Morrigan_Aria

Hi everyone,

Here's hoping I am not the only one out there that has encountered this. Tonight, I went to install my squeaky new glove box liner, only to notice some plastic piece ominously hanging from under the dash. Upon further inspection, this is the piece that screws to the underside of the dash and creates the defroster. This plastic has become brittle over the years, and the bolt holes are broken off beyond repair. Additionally, the wire-reinforced fabric style hose is torn and gouged in a number of places, making repair unfeasible due to the condition of the material.

Does anyone know where I can obtain another pair of the under-dash defroster pieces? I think I can locate new hose, I am not worried about concours here, this car will be a driver again soon.

They look like something that would attach to your vacuum, with the hose attached. Mine are both broken at the bolt holes (which would explain why they always did such a pithy job of defrosting!). Mine are too broken to repair, and I have considered trying to sleeve it with metal and pad with foam, creating new bolt holes; alternately considered sending them to my brother and having him fabricate new ones from stainless steel for me, again, installing with foam gasket to alleviate rattling.

I have unsuccessfully searched the usual suspects (YearOne, VVA, Legendary, Ebay, CL, etc) to no avail. I find lots of options for 66-67 A bodies, 65-66 B bodies and 68-70 B bodies.

I haven't searched the big yards in my area yet, knowing I'll pay a premium for a part that will, inevitably, also crack in time. My car hasn't been particularly roughly handled, so this was a surprise to me when it came time to install the new glove box liner tonight.

For the record, this is a 1967 Plymouth Belvedere. Attached are a couple pictures for further clarification.

Has anyone else dealt with this? Any help, advice, or leads, would be most gratefully accepted!

I love my car, I love my car, I love my car....

Thanks!
~M

scotts74birds

Hey Morrigan, have you checked into the plastic welding options. There are kits out there for this. I have a sunroof Roadrunner that was rolled and the sunroof portion has some broken plastic tabs, and I looked into this, but the roof isn't critical path right now. Check out eastwood for the plastic welding. Might be costly though. I hope someone else can assist you for a less costly solution.

theomahamoparguy

I am not 100% sure, but I think all B-bodies from 66-67 used the same defroster vents. They all had the same windshields, basically. [the two doors anyway].
You could make a flange out of thin gauge aluminum and bond it to what you have left. Maybe coat the whole thing in marine tex epoxy so it holds together. Not sure if fiberglass would be compatible. Experiment??