[m610]

When I had the dash out I made the mistake of merely touching the driver-side defroster vent. It crumbled into little pieces. The hose seems okay but is hard and brittle.

I figure these parts are toast in most cars this age. Does anyone make replacements?

Mike

 

[First opel 1981]

When I had the dash out I made the mistake of merely touching the driver-side defroster vent. It crumbled into little pieces. The hose seems okay but is hard and brittle.

I figure these parts are toast in most cars this age. Does anyone make replacements?

Mike

Someone on the site has been promising a replacement for about 2 years now. He said it should be soon. Of course he's been saying that for a while now.

As far as I know, there aren't new ones available otherwise. Unless you find someone with an old stash.

 

[Autoholic]

I am currently working on it. I’ve got a set of good vents and a good 3D scanner. The problem I’m running into is composite scan accuracy. There is a considerable learning curve to this process. If one scan winds up not blending well, the whole thing has to be redone. I’ve burned through well over a dozen hours of scanning already trying to get a finished scan. I can only improve the blending of one 360 degree scan with another. If there winds up being a problem within a 360 degree scan, the whole scan is useless. Needless to say, it gets very frustrating. I’m working on the passenger side vents right now and these are harder to scan because they wind up being wider to scan. One way or another, the 3D scanning work needs to be done and this can get rather expensive to outsource.

 

[tealcarver]

When I had the dash out I made the mistake of merely touching the driver-side defroster vent. It crumbled into little pieces. The hose seems okay but is hard and brittle.

I figure these parts are toast in most cars this age. Does anyone make replacements?

Mike

Mike, a couple years ago, I contacted Opels Unlimited and asked if they were going to reproduce the vents, they told me NO because they had so many "great" vents in stock. You might want to ask if they have any. Don't know how far they are from you, but it might be worth the trip.

Bob

 

[tealcarver]

When I had the dash out I made the mistake of merely touching the driver-side defroster vent. It crumbled into little pieces. The hose seems okay but is hard and brittle.

I figure these parts are toast in most cars this age. Does anyone make replacements?

Mike

Mike, never heard of this outfit, but there is a slim chance the either have them or at least know where to get them.
Contact:
Please contact us at [email protected] with your parts request. An email with pictures of the part and the car attached always helps.

I sent an email to the person above, he said he did not have any of the defroster vents. Opels Unlimited I haven't contacted, so there is still a slim chance.

 

[Gary]

Mike, a couple years ago, I contacted Opels Unlimited and asked if they were going to reproduce the vents, they told me NO because they had so many "great" vents in stock. You might want to ask if they have any. Don't know how far they are from you, but it might be worth the trip.

Bob

Todd bought a couple of nice sets from me a few years back.

Plastics, rubber and interiors are great here in the Northeast, it's just that the bodys disappear around them.

 

[The Scifi Guy]

I'm a big fan of the aftermarket vents from Vintage Air that I put in my car. They're 1/3 as wide as oem GT ones are though, so you would have to customize them a little to attach them and fill the remaining slots in the dash. But they work far better than the oems and disperse the air more evenly.

 

[Gordy]

Suselbeek in Europe offers reproduction vents on their site. I have ordered items from them a couple of years ago (reproduction metal tail panel and panel where filler neck comes thru), and they showed up in good time and were very nice.

https://www.opelgtparts.com/ersatzteile-neu/innenausstattung/luftfuhrung/defroster-jet-right.html

 

[Gary]

Suselbeek in Europe offers reproduction vents on their site. I have ordered items from them a couple of years ago (reproduction metal tail panel and panel where filler neck comes thru), and they showed up in good time and were very nice.

https://www.opelgtparts.com/ersatzteile-neu/innenausstattung/luftfuhrung/defroster-jet-right.html

But, but...

 

[Autoholic]

Suselbeek DOES NOT have reproductions. What they have is vents from either parted out cars or vents taken from good donors. The set of vents I have that are pristine, came off of a good donor vehicle. Everyone is in the same boat, no one has managed to reproduce the vents yet. The only reason why I started working on this issue is due to that fact. Suselbeek is largely a used parts store. Splendid Parts is the primary source of reproduced parts.

 

[tealcarver]

I got the last set of defroster vents many years ago. If I am not mistaken, they used to be on the forum. They had them made with fiberglass, and they were much thicker than the originals. He told me he couldn't make that much money making the vents, so he sold them to an unnamed person and that was pretty much the end of it. I am talking about 2002 or 2003. It was the first purchase I made to get my GT back on the road. I thought $50 was high, I see now what a bargain I got. If anybody remembers this person, please chime in. I am sure there is a left and right mold for these vents sitting somewhere, It's sort of like a treasure hunt, but you would be surprised at the number of people that come here, read articles, and never become members. It's worth a try, maybe they will se this post and recognize what those two molds are.

