Rip B395017894

[Alpine 1789]

We cut up my SV parts car (see http://www.sunbeamalpine.org/forum/showthread.php?t=5653) yesterday. It has just been a rolling shell since I first posted about this car - just coincidentally, exactly 4 years ago today - but yesterday I pulled the rest of the salvageable parts, removed the front and rear valances and cut the remainder into five bite-sized pieces. Those will go off to the crusher shortly. As you can see, we had the car up on truck jackstands for most of the work and it was clear that it was not salvageable. I supposed someone would have tried if it was a Tiger or had tremendous sentimental value, but the car was long past being worth saving. I am going to have the valences dipped to be sure they are as rust free as the SIV. Now, if I can just find a way to get the body guy going on the SIV!

 

[alpine_64]

Jim,

Can you take some pics straight on (elevation) on the section of the sils and floors.. would be nice to show in future threads of how the 3 section sills are set and how they relate to the floor pans.

 

[Alpine 1789]

It may be a few weeks before I can get back there, but will ask the body guy to do it for me. Hopefully, the scrap dealer won't have been by there yet.

 

[AlsPine]

You should cut out the openings for the fresh air vents under the top grills in front of the windshield as you can add them to any '65 or earlier Alpine or Tiger and have that nice feature.
Don't forget to take the door latch assy's off of the "b" post before you send it to the recycling.

 

[Alpine 1789]

You should cut out the openings for the fresh air vents under the top grills in front of the windshield as you can add them to any '65 or earlier Alpine or Tiger and have that nice feature.
Don't forget to take the door latch assy's off of the "b" post before you send it to the recycling.

I pulled the vents off after the first photo was taken, but didn't think to take the openings themselves. How hard it is to attach them to a SIV?

 

[Eleven]

I did that to a Triumph GT6 shell. The local metal guy was all forms, costs and hassles so I cut it up, put it in the pickup and chucked it in the dump at the local transfer station. Only question asked was if it had VIN numbers still on it. The correct answer is "no". Cost was the basic load fee of $15.75.

 

[AlsPine]

Hi Jim,
Not very difficult. The driver side is the most critical because of the steering column so measure carefully. Put white art tape down and layout where the cuts for the opening will be. You can use a high speed cutting wheel to make some of the cuts then use various other cutting tools to complete the job.
Leave about a 1/4" of lip around the vent sheet metal that you removed from your scrap body. You can leave a wider lip, but it would be a bit more visible when looking through the grill. It is your call. Trim it to your liking. After you get the holes cut in your series IV, use RTV or other strong bonding sealer to mount the vent holder into the opening.
Sunbeam specialties has vent repair kits that consist of 2 plastic door flaps & gaskets, rollers & a spring set.
Even if the vents are still working, rebuild them before you put them it as they will fail, and it is a real job to get them out when the dash is in.
I have rebuilt 2 sets of vents and it is very easy to do. You just have to be really careful when removing the rivets as it is very easy to drill through the plastic.
After drilling through 1 rivet and putting a hole in the plastic, I ground the heads off of the other rivets and pushed them through. Go slow so you don't generate so much heat that you melt the plastic.
I put a set of air vents in my series 3 project.
Too bad that Rootes didn't think of putting them in the Alpines and Tigers sooner than near the end of production of the cars.
Good luck with your project!

 

[Alpine 1789]

Thanks. I will try to salvage the appropriate sheet metal over the weekend.

 

[65beam]

rip

jim,
the smart thing to do is forget the vents. i have had to rebuild the ones on the wife's car two times since the 1995 restoration. use them and they will leak. it's not good to have water on your feet while driving in the rain. it rots the floor! i was at the shop in dayton that is restoring my car and i talked to him about the damage to your rear valance. he says he would cut out only the bad sections and work the dents. he also said to check the frame rails to make sure they are not bent. if your fender only has the usual rot, there are panels available. randy willet? in new england has them. he sells on e bay under oneoffive. he frequents the cat forum also. doug used some panels i bought from randy.

 

[AlsPine]

Hi Jim,
The vent kits from SS are very high quality, better than original. Rick also has had the rubber duck bill's reproduced, and the price is very reasonable.
The only way you will get water on your feet, is if the vent drain plugs up, or the hose comes out of the fire wall. There is a deflector plate in the vent housing that keeps water from hitting the vent opening, so make sure that it goes back in correctly.
I think that installing the vents are well worth the effort, as it is nice to have that flow of fresh air coming in during that nice summer drive. If you have a Tiger or a V6 conversion, it is a must to get the radiated heat from the firewall out of the compartment.

 

[AlsPine]

Jim,
If you don't install the vents, then you can put the sheet metal and vents on ebay as a conversion kit, and get a good chunk of change for them.

 

[alpine_64]

I would second the advantage of the fresh air vents. until i had the MKIA none of the sunbeams i had driven had them. The ability to get a strong flow of fresh air into the car when you have a hardtop on or the roof up is fantastic. Stops you from ending up tired and disipates any fuel/exhaust smells the cars can have. Just make sure they are in good condition before you put them back in. I also note that a company in the Uk is advertising replacement units in Stainless on ebay.

Jim i kow you have a SV with them,. but sometimes we forget how useful some of the things on the car are until we dont have them

 

[65beam]

rip

i'm well aware of the quality of the parts rick sells but the problem is in the way the vents seal. i have two kits in stock and they are still made the same way with a seal similar but without a doubt better quality than the original. with continued use the seal at the bottom breaks up and the water pours in. it's called wear. plus the vent housings are made of thin plastic and it distorts over the years. the closing flaps are also plastic. the springs also set in plastic. there is the metal shield or deflector under the cowl vents. that moves the water in one direction away from the rear but it does go into the housing. now comes the problem that only a certain amount of liquid can flow thru the small hose going to the duckbill. it's kind of like trying to put 5 1/2 gals of oil in a 5 gallon pail. it spills over! we considered making some vent units out of thin metal but didn't think it was worth the time and effort considering the time the cars actually are driven. they were a good idea in theory but due to rootes financial problems they probably cut corners for cost reasons. on one of the wife's series 5's back in the 80's we super glued the vents shut. still have them on the shelf. never did leak! if you live where you get very little rain ,it's not a problem. now michael as far as your tiger having vents it would probably be a good idea to have an exhaust fan to vent all the hot air in your tiger cockpit if you have the hard top on. nothing but AC helps here when the temp and humidity are in the high 90's.