Series-1 Hatch Vent Duct Clips & Restoration Info Needed

[Zup]

Home for lunch---

Bummer about Steve not reproducing the clips---hopefully he will re-consider.

Only from my own experience with removing these assemblies from a 10/70 240z--- the hatch ductwork in it was completely intact and un-molested.

Both sides were the same as far as the clip width. The photos I posted are of the original diverter and clips from that car.

As usual my foggy memory fails me---so last night I went to the storage unit and found the complete NOS, still in the Nissan bag, hatch duct assembly that I had purchased some years back.

Part:description from the tag: A Duct RR Vent    

                                               90820-E4100    QTY 1

I will post photos tonight.

Jim D.

"Zup"

[Hardway]

Thanks for the update Zup.  I have sent request for a quote to a local sheet metal fab shop and used your picture and drawing as reference.  I have asked for an initial quote of 100 clips in stainless steel and they said that would not be a problem. Since a car takes 4 clips that would be 25 sets.  I will keep everyone posted as I get more info from them.

[Zup]

Good news Hardway--

Just want to stress that I think they should be done in spring steel if at all possible.

When attaching the assembly to the hatch there is quite a bit of deformation (spread) required to open the clip wide enough to get everything clamped up at the same time it is being attached to the hatch opening metal.

The spring steel accommodates this and returns to original dimension to hold everything securely.

Stainless would be great for longevity, but I don't know if it can be made to match the properties of spring steel.

Maybe tempering the metal and properly quenching it would do it, but I don't know for sure.

[jfa.series1]

8 minutes ago, Zup said:

Good news Hardway--

Just want to stress that I think they should be done in spring steel if at all possible.

When attaching the assembly to the hatch there is quite a bit of deformation (spread) required to open the clip wide enough to get everything clamped up at the same time it is being attached to the hatch opening metal.

The spring steel accommodates this and returns to original dimension to hold everything securely.

Stainless would be great for longevity, but I don't know if it can be made to match the properties of spring steel.

Maybe tempering the metal and properly quenching it would do it, but I don't know for sure.

+1 on the spring steel aspect.  The plenum/gasket assembly has to be held tightly to the underside of the hatch to provide the proper water seal.  SS is nice from a non- corrosion perspective but it won't provide the proper tension.  I often ask myself if I'm smarter than the team that designed all this stuff.

[240260280]

I'll buy 2 sets if you do a run

 

I only have 1 correct hatch so far lol.

[JLPurcell]

I have a few of these hatch vent parts. Let me know if you need me to take a look for them. jlp

[jwtaylor]

I will buy a set of clips if you get them made.     My car is missing one of them.

My 12/70 build 240Z does not have the water diverter flap shown in post #4, it is just flat.  Doesn't appear that they were ever there.

Some stainless steel types can be hardened and tempered.  (I'm not an expert though.) 

 

 

[Captain Obvious]

Yes, you can get springs made out of stainless. I'm no spring or materials expert, but I'm assuming you give up some performance in other areas as a trade off for the corrosion resistance, but this doesn't appear to be a very demanding application. I bet someone who knows what they are doing could design a stainless version that would work.

I've never messed with the early vent system ever, so I know nothing about it... It would be easier to make if it were a simple U shape instead of having that extra radius at the root of the clip on the one side. Is that feature important? Does the clip need to clear a lip or something there?

Another idea is that similar clips (speed nuts, barrel nuts) are very common items. Maybe you could find one in suitable size and grind the hole out to a size that will accept the original clips that grab the posts?
   

[Zup]

Hello Cpt'n! --

Permission to Board!---

Some observations on the NOS hatch vent duct assembly shown below---

The clips that were loose in the sealed bag are completely different from those Jim Arnett @jfa.series1 has shown  and that Blue @240260280 and I have shown.

They are nothing more than a cad plated speed nut and would be totally useless as a means of attaching the ductwork. The space between the leaves of the clip is far to narrow in dimension for mounting the combined thickness of the assembly and the thickness of the hatch sheet metal---believe me I tried and it will not work. I don't know what Nissan was thinking by the time this particular batch of replacement parts was produced but actually mounting them wasn't a part of it! The original clips are shown as used in the photos. They fit easily and well and I have a high degree of confidence that they will mount properly onto the hatch opening and function as intended.

The diverter and plenum are identical to those I have gleaned from several sources and match Jim A. and Blue's photos.

The diverter has a factory applied 8mm layer of open cell foam attached to the top using contact adhesive film (adhesive---film---adhesive---foam). While the foam is 8mm it is extremely soft in density and compresses to about 2mm upon full compression. (hence my thoughts to use 2mm closed cell foam in my replacement---I am not as concerned about the compress-ability as I am about the foam soaking and retaining water)

A similar story to that of the NOS clips is the NOS factory duct tubes that I acquired from Courtesy Nissan some years back that are made of an almost rigid plastic and the accordion portion of them does not flex well.

It is not made of the rubber material used originally which, even though 46+ years old, is still as soft and pliable as new and flexes easily. They attach to the bottom surface of the hatch to empty water out at the tailgate latch surface. If you are restoring your ductwork use the old tubes!

On to a salvo of photos--

 

 

 

 

Hoping this helps in the future---

I think reproduction clips made correctly will offer the best chances of a satisfactory solution for anyone trying to restore this aspect of the early hatch. (now that is real news, ----)

 

Jim D.

"Zup"

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 9, 2017 by Zup

[7tooZ]

Does anyone know if the original grill were made of metal? I have put two of these together on restored cars and can confirm it is difficult to do even with help. The current grills are plastic and it is easy to snap the tabs off. The pins on the back is what holds it all together. The clip grabs the pin on the bank of the grill. We have been lucky so far as we had the original clips.
If someone makes a duplicate of the original I will take several sets.


Don's iPhone using Classic Zcar Club mobile

[JLPurcell]

I will check to see if I have an early one. I believe that they were plastic from the start. JLP

[Zup]

I am relatively certain that the finisher grills were made of plastic from the beginning. I have never seen or heard of an original metal version, unlike the other emblems that were made originally in metal, then later in plastic .

The ductwork assembly is mounted to the hatch without the finisher grill installed.

Put the barrel clip on the post and insert it into the mounted assembly by pushing downward. The assembly clip upper hole is sized to accept the diameter of the barrel clip. The lower hole is oversized to prevent bottoming out of the post.