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side vents

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maxwedge5281

maxwedge5281

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i am considering adding side vents...ralleye louvers... to my v8 healey. i have reviewed several threads but still have a couple of questions? what is the best source...stateside if possible...for the correct sized vents? also, do the vents have a flange to weld in place or are they just butt welded and then ground down and the edge finished? i reviews steves installation and it appeared that his reworked vents did have a flange to weld to... thanks for any help...
 
A guy in Birmingham, Al made several sets years ago. I was lucky to get a set. His had flanges. I traced the outline of them on cardboard and placed cardboard on fender to where I wanted them. Cut and weld from there. I was a bit nervous to cut good fenders.

marv
 
Get the ones with the flanges I think moss sells them IMAG0092.jpg did mine some 20 yrs ago they might have been from kilmartin.There was an article in the chatter mag some yrs ago i'll see if I can find it,also there are quality issues with the vents when I was looking their not all the same
 
There was a member in our club with a V8 in his 3000 all he did was add a set of early Jaguar vents to his fenders. He said that took care of his heating problem and esthetically they looked nice too.
 
i inquired of moss motors and they have the vents flanged and unflanged! but they are alloy and of course my fenders are steel. the flanged appear to drop into with the flange on the outside of the fender and the non-flanged appear to be welded. it seems most of the cars i have looked at have the nonflanged vents. what am i missing and who makes these in steel? thanks for any insight...
 
who makes these in steel? thanks for any insight...

Probably Kilmartin?
 
I have the Kilmartin vents from British Car Specialists. They have flanges. I brazed the flanges to the inside of the fenders and then used a small amount of filler to smooth the edge. Works great!
SAM_1281.jpg
 
I got the aluminum ones from AH Spares. They are steeped in on the inside which will clear the footwell.

I then made a wood buck template, practiced on a piece of sheetmetal.

Determined the location on the fender lining up the buck but also allowed a 1/2" overhang, marked it out and cut the fender.

Placed the buck on the inside of the fender, clamped with wood blocks on the outside and took a selection of hammers and hammered the metal over to form a flange. Trimmed it up, placed vent in place overiding the flange, drilled holes and eventually poprivited it in to place just like the factory had done.
 
could you provide a close up picture of the vent in place! thanks if you can!
 
Max, Have you looked at Steve Thomton's write up on how he did his Kilmartin side vents?
 
thanks for the responses. i ordered a set of steel vents this morning from healey surgeons. they are made by healey spares. i ordered the ones with the flange. as i understand it the flange mates up to the rear side of the fender and the flange is used to attach by welding. i thought that i would drill maybe quarter inch holes in the flange perimeter and spot weld and then finish the outer fender side edge. also a local body man suggested that they could be glued in place...any thoughts from the healey community and the best method! thanks
 
I've never had occasion to use the product, but I would think that the 3M body adhesive would be perfect for this application. That stuff is used to attach complete quarter panels, so a little vent would be no problem. Why run the risk of blowing a hole or distorting the sheet metal? I think the local body man made a good suggestion. Unless, as Steve Thomton mentions in his paper on the subject, forcing the fender back in place puts a lot of stress on it, causing the glued vent to pop off.
 
well i was going to go with steel vents. but, one of the forum members had a set of four aluminum fenders, hood, trunk and i bought those. so i guess i will use aluminum vents. does anyone know about the fit with the healey spares parts. i hope that i can mount the parts myself with final paint and fit by the local body guy....i would be interested in any thoughts or experiences with the aluminum parts. unfortunately the front fenders did not have the front vents already punched!.. thanks
 
maxwedge5281 said:
well i was going to go with steel vents. but, one of the forum members had a set of four aluminum fenders, hood, trunk and i bought those. so i guess i will use aluminum vents. does anyone know about the fit with the healey spares parts. i hope that i can mount the parts myself with final paint and fit by the local body guy....i would be interested in any thoughts or experiences with the aluminum parts. unfortunately the front fenders did not have the front vents already punched!.. thanks
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Get the aluminum parts to fit, then work on the vents. Replacement parts are notorious for not fitting without major work. It's not a question of quality parts, stories are told there was lots of variation at the factory. Once everything fits, I would go with RA-Healey's buck and pop-rivet method.
 
seems most of the vents are installed and attached from the back side of the fender. i have seen a couple of pics with the flange on the outside which is not as finished looking but certainly much simplier and perhaps not requiring the fender to be repainted after installation... comments???
 
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