The van went up on jack stands so I could take a better look.
A while back, I had replaced the rotting heat source with new heater cores and control valves and they work great. As I traced the ductwork, I found that the center tube, under the vinyl cover, was virtually non existent.
With one good tug, the whole center section came crumbling down upon me. A brisk rain of rust particles showered down on my face and into my mouth. I'm glad I wear glasses.
The remaining bits were hanging by the cable that operated the valve for the rear-facing heat vent in the floor between the front seats. A snip of the wire cutters did the job.
I laid out the rusted midsection and began taking measurements. A quick trip to Lowes and I had all the parts I needed.
The decision to delete the valve for the floor vent (yet keeping the "Y" to supply heat there) made assembly time go much faster. The new heater tube is made mostly of PVC pipe. I was able to find sizes very close to the original setup. The connection ends are heavy duty rubber sewer couplings held on with stainless hose clamps.
The heat tube assembly went up in minutes. Seconds even! I was very surprised at how easily the whole setup fit... measure twice, cut once! Installation was a breeze. I dragged myself out from under Dora (our bus) and started her up.
POW! HEAT! How nice it was. I coated the tube with undercoating and it looked wonderfully stock!
Everything continued to operate nicely... however, over time I noticed that the tiny oil leak in my engine was gracing the passenger compartment with heat and OIL VAPOR MIST! Me No Likey.
