Neat plan- might try that. With some flexible rubber/foam around the
edge and a spring, it should be sealable... Thanks for the pics

On Aug 6, 2008, at 11:14 AM, neil N wrote:

> Prior to redoing the seals on the heat exchange box on my '81, I
> stuffed paper etc. in the fresh air ram. It helped reduce air flow but
> sealing the box up helped more.
>
> A bit of an aside, I actually made a flap to control the amount of air
> coming in the fresh air ram. I modified my heat exchange box to
> recirculate cabin air so I wanted to control how much fresh air was
> added to the mix.  Plus, in theory, if no fresh air coming in, then
> the fan wouldn't be spinning needlessly. I'm not sure if the fan would
> spin needlessly in the stock setup.
>
> I haven't hooked up this flap yet, but FWIW, it is possible to attach
> a flap with a piano hinge. Getting it to seal? Well that's another
> matter. --- ;^)
>
> Some vague pics:
>
> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/freshairflap
>
> Neil.
>
> On Tue, Aug 5, 2008 at 2:14 PM, Oliver Mueller-Heubach
> <groundhogging@mac.com> wrote:
>> I noticed on the Craig's '80 parts Westy that someone crammed cloth
>> behind the screen inside the front grill. My own '80 Westy had,
>> similarly, the screen closed off with layers of black tape. Is this
>> something to do with non-functioning vents? Cold air in winter? Bees/
>> Insects getting in? The cloth in the parts van intake made me wonder
>> if pouring water into the vents onto this "sponge" would create a
>> rudimentary swamp cooler- but mold would be insane (then again, the
>> cloth was more dirty than moldy..).
>>
>> Also, I have one piece of card/chipboard heat-welded to the back of
>> my grill- the other, which there appears to have been, is gone. I
>> assume these are for directing air into the aforementioned intake.
>> 1-how much more airflow is there with both boards in place, and 2-
>> how have folks attached a new board when the plastic heat welds have
>> broken off?
>> Thanks!
>> ollie
>>
>> Oliver Mueller-Heubach
>> groundhogging@mac.com
>>
>
>
>
> --
> Neil Nicholson '81 JettaWesty "Jaco
> http://groups.google.com/group/vanagons-with-vw-inline-4-cylinder-
> gas-engines
> http://web.mac.com/tubaneil
> http://tubaneil.googlepages.com/

Oliver Mueller-Heubach
groundhogging@mac.com