Heater & Blower Cover on 411
 

Can anybody tell me how the vinyl cover for the heater and blower is attached at the bottom of the cover. It is held in place across the top and sides with press studs . I have been led to believe that an aluminium strip was used ? and screwed or riveted into place

Regards Peter Dowdle

That is correct Peter. I think it was riveted - mine is no longer there, but someone else should be able to confirm this.

Thanks Kevin

From memory was the strip enclosed by the vinyl or sitting on the outside ?

Now I am starting to doubt my memory! As you know I had air conditioning installed in my 411 and they tried to use the vinyl cover over an aluminium cover. They botched it and it looked awful. After looking at photos I have realised that's what I was remembering - not how it was originally. I still have the vinyl cover, however the bottom of it has obviously been chopped off, and presumably thrown away by the people who fitted the A/C.


Hopefully someone can lift the bonnet on their 411 and confirm how it originally was fastened ...

There is a posting on this site under the heading 411 S2 Heater Shelf dated the 22/8/08, one of the photographs attached shows a metal strip running across the bottom front in this area,from what I can see on my car there are screws going through this into the base of the cover so there must be a metal strip retained within the base of the vinyl, access was too restricted to lift the poppers to see any further.
Geoff.

Geoff Thanks for your reply. Attached is the only clear photo I can find, it shows an aluminium strip that appears to be riveted into place but may not be original .Any photo that anyone can supply of an original car would be appreciated.

Peter
If you use the search facility on the site, type in Bristol S2 Heater Shelf it should give you about three results click on the one from califironiabristol and it should show you the photograph I referred to 1st left,one of the other photos shows it as well.
What you have basically is an L shaped piece of metal mounted on the bulkhead in front of the heater to attach the bottom of the cover to,I have in the back of my mind having seen this cover fixed on the front or outside of this strip but obviously there would still have been a metal strip within the vinyl cover to take the screw or rivet attachments.
Knowing how Bristol liked to put their cars together I suspect rivets would have been used in preference to screws.
Geoff.

I think this is the thread Geoff is referring to

http://www.bristolcars.info/forums/8...ter-shelf.html

Kevin I found it but its not showing how cover attaches

Peter, I have found some pictures of what I believe is a 411 S2 from an owner in Ireland which might be helpful - the engine has been upgraded so I have attached a close-up of the heater cover and the full engine bay.


It looks like the bottom of the vinyl cover is secured with a metal strip. From memory i think it is has a flattened C section shape and is made of steel.


I can't say whether it was riveted or screwed in place. The photo is not quite clear enough to see.

I'm pretty sure I have found the metal strip in question that came off my 411. See attached pictures.


Dimensions are 26" x 0.7" x 0.25" and it is steel

Kevin well done clearly thats how its done.

Very poor system with ragged cloth protruding.

Clearly standards have dropped from the early cars.

Why they didnt use press studs along the bottom defeats me

Thanks for your efforts

Peter

Peter,
There you be nothing wrong in my view in modifying the arrangement to fix the bottom of the cover with studs as well. It would require a slightly deeper front panel on the heater shelf and I would have thought 3 or 4 press studs would not only look neater but the cover would be a lot easier to remove should the need arise.
I think the metal strip that Kevin has photographed must be on the inside of the cover on my car as all I can see are screws in the outer lip of the strip running along the front of the shelf, it is obviously well located not just relying on a few screws through the vinyl.
Geoff.

Geoff I agree with what you say buttons along the bottom would work well. The photo kevin attached of someone elses car shows the rail exposed on the outside of the material this looks rough. Clearly that rail was original as Kevin has the same rail for his car . The question then begs was it exposed or enclosed in a pocket .are you suggesting yours is ?

