The 'E' Type Forum

More an update than a request for info. Just tried to buy the 3 demister vent nozzle kit but told by M&C Wilkinson that the tooling used by the manufacturer is broken and they won’t be re-tooling. Great shame but understandable. Have Googled everywhere but to no avail. Am thinking of buying the later five vent kit but only hooking up to the 3 vents in the dash top. Has anyone tried this?

The triple vents are much wider IIRC so three of five wouldn’t cover the same area. Nothing that duct tape couldn’t help, I suppose, and not exactly mission critical. The period-correct accessory was always a chamois leather... :-)

Thanks Peter, I agree and would prefer to keep the car as close to original as possible do duck tape it is! Just had update from M&C who says they have a number of requests but it appears that the material used in the tooling is both expensive and too soft and doesn’t last as long as the manufacturer had hoped. Hopefully one day someone will take up the challenge.

Dave Kerr copied his triple vents I think. Maybe he could make you another set?

Pete

I have a feeling, but it is no more than that, that the early vents were also used on mark 1 Minis . They certainly look very similar

If I remember rightly Uryk at Evolution E type, ( E type Fabs ) is milling his out of billet. This would be an easier and cheaper route for low volume production than having press tooling made.

Just a thought,


Simon

PeterCrespin wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 30, 2019 1:04 am

Dave Kerr copied his triple vents I think. Maybe he could make you another set?

Pete

Thanks Pete, forgive my ignorance but do you have contact details for Dave Kerr, please. In the meantime I have contacted Evolution E Type.

288gto wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:42 am

If I remember rightly Uryk at Evolution E type, ( E type Fabs ) is milling his out of billet. This would be an easier and cheaper route for low volume production than having press tooling made.

Just a thought,


Simon

Thank Simon I have contacted them and will post an update

christopher storey wrote: ↑

Sat Mar 30, 2019 7:27 am

I have a feeling, but it is no more than that, that the early vents were also used on mark 1 Minis . They certainly look very similar

Thanks will research if the other two leads draw a blank!

Dave Kerr posts here sometimes.

Xke061@gmail.com

Or

David@kerr2209.fsnet.co.uk

Pete

Was at Stoneleigh spares day today SNGB had a stand with a laser printer...and they had made the vents..worth contacting them

mgcjag wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 31, 2019 4:40 pm

Was at Stoneleigh spares day today SNGB had a stand with a laser printer...and they had made the vents..worth contacting them

Thanks for that am actually waiting on a response from them and had wondered if anyone was doing 3D printing too!

I had a set 3D printed by Cardiff University 2 years ago. I have a complete set of five, and hold the design software to have more printed. I've not fitted them yet as I’m not quite at that stage. My only concern which may or not be proved, is the operating temperature range. Certainly a hot air gun will melt them, but probably the warm air from the heater is a much lower temperature which the printed material could withstand. In due course I will report back my findings. I should add, the originals were a softish vinyl type plastic. The 3D print material by comparison is a fairly hard and more brittle plastic.

3D print materials vary widely in their mechanical properties, including tensile strength and heat resistance. It's hard to say how your demister vents will endure but I would suggest that they would probably be fine in the heat from the air ducts although they will probably struggle with the high levels of UV light they will be subjected to on the dashboard top. A coat of paint would probably help them, if they can physically withstand the solvents, etc.

Materials technology is advancing at quite a pace at the moment and we already have a wide selection to choose from and the machines are getting faster and more complex by the month. We can already print multiple materials in one item and I have just designed an intricate aluminium part for use in an airborne piece of electronics equipment that could not be made by conventional means. It's fascinating and I am thrilled to still be learning new skills after a long career in engineering.

If there is enough demand for the 3 vent items, I would be happy to reverse engineer them and get quotes for them. Depending on volume, part complexity and what people would be willing to pay for them, it may even be worth having a mould tool made.

Regards

I have now spoken with a lot of people, including a few restoration companies. As far as I know there is reasonable but limited demand for the 3 piece nozzle set but none are currently being manufactured. Bit of a sweeping statement but some of the 5 piece sets being sold are not good quality in so far as the material used is very brittle and cracks easily when trying to fit them to the dashboard vents, and involve up to a days work in some cases. So buy with care! I had wondered about whether 3D printing was an option , but for me (meaning the restorer I am using!) now is the time to move on we will endeavour to find a way forward with what I have. Into the unknown......

They say a picture is worth a thousand words so hopefully this will be of help and give an idea of what I'm doing. Not too worried about UV degradation as the demister nozzles are mounted below the black dash top and covered by the metal escutcheon plates screwed over the top, but I take your point a coating of paint or similar will help.

PeterCrespin wrote: ↑

Fri Mar 29, 2019 10:02 am

The triple vents are much wider IIRC so three of five wouldn’t cover the same area. Nothing that duct tape couldn’t help, I suppose, and not exactly mission critical. The period-correct accessory was always a chamois leather... :-)

I have just had new moulds made, and eight sets of the three plenums made (as I needed a set) PM me if interested, it would be nice to recover some of the cost!

I don’t need any but you could put an ad here and J-L.

These are readily available now - we used the 3D printed ones to test fit last year and then tooled up to mould the production ones....
Part numbers are BD22762 and BD22763 and available online.

JulianBarratt wrote: ↑

Fri Jan 31, 2020 4:04 pm

These are readily available now - we used the 3D printed ones to test fit last year and then tooled up to mould the production ones....
Part numbers are BD22762 and BD22763 and available online.

Julian that's good news, what about the centre vents for both S1 and S2 (can't find the part number) are they available?

Thanks

Geoff