73-74 upper dash vents

I had gotten mine from Wilkinson about a year ago but upon checking his site it looks like he may be out of them?

With him though you need to talk to him to verify anything anyway, so call him.



There are at least two kinds that I know of.

The most recent are round like what I have. Pictures of '74 US cars seem to be square with rounded corners?

These are the ones I got from Wilkinson. I'm told that they originate from BMW.

(Incidentally, the a/c vents vary also)

74 interior with square vents with rounded corners

Doug,

I had to dig up a picture of my car to confirm. 6512 has the square-ish corners.

Steve

I think that the bottom part of the duct is the same? The top grills just click into them?

I personally wasn't versed in some of the nuances of the little differences there are from year to year?

When did grommets start to be used in the trunk cargo tray?

Your console is slighly different than mine also and the '74s use a plastic heater control panel vs the cast metal on the earlier.

Some of these things are too much for my neanderthal brain to handle all at once? Break it to me gently. (no I'm not going to post Juice Newton singing it but I'm gonna' go listen to her)

QuickKitty, which ones do you need?

I think I need the round ones, but will have to check.
Would be open to buying either style if you have some

the Ford orange parts book implies there is only one. but a two piece,
I circled the D16-A since it showed 3 used, but the s# include my 5177 which has the long skinny type

That is the 73-1/2 and later US molded plastic dash. The defroster grills on the 71-72 dash are entirely different so what that means is that parts book is not completely comprehensive.

That single pod dash I think is also for the US cars which end in '74. The Euro cars dash looks very similar but is fiberglass and not plastic.

There is a thickness difference between the two which effects the way the grills lock together.

Those grills are definitely two pieces but I'd have to have both types here, which I do not, and then compare them as to what interchanges, if anything?

I think the "hose adapters" which go internally are the same though? The left one is 45 degrees, the right one 90 degrees and the center doesn't use one and locks directly into a metal tower extension of the blower box.

The blower box varies according to the dash used.

I was just mentioning that there was two types, that's all. I don't have any extras or any for sale.

You have to go through all of the Pantera parts vendors until you find a set.

I don't have any pictures of the GT5 cars handy. What do they use?


I think I remember Steve Wilkinson saying the "square" ones were obsolete and he could give me a complete matching set of his replacements, which is what I did. I have a fiberglass single pod dash that I got from Bob Byers.

Here is a picture of an 84 GT5 for sale on ebay now. It seems to have the square ones?

Maybe I'm just missing a piece to the assembly? Strange. What I have does fit together without needing another part but that possibility has occurred to me, yes?

Still trying to hunt down a couple of the 73 round upper dash vents

I used some aftermarket vents:

I am also looking for a full set of upper dash vents. I have switched from a twin pod to single pod dash so didn't have any to start with.

Cheers

quote:

Originally posted by Horace Cope:
I am also looking for a full set of upper dash vents. I have switched from a twin pod to single pod dash so didn't have any to start with.

Cheers

I did also. I reused mine from the original dual pod. The lower lip needs to be trimmed with tin snips.

Then I made a leather snood for them. That helped blend them into the contours of the dash.

Wilkinson is showing them in his catalog. That USUALLY means that he has some.

http://panterasbywilkinson.com.../catalog/ill21a.html

Hi Doug

I have done the same with the square front vents from my twin pod. Its the 3 round vents on the top of the dash I need including the housing.

Company over here called Car Builder Solutions who do a similar vent that would work but its the flat housing that they sit in that seems to be the problem to get hold of.

Been onto Steve Wilkinson, Mike Mayberry and others etc but out of stock.

Cheers

I got mine from Wilkinson. Chances are these are one of the parts he buys in bulk, once or so a year.
I was told that they have BMW part numbers but you are going to have to make friends with a BMW person that knows the line.
These are the ones I got from Wilkinson.

The internal cup, duct on the left one is 45 degrees. The right one is 90 degrees and I think he was missing something for the center one? I don't remember now?

The center one you need to make a sheet metal duct from the existing heater box for the center vent to sit into. It doesn't use a cup like the other two do?

Maybe I got the last parts he had?

The ducting hose itself we can get here in a general auto parts store. It is what connects the heat riser from the exhaust manifold to the air cleaner snorkel.

I believe I have 3 original vents as shown in the catalog. If that's what you want I can look when I get home Friday.

Thank you RiverRat, that would be ideal if you have got them. yes please let me know on Friday.

I am hoping to take the car to the Classic Le Mans event on the 6th July and at present I have three large holes in the top of the dash.

During my searches for these vents I came across an old Fiero forum from 2007. A guy on there had the exact vents which he claimed he got from an old Ford Backhoe for $20. No idea what the Backhoe was but google searches revealed it as an old Ford digger and apparently the vents were fitted in the cab.

No suppliers of the Backhoe here, whether it was called something else I'm not sure but maybe someone over there on the forum could check this out with US Backhoe parts suppliers.

Cheers

Don't know if this will help you get them any faster or maybe find them in the UK.
Same vents, but showing only 1 here:

http://www.ebay.com/itm/1970-7...AOSwnDxUpD0y&vxp=mtr

Sorry guys

Not sure if I am giving the correct information. I need the top defroster vents. I have the square vents from my twin pod dash.

See pic attached of whats needed x 3

Sorry, I was afraid of that. Can't help you.

Horace please see this link. They have a variety of Dash Vents.

http://www.carbuildersolutions...wMode=grid&orderBy=0

Those are nice. Thanks for the link.

Goodroc
Great find!!
Thanks, that link just what I needed
Jay

Thanks for the link Goodroc

But if you look at my earlier post I mentioned this same company Car Builder Solutions. As I said, they do a lot of similar vents and if I can't find originals I may have to use something from them.

However while they all look interesting look a bit closer at the info on their vents and there is only really one that will fit into the 75mm hole in the top of the Pantera dash and thats the 100mm Rocking Vane they list.
If you read the info this takes a 63mm ducting tube while the Pantera heater and defrost outlets are 45mm so there will need to be an adaptor of some sort fitted to accommodate these vents to the Pantera heater.

It would save a lot of hassle if I could get originals or copies of the originals from one of the vendors, hence this thread, but if not I may have to look at the above.

Cheers

When I talked to Wilkinson last week he said he was getting dash vents made.

Have you considered having vents 3D printed?

Hope you're right about Wilkinson having some made but when ? These things seem to take months if not years.

Good idea about the 3D printing option but I don't know anybody with a printer that could do them. Anybody got access to a 3D printer ??

Might possibly have an option to borrow some from a Pantera undergoing long term restoration but I will need a permanent solution eventually.

Cheers

I should have a set from my GTS dash that you can borrow for your LMC trip if you run out of all other options.

Very kind of you Kristian and I may very well take you up on it if the UK option to borrow some should fall through.

Will send you an e mail if I need them. Hope to see you at CLM, French fuel strikes permitting !!!

Cheers

Here's the right hand side cup.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/DETOMA...AOSwR5dXRgB6&vxp=mtr

The left hand side cup is 45 degrees.