Okay...the PO of my '73 installed a set of the Mayuer (spelling?) stiffeners. I've never read the installation instructions for installing them, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't say anything about drilling holes (6 per side) all of the way throught the the longitudinal, and securing the stiffener with threaded rod, washers and nuts. My problem is that in doing so, he drilled through the heat ducting running through the longs. I absolutely will be using/needing heat in this car and was wondering what the ducts are made of. The little I can see of them looks kinda like the aluminum flex duct used on VW Bugs fan shroud, but I'm hoping they're a little more durable than that. I could always take a cutting wheel out to the '75 and let the sparks fly, but I was hoping someone on the board had some pics/info about them.

I went out and took a couple of crappy pics to illustrate the installation done by the PO.

'nother pic

How rude of me, I forgot to ask "Please"

The outside layer is the paper/aluminium hose you're thinking of, but there is a smaller "chicken wire" cylinder running down the center and loose fiberglass packing in between the two. I wouldn't worry about a few small holes.

Thanks Mark!

I was hoping there was more to them than what I could see from the openings inside. I wish I had a boroscope to run up the ducts to make sure there's no obstructions other than the obvious rods put there by the PO. My concern is that when he blasted the drill bit through from the outside, it crushed the duct instead of drilling through cleanly. Maybe I'll connect one of the heater fans to the inlet and see if it's clear enough to get the hot/cold air where I need it. It should be easy to tell by the sound of the blower if it's clear.

I don't suppose anybody has a pic with the outer half of the longitudinal removed, do they?

I pulled one out of my parts car just to see what it looked like. It's pretty thick, probaby 3/4" wall thickness and pretty strong too.
The only thing I would worry about would be driving moisture into the longs, but I could be way off base with this too. The holes are already there and you can't really change the ducts so you will have to live with them.

You've got a real good point there! <_<

Thanks again guys!



Kevin

It doesn't run the whole long as it's just over 2' long

Here's the body side of things.

And again.

Excellent!!

Very good pics of the long and duct. I had no idea the center duct piece was that thick! Maybe my duct did survive the stiffener installation.

Thanks again Mark(s). I'm saving those pics for future reference.

One question though, where did you find a Midwestern 914 (rust bucket) in CA...


Kevin

i think that's gint's car

Andy

Here is a cross section of the long, off the car. The flex hose is insulated... and you can catch it on fire welding on the longitudinal... ask me how I know.

Short of actually cutting the long in half , has anyone come up with a good way to treat the inside of the long.....I don't know, maybe Oxysolv in a pump bug/weed sprayer? Probably have to drill some holes in the bottom for drainage and plug em when you got done....If you can't tell, I've got 'rustophobia' REAL bad...If you saw the front trunk of my '75 you'd understand

I want to make sure the '73 has a long and rust-free life

the longs already have drain holes. rectangular shaped.
make sure they're not plugged.

i like the idea of spraying it out, i would use "Metal Ready" if i could figure out a way to get in there without cutting ...

Andy

I used a garden sprayer (Home Cheapo) with a long wand. Lots of "waste" drained out, but I'm pretty sure I got everything inside.

-Rusty

I've got a section of gutter, I'm thinking get a coupla end caps and try to catch the drippings....maybe run it through a coffee filter and douche(sp?) each side several times to make sure I got everything completely coated .....now what did I do with that sprayer...