Cabin hot/cold mixer options (if any)

[Salty]

Hi,

I've off the forums for a very long time, just checking in now and again and reading what people have been up to.

My Cerbera (4.5) is going through a full rebuild at Hilton and Moss. I've had it from new (March 1999) and before the engine issue (below) I'd put about 60k miles on it and was used as a daily driver for a few years in traffic in London and our "going long distances" car.

The rebuild is going well. The chassis has been completely re-done (I'd previously had the out-riggers replaced in-place), the engine is fully rebuilt (after it started to make very loud ticking noises after I came off the power at 180MPH on a German Autobahn a few years ago). New shocks, springs and all sorts of replacements. It's looking like it is going to be back on the road in the next 3 months.

I took a trip up to Bishop's Stortford yesterday to discuss patching up the body work (started to show some blistering as it's 26 years old and had been sat in a shed at Bespoke for a couple of years whilst I decided what to do), and doing some additional things with the engine/exhaust heat protection and it got me back thinking about the cabin heating/cooling.

I had a quick search on the site and found the following link talking about making the hot side a closed-loop system (which makes sense), but cannot find anything about anyone trying to modify the heating/cooling to be a mixed system.

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=13...

Has anyone tried to add a 3rd party mixer - I'd expect the hot/cold buttons to control it. I was thinking about 3D printing a simple mixer chamber, but not sure if it'd be that simple or there are other gotchas regarding airflow (maybe fit some one-way valves operated by air pressure). Any other options out there, as it'd be nice to be able to send either cold or hot air to all of the cabin vents.

Thanks

Paul

[Byker28i]

I've just had to go through my system as I've again got the aircon working and it's brilliantly cold, but when moving my wife complained the passenger side was blowing hot.

Amazing what you can find out with an endoscope with a 5m lead. The hot air hose from the hot box in the passenger wing, to the ducting, wasn't fitted properly, so about 1/3 of it was open to the cabin. I think when moving the air pressure was enough to allow the hot air in.

I can also see why it wasn't fitted properly, it was a pig to relocate back into place correctly

Luckyone has some good info here, about the later cars having the cold air intake to the heater box blocked in the inner wing and a vent to suck air from the cabin:
https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...

[Salty]

Cool - I'll take a look. It's been a while since I drove the car, but I don't remember it being that hot in the summer, once the aircon was nicely blowing where it was needed ;-) ...but do remember it not getting that hot in the winter - so blocking off the hot bit so it recirculates would be an improvement. I was more worried about the engine temperature getting too hot, until I had the big fan upgrade installed - the Cerby wasn't designed for London traffic.

[Byker28i]

Update to this, didn't work, back with the endoscope and found the hot aluminium flap was stuck partially open. Easiest way to see was to go through the drivers side floor vent. A good prod to free it and it's moving again.

I'd always assumed those vents were controlled somehow as part of the hot of cold airboxes, but the are just round flaps hinged, on the other side of where the 3" fabric pipes go into the center console. A very simple design. Hence I guess why sometimes when driving you hear them rattle.