[DeTomaso] Two Vent To Three Vent Conversion?

[JDeRyke at aol.com]

Depending on your particular car, there may already be a   third hole behind 
the cute little leatherette covered boss with the useless red seatbelt light 
in it. In order the get the separate boss out of the way, you'll have to either 
take the dash off in order to unbolt the little nuts that hold it on, or take 
a deep breath and cut the dash around it. I'd make sure you have a 3rd vent 
in hand before doing either- the vent assemblies aren't cheap or easy to find. 
Your local vendor may have one or two around from salvaged cars but cutting 
the hole too big will cause a stock vent assy to not fit and screw up the dash 
upholstering. 
The foam blocks that go between the air box and dash can be fiddled into 
position from the outside- in fact, this is easier than holding them in position 
while reattaching the dash. Expect to replace the foam in all the holes because 
they disintegrate just like all 36-yr-old foam. Replacing the two foams you 
have may give more cool air than you had before, as the mismatch between the 
dash holes and the airbox holes was pathetically bad and the foam sorta sealed 
up the mismatch. If you pop out the vents, you'll see what I mean. 
Also think about whats going to happen with 3 holes   where two were before: 
the air velocity from 3 holes will drop markedly compared to 2, unless you 
increase the size of the fan supplying air to the box. I thought about this when 
I had our dash out, and decided to leave the dash with 2 vents and higher 
velocity air. Good luck & Happy New Year- J DeRyke



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