... or the handy-man's secret weapon Duck Tape!

Hi Dan, the trouble with chatting to you is that then I have to go and check.. :).... and the relevant parts car is out in the paddock.. and the local Roos are currently looking like drowned rats.

Anyway, you are right. Mine doesn’t have eyeball vents but does have a metal tube from under the dash to the inner guard. The outer end has a plastic elbow with the remains of the concertina tubing that goes to the front elbow.

Not sure how the elbow fitting attaches the smaller diameter metal bit which is welded to the inner guard panel.

I would think you could remove the plastic bit and tape some flexible plastic over whatever sticks out in order to seal out moisture (of which we have more than an elegant sufficiency at present).

And then stuff the rag (not giving up :) into the bit of metal tube that protrudes under the dash....

Cheers, Ian

my car is a '74 innocenti....... im considering removing the heat all-together so i'll just block off all of the unused openings.

Ian: (just chatting, no offense intended)

On the MK 1 and Mk 2 cars with the air hose/duct entirely inside the engine bay that would be possible. If I recall correctly, the hose passed through the firewall hole and continued to the heater. 

On the later cars with the eyeball vents and the wheel well duct, (again if I recall correctly - it has been a long time since I fixed mine) there's a plastic fitting sticking out through the fender wall (extension of the firewall) to which the duct connects. I think it has a molded-in grille to keep the big chunks/bugs out, so a rag would not work. If it did. a rag would get wet anyway.

Mk I/Mk 2 cars did not have eyeball vents but had sliding windows which also provided better ventilation control than wind-up windows.

Or you just cover the hole.

The factory made a small plate to cover the early firewall hole for cars without a heater....I just made a small alloy plate.

As a temporary measure just ball up a wad of rag and stuff it in the hole.

Cheers, Ian

thanks everyone.... the elbow is there, but no duct through the wheel well...... next thing on the list to fix:)

If, As Alex suggests, you have a plastic duct elbow going from the grill out through the right inner wing (fender), there needs to be a flexible duct going from the elbow, past the shock absorber above the wheel and into the firewall. The factory flexible duct, if you still have it, will likely be pretty mangled. You need it to bring fresh air from in front of the car into the cabin. Without it, you'll be getting road dust and dirt etc. You will also get water splashed into the firewall intake, resulting in rust. (I used flexible aluminum duct of the right diameter to fix mine.)

IMHO it kinda “depends”.

On early cars this duct ran from the grill through the top left corner of the firewall to the heater.

Later, 1970s???, they re-routed the duct so it went though the front part of the inner wing, along the tyre side of the inner wing panel then into the car though the top part of the inner wheel arch..

Up to the late 70s you could remove this duct from where it entered the heater. If you do you will replicate a modern car’s “recirc” setting. Ie, the air that goes into the heater comes from under the dash (inside the car).

Works fine on my Mk I(s)..

Cheers, Ian

Heater air intake and eyeball vent.  Yes, you need it.

What is the duct that goes from the grille to the right front wheel well for.....and do I need it?