heater defrost vent knozzel mtg question

[3046moparcoupe]

Saw a really good picture Young Ed had posted on here back from Dec of 2008 of the dash on his P15....just about everything was in place but the garnish molding was still off. When I saw the picture I was sure it would show me what I needed to know, but I just couldn't quite tell for sure....as the picture was taken straight on facing the dash..

 

I just re-attached my defrost vent brkts/bezzels.knozzels - back to the car,...and I installed them exactly the way they came out per the notes and sketches I made,....I don't remember anything looking odd when I got the car, as the garnish molding sorta covers everything up around that top edge of the dash...but when I put it back together today - the shiny threaded ends of those sheet metal type screws, pointing straight up and staring me in the face,...got me to second guessing whether I was actually putting these back in correctly...

 

Both of these defrost vent pieces were attached to the cowl, from underneath,....with the screws inserted from below the cowl and threaded into their respective holes from below. So the 2ea mtg ears on each of the defrost vent brkts/bezels/knozzels are pushed up against the underneath side of the cowl, then the screws are also inserted from below, and threaded up through the bezel, and through the cowl...leaving the screw threads exposed up top, until the garnish molding goes on...??

 

I was sitting watching TV this evening and it dawned on me, obviously the defrost vent brkts/bezels,...have to go in from underneath the dash,...but it might be possible to feed the mtg ears of each vent through the slot in the cowl, up and over one and a time,..then the screws could go in from the top side of the cowl, leaving the screw heads exposed from up top, rather than the screw threads being exposed from up top, the way mine was and the way I currently have it...

 

Hopefully this makes sense,....if any P15 forum members  remember, or if your garnish molding is still possible off, don't know if a peek through the windshield down through the slots in the garnish moldings would allow a person to see or not,....it would be nice to get these installed back correctly..

 

Thanks again for all the help you've sent my way so far...

 

Steve

[DrDoctor]

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Edited May 8, 2018 by DrDoctor

[3046moparcoupe]

Dr thanks for your reply back,....not trying to make something out of nothing here,....but mounting them the way you are seeing yours would raise the vent slightly (not much but a smidge), and it would definitely keep those screw threads away from your molding/piping/and dash edge....sorta crazy why someone would do it the other way around, like I found mine....I just say that because it would seem the more difficult way to mount them, (as the screws are a bit harder to get started from underneath, especially one of them which was partially obstructed by the 1 3/4 heater duct opening....if your screws are entering from the top, then the mtg ears of the defrost vents themselves have to be worked up and over the opening in the cowl, as the screw holes in the vents themselves are oversized. The screw only tightens down into the smaller hole below in the cowl metal itself...

 

thank you...any other p15 owners out there with similar or different observations please respond as well.....

 

thanks again, much'o

 

Steve

[3046moparcoupe]

Some weeks back, a forum member was good enough to reply in regards to one of my previous posts about avoiding dash rattles,...I remembered that he had said he chased a dash rattle for some time that ended up being a defrost vent nozzle, and he mentioned that it was hard to get to....so I messaged him about this question of whether the vent nozzels screwed in from up top or down below....he replied back today and said that his were screwed in from underneath the dash pointing upwards - just as I had found mine when I took it apart...

 

Always more than one way to skin a cat, and I'm not trying to make something out of nothing here, (although I seem to be pretty good at it sometimes .....

 

In all honesty - I could see advantages and dis-advantages to either way,.....

 

1) : screwing in from the bottom - you give yourself additional clearance in regards to the screw itself (eliminating the presence of the screw head) and the closest mounting ear of the dash itself (which is really close - like so close I believe your average screw head would hit the edge of it, at least when I measure mine it looks that way),...but - if  the screw ever does work itself loose - much harder to get to,......

 

2): screw in from the top,....always really easy to get to if you need to tighten it, but you'd have to work the mtg ears of each vent nozzle over and up through the vent opening, if ou were to use a sheet metal screw like I found had been used previously (I can see all my new paint on the vents scratched to crap ),...then you'd have to contend with your screw head rubbing or interfering with the dash mtg ear....also it was kinda hard to see, but raising the vent that additional height to allow the mtg ears to ride on top of the dash, might have caused the vent nozzels themselves to rub underneath, and so on,....so it begins to mushroom into using a screw with a small head and a lock washer and nut, thereby allowing the vent to remain butted up against the bottom side of the dash....ya da ya da yada,..... 

 

With this forum member also finding a long sheet metal screw inserted in from underneath the dash pointing upwards, I'm not alone on this, and this method should help insure that the close mtg ear on my dash won't be trying to ride up in the heads of these vent screws.

 

Now, let's see if I can stay clear of those sharp screw threads, when I fit that newly painted dash into place...!!!!

 

Thank you Forum

 

Steve