The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The Electrical Bay New 12 volt blower motor in a 1949 Chevrolet 3100 pickup question?

Got my new Old Air Products 12 volt heater blower motor and noticed it is smaller in diameter that the original 6 volt motor. My question is: The motor goes through the fire wall and there is a 3 hole circular plate and a rubber gasket. Well, the gasket is obviously too large in diameter, so that it won't seal around the new 12 volt motor. Do they make a smaller I.D. gasket for this conversion, or do any of you guys have a solution for this situation? Any suggestions other that gobs of silicon sealant are welcome! Thanks!!

Cut your own gasket. Easy, peasy.

Inner tube works well if the gasket is thin. Thicker gasket can be cut from a mud flap. For a cushion gasket, I have used foam tool box liners. Grease pencil will mark it just fine. Scissors and a razor blade. Watch out for those sneaky fingers blood is not a factory option.

Here is a solution to this problem and I thank Deve. Take ALL the guts out of your larger 6 Volt motor, Put the new smaller 12 volt motor inside the old 6 V and install the heater and fan using the old gasket. NO ONE knows by looking at it that it is not original.

Works very well. The only worry I had was overheating due to having two cases, but nope, no problems. Its not easy, but its doable and nobody will know!

Clever.

I like Deve's idea and did some measurements. The only problem is that the 12v motor I received is longer than the original 6v motor. If I'm understanding what Deve did correctly, he gutted the old 6 volt motor and put the whole 12 volt motor into the 6 volt case? Deve, did you just use the back of the case from the 6v motor? Did you have to fabricate a sleeve to compensate for the length? Do you have a tech tip or photos of how you did this? Like the idea of retaining the original look using the old gasket!

It's on his web site

http://speedprint.com/deves50/heaterrestore.php?page=1&itemsperpage=All

It's missing the details on fitting the new motor inside the old casing.

If your new motor is to long it may not work unless you don't mind a gap between the halves.

The replacement motor I used fit inside. It's a unimotor brand.

It IS missing too many details. Heres the trick that I somehow forgot.

There is a double plate at the back of the 6v motor housing. It looks REAL difficult to get out. I think its riveted in if I remember right. You have to take that out. GUT the entire case of everything and the motor that I put in the article is not too long. Fits perfectly.

If you are into fabrication, the other idea is to take TWO 6v motor housings and lengthen one of them to suit. I didnt have to do that. That was why I was careful to put the part number of the motor there. Then again, manufacturers change their specs all the time.

cut the end of the housing off of the 6V motor and stick it over the end of the 12v motor. Fasten with a piece of double sided tape or something.

Double stick tape.....You gotta be kidding?

If you get ALL the guts out of the old 6 volt motor including the bearing holder which is held in by rivits, the new 12 volt motor will fit and work inside without taping or cutting anything. I emphasized ALL the guts and so did Deve in his response. It works!

Jerry,

Thank you for the advice. I was able to remove ALL the guts from my 6V motor housing. All that is left is the case itself. I wrote Deve a PM yesterday because the stud centers on the VDO motor are a 2 5/16" and the hole centers on the case are at 2 1/2". The VDO motor only has studs on the front of the motor where the shaft comes out. The back of the motor and case are one piece. NO studs on the back. The motor fits in the case, but the 6V studs will not clear the side of the 12V case. I asked Deve if he had to elongate the holes so that the studs would clear. Deve said he did this over 10 years ago an wasn't sure. I have come to the conclusion that VDO must have redesigned their blower motor and now there is no way to attach the back of the 6 volt case to the 12V motor. Just my luck....guess if I want to stuff a 12V motor into an original 6V case I will need to find a different source for a motor. Hate to waste $68.00. Guess I have two choices...1) Install the 12V VDO motor as is with some slight modifications to the firewall blower motor seal, or 2) source a different blower motor.

Tim

NO, Now that you freshen up this old mind, I did do some enlarging of the bolt holes. And it did work out beautifully. Have NO fear, Go For It! I looked for the box but recall it was a VDO xxx motor. I did purchase mine on Amazon.com in I think late 2012 or sometime in 2013. And for less than the venders are charging.

Tim, never give up when a problem occurs.. just look at it, STARE it down! Until the answer comes to you. You can make an adapter plate (round, very thin) with the proper diameter and with the proper tapped threading in the proper place to bolt anything to anything. I think in the end I just looked at it and decided to just elongate the holes. But whatever you need to do is right there in your mind waiting to come out!