Bob

 

[tealcarver]

I'm a big fan of the aftermarket vents from Vintage Air that I put in my car. They're 1/3 as wide as oem GT ones are though, so you would have to customize them a little to attach them and fill the remaining slots in the dash. But they work far better than the oems and disperse the air more evenly.

Gordo, are the vent you described still available? How much modification did you have to do the fit the vent in place. If it was a reasonable amount of time to modify the vent, this would be the answer for people that don't have usable vents.

Bob

 

[Lindsay]

Vintage Air Defrost Duct

https://www.vintageair.com/search-results/?sqry=633810-VU
633810-VUA - Defrost Duct Pair Universal w/ Integrated Air Diverters Price: $12.00
This injection molded universal defrost duct set for 2-inch duct hose offers dual mounting options and features integrated air diverters. Dimensions are 6.25-inches x 2.75 inches deep.

63100-VUQ - Defrost Duct Trim Pair Machined Aluminum Price: $29.95
This 2-piece machined aluminum defrost duct trim set is designed specifically for use with our universal defrost ducts (633810-VUA). Dimensions are 6.5-inches x 0.625-inches.

49161-LHA - Defrost Duct Trim Pair Paintable Molded Plastic Price: $13.95
This 2-piece molded plastic defrost duct trim set is paintable and designed specifically for use with our universal defrost ducts (633810-VUA). Dimensions are 6.5-inches x 0.625-inches.

https://www.opelgt.com/forums/2b-se...nts-aftermarket-alternatives.html#post1059826

 

[Lindsay]

Vintage Air Defrost Duct

Longer defrost ducts:
634074-PMA - Defrost Duct Pair Mopar and Universal Price: $26.00
This universal defrost duct set for 2-inch duct hose features a pair of defrost ducts that measure 12.5-inches x 1.75 inches x 2.125-inches deep.
NOTE: This defrost duct set comes standard with Gen IV Challenger/Cuda Kits. Sold as a pair.

 

[slracer]

As I don't have a set of Opel GT ducts available right now, so could someone please add the dimensions of those to this discussion? A picture is always nice also as most of US Opelers are not really good readers (for me, it's just my glasses need replacing - :bs2.

Doug

 

[tealcarver]

Longer defrost ducts:
634074-PMA - Defrost Duct Pair Mopar and Universal Price: $26.00
This universal defrost duct set for 2-inch duct hose features a pair of defrost ducts that measure 12.5-inches x 1.75 inches x 2.125-inches deep.
NOTE: This defrost duct set comes standard with Gen IV Challenger/Cuda Kits. Sold as a pair.

These sounds like a good deal, I could live with $26 for the pair, even if I had to do a few mods to get them to fit. Thanks Lindsay. I guess you have to figure out if they work, and that's the main thing. I would think that any mods that needed to be done would be pretty easy. Website address: https://www.vintageair.com/custom/product-pop.php?pn=634074-PMA I also got an email that said they have one pair of defroster vents, taken from a GT. The issue is the price: $ 45.21 each and no guarantee on condition.

Bob

 

[Lindsay]

:thinking: Fabricate mounting plates from thin plywood to mount 633810-VUA - Defrost Duct Pair Universal (Post #13) to GT dash?
:no: Longer 634074-PMA Defrost Ducts Pair are not curved like OEM GT ducts. Maybe too long without curve?

 

[opellane]

Just some Idea's that been flowing around, thought I'd put it out there, Probably not feasible

Since usually only the Top of the defroster vents crumble from heat and sun. What if we could just make a new top that would slip into the old vent,, Maybe cast that part from light Aluminum would last forever, and would look nice too, Paint or polish to chrome

Also Can the Vents some how be caste in sand then use light Aluminum ( old Aluminum sliding melted down) poured into sand cast mold. machining/trim the aluminum couldn't be that hard. It's time consuming, but it not like there a thousand orders to be made.
Just some of my ideas :thinking::thinking: What ever happen to the Molds that Opel Used to make the vents,,, Did Opel Trash the old molds?? maybe not? must of made thousands of defroster vents...just saying.

 

[Autoholic]

Mike,

Focusing on the top of the vents still doesn't resolve a critical problem with them. The turning vane design in them is crap, literally 1/3 of the vent is blocked from any airflow. It would be nice to fix that. Also, aluminum casting is pretty expensive and I don't think putting large chunks aluminum right next to vinyl, exposed to sunlight, would be a good idea. I think that would wind up damaging the vinyl due to excessive amounts of heat. Aluminum heats up VERY fast, as it has a pretty good coefficient of heat transfer. So, you could be talking about metal parts reaching 200°F on a really hot day at a car show, and vinyl can melt / degrade at that temp. Metal vent covers usually have something else between them and vinyl.

 

[opellane]

more Idea's

found this while searching, as I remember I have a friend that use to work inside the plant, I'll have to ask him about the products

Make your own home made molds, maybe Urethane Resin, Check it out, Just putting this out there, not sure
if it would work for defroster vents.


https://www.smooth-on.com/