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A/C Con't

I got the front sheetmetal hung.... I'm not 100% happy with it so after fighting it (and losing) I did what I usually do and moved on to something else and I will circle back to it later. I settled on continuing the A/C system.

I really wanted to try and incorporate the stock heater core case in some way to cover up the plasticy aftermarket evaporator but I couldn't come up with anything that would look good or wouldn't require a ton of work for very little benefit. But I did decide to use the emblem that is on the stock unit. I didn't want to use the stock one that I had so I ordered a repop one as well as some 1/8 thick ABS plastic sheet to use to mount it. I wanted to back up the emblem with some plastic since it could be kicked and possibly dented and I planned on using the tabs on the emblem to help mount it but to my surprise the repop didn't have tabs like the OEM. So... the plan was changed and I just bonded to pieces of ABS together and then profiled it on the belt sander to semi-match the emblem shape and then I bonded the emblem to the sandwiched and profiled ABS. I then bonded it to the evaporator case with epoxy. It looks better but I may end up painting at least part of the evap unit to hide the plastic better.

I also worked on the RH outer vent design a bit. I modeled up and 3D printed a simple solid just to see if I liked the design and to see if it fit properly. When I held it into place under the dash it was obviously too small but the concept looked pretty close to what I was after.

I revised the model from 4” wide and .75” tall to 5” wide to 1” tall and matured it a little further. I tried to incorporate some of the design cues on the stock center dash and glovebox door. I then made a quick (if 10 hrs on the printer is quick) 3D print using PLA to see if it was to my liking and once I held it under the dash, I think it looked exactly like what I was looking for. I still need to make some fairly significant changes to the design to make it more producible but the size and shape was spot-on and I liked the horizontal bars for the vents as well. I hope to get the final part done in the next week or so, between other in-work jobs, and I will post pics once it is completed.