight, I should've hired a roller jig....dipping wasn't an option then. Anyway....regards the flexi straight from the HXs....there's no reason why this wouldn't work....I'm not overly familiar with the type 4 stuff, but will have a nosey on the web and see what's what.... if you do sort the risers out, then before you fit the concertinas.... pull the metal split collars out....one will have some grey cardboard heat insulation attached (this ought to be at the HX end) hold one end of the plastic housing and twist....they come apart! pull the plastic mesh sleeve out and remove the green wadding buy two pieces of this ....should be just long enough to make a mesh tube, but double check by rolling a piece of paper round the original plastic one go into the loft and steal some rockwool....enough to re-stuff the housing Relax in the knowledge that your bus will be warmer, quieter Let us know how you get on....
The melty end was attached to the control pod on a T4 engine system, so a foot or so from the actual heat exchanger. The insulated end was fitted here. Even when fitted it was a bit compressed and as they're so inflexible as it warmed up and softened the above happened. The one next to it is the other end for comparison. You can't really go from HX direct to Y piece on a T4 as the drive shafts are right in the way.
Zed - I've had my JK concertinas on for 1 1/2 years now and they still look fine from the outside. Are there any tell tale signs when they melt other than dismantling? They were a bit of a pig to fit so I'm not keen on taking them out if they're OK still. I guess what I'm getting at is what made you decide to take them off for a look?
It was an accidental discovery. The Auto-box still leaked after I changed the torque converter seal so I had to do it all over again. The inner plastic bit was lying in a molten mess on what was the bottom and already blowing up the tube towards the cab in long strings of melted plastic. Now of course there will be nothing to support the insulation so if your heater output seems a bit weak, perhaps you'd find the insulation collapsed and blocking the flow. Though I haven't tried it I suspect this stuff would melt in boiling water.
I noticed new ones are on backorder at JK, and they are listing them as a JK exclusive....so maybe all the bad feedback has spurred them into having a better product made...?
I think they always were a JK exclusive albeit one with a subsequently troubled history. Zed's product review has provoked a long response, so I hope they've now got it right.