Peter
I acquired my 411 series 3 in 1981 or 82 the only reason that I am not sure if the mounting arrangement of the bottom of the cover is original or not is that I am certain that I have seen at least one car where the cover was attached on the front of the mounting strip rather than behind it.
This could have been on the 410 I sold some years ago but I can't find any photographs of that area on the engine bay to confirm it.
It is obvious from examining the cover on my car there is something retaining it behind the mounting strip and the metal strip Kevin photographed would be ideal for that purpose the cover could be glued to and over the outside face of the u section it appears to be and it could be placed on the inside of the mounting strip ready to accept the retaining screws.
I am not sure on this site if photographs can simply be sent as attachments but if they can I will try and photograph the set up on my car.
Will also look at the 603 to see how it is done on that car,
Geoff

Geoff very good of you.

Adding photos is easy if you can get them into your computer.

Below the area where you type a reply to a thread there is a section for attachments . It works realy well.

I believe the material used is the same as used in the Austin Healy boot. Im trying to source a supplier in Australia.

Peter and Geoff, it did occur to me that the bottom of the vinyl cover could be secured between the metal strip and the front of heater tray, then folded up and over the metal strip so it is not visible from the engine bay. Of course this would require the vinyl to be a bit longer, probably by about 1.5 inches.

However if a vehicle was being restored, it is likely that there may be a bit of rust in this area and if the metal strip was removed during the restoration process, the vinyl beneath it may not be in good condition, so it would be tempting to cut the bottom inch or so off the vinyl, in which case it would no longer be long enough to wrap around the metal bar when re-installing. So the metal strip ends up being fixed on the outside of the vinyl cover where is it visible in the engine bay.

I hope this makes sense! (see attached drawing)

Kevin you may be right > Shall await with interest Geoffs photos. Its amazing with all the 411s out there no one else has made any effort to reply. Cant be that hard to lift the bonnet and have a look in the interest of keeping the cars original.

Peter,
Due to my limited computer skills failed to upload the photographs so have sent them to Kevin who kindly offered to help if I got into any difficulty.
I managed to get access to another 411 series 3 which had far less clutter round it so I was able to take some photographs, this is another car untouched for ages and the mounting arrangement is different with the metal strip Kevin photographed on the outside bottom of the cover, none of which ever appears to have been disturbed so I put money on this being how Bristol put it together originally. The strip is fixed to the metal strip on the shelf and the cover itself extends a little bit below it which I hope comes out in the photograph.
I checked on my 603 and it is totally different to the earlier cars.
Geoff.

Thanks for the photos Geoff, which are attached to this post.



The metal strip looks very similar to the one from my car, a 411 S5, except the metal strip appears to taper at the end. You can also see that it was screwed in place.


Don't you just love the trouble Bristol went to in getting the heater hoses neatly through the vinyl cover :-)

Thanks guys for all your effort. Im very keen on originality where possible but how poor is the whole design , especially the holes for the heater pipes. A little modification to the design seems to be called for. Its interesting to note the type of material used I believe I last saw it in the boot of my 100/6 Healey some 50 years ago. Trying to source a supplier at the moment.

Hopefully the last question

I noticed in various photos posted earlier,stitching that formed a rectangular box effect on the upper vertical panel of the cover. My question is, is this purely decorative or is this stitching holding something to the underside of the cover?
What purpose is it there for.

Peter,
There is something behind the stitching - see attached photos. It's a rectangle of heavy duty card 2.25mm thick. Except it's not actually cardboard - something much stronger and stiffer than cardboard - it has very little flexibility. It would need a heavy duty industrial sewing machine to do the stitching.

Thanks Kevin.

I guess the board is to stabilize the cover to stop it sagging. Traced some material which should arrive tomorrow so all should be well to have it made up.
Interesting to see your cover the holes for the heater pipes are neater than others we have commented on.

Thanks again

Peter Dowdle

NB Must call in one day and have a look at your car

Peter,
The cover I photographed has been cut I suspect to remove it or perhaps even fit it without disturbing the pipes, the one Kevin photographed has not suffered this indignity but it might be worth considering a modification here when making the new one.
Geoff.