Nova Kitcar Subaru flat-six PPC magazine project car or scoobynova.

[BlueNova]

....

It seems like you guys are determined that I should better myself and learn a new skill...
I know you have my best interests at heart :-(

Remember the Forum encouraged me to learn how to weld and I went on to repair my frame head, fitted new pans and then dropped the pans to match the original floors? Well, I bashed/tore my nearside sill on my van on a boulder leaving a customer's house in the dark recently, so I decided to have a go at replacing the sill for the MOT. I left the welds bare for the MOT yesterday and it passed! Today I painted the repair and it's looking as good as new. ..... Main thing is it makes me feel great!!

So go for it Steve .... what have you got to lose, and you'll have a lovely 'fuzzy' feeling when you're finished!

[bobbybrown]

and you'll have a lovely 'fuzzy' feeling when you're finished!

Didn't electrocute yourself with the welder did you?

[BlueNova]

Didn't electrocute yourself with the welder did you?

No, but working in the trade Dan you'll know what it's like when you hear the sound of 'sizzling bacon'

[bobbybrown]

Unfortunately I do!

[steve]

Someone mentioned using 12v PC fans the other day; I did some R&D yesterday as I plan on using 2x 80mm dash-mounted fans as part of my de-mist and cooling setup. I also picked-up a 40mm fan which I intend to use for side window demist purposes.

In fact, I had a couple of attempts at this, first with the "Be Quiet" T8025-MR-PWM (44 Meters3 per hour) this was super-quiet, but a *tad* underpowered for a dash vent.

I am going with this fan: Noctua NF-A8-PWM, slightly louder but with more power: 53 Meters3 per hour. Both fans were good bits of kit, they have cushioned mounts to reduce vibration, the Noctua came with pluggable resistors to slow/quieten it down - if needed.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/...title_o01_s00?

Now that I have the fan, the plan is to get two 3D Dash vents made, with a flange to fit the Fan, and a curved mount to cater for the dash surface.

The 40mm fan, seems a little underpowered for its application, it will sit under the dash, just below the front corner of the side window, with a S-bend used to direct the airflow. More R&D needed for this ;-)

[islandman]

I have some dim and distant memory about 30 years ago when I first pulled your old Nova apart of finding 12V PC fans beneath the vents, so this seems to be a favourite method for you...is my memory correct?

I also remember the coils from 12V cigarette lighters unwound and used as heating elements too.........your post brings back memories

[steve]

You are right on both counts Dave.

The heating elements may have been a bit of 1980's madness, but the (un-heated) PC fans worked well for me.
They aren't powerful enough to de-mist the windscreen on a cold morning, but they do help in milder weather.
On the old car I found myself using them in the summer months to circulate air in the cabin, they are quiet & efficient and make the cabin a more pleasant place to be.

The plan for my current car is to have 2x 80mm PC fans pointing at the windscreen, 2x 40mm fans for the side windows (all re-circulating air) This is my de-mist (lite) and cooling air set-up.

Plus a front mounted petrol heater feeding the base of the windscreen, switchable to point to the passengers feet.

No other dash vents pointing at the passengers, I don’t believe they are needed as any air thrown at the windscreen bounces off and ends up flowing towards the passengers anyway.

[steve]

The underside of dash is going to be the electrics hub of this car, access will be from a topside cover plate. All wiring on the car will start or end here, including the fuse box.

These conduit hangers (Pic) will be bonded down and a sheet of 9mm Marine ply screwed in on top of them to make a 'floor' (when the dash panel is the right way around).
See cardboard template shown below.

I am using a standard conduit 16mm OD, heading out to all parts, one exception is the feed to the rear panel lights, which will be larger, maybe 22mm, but that will go from the drivers dash pod, not here.

There will be another area for electric 'gubbins' in the drivers dash pod, that's less accessible and effectively an overflow area for stuff that won't fit here.

[islandman]

you might want to consider split conduit, as its easier later to make adaptations / add or remove wires to trace issues

[Buffy]

With wiring you have to plan about 4 stages in advance, and you may find, once the dash is bolted in place you then cannot get to certain parts.
My fuse box was hidden in a drop panel in the passenger footwell, all relays could be accessed if you removed the CD player, and other parts were underneath the top removable panel of a Mk 4 dash.
I ran all wiring front to back along the central spine of the tunnel underneath a boxed aluminium section to ensure access was straightforward if there was an issue.

Hindsight however is a wonderful thing. I fitted a bleed valve to the heater matrix, which was great until I fitted the dash and then found I could not reach it !!