Changing Heater to a switch.

[Jockyarocky]

I have a nova rally car and am looking to change the heater from the normal controls to just an on/off switch so I can mount gauges in the holes for the old controls.

Would have it just set on hot and pointing to the screen as it will only be used to stop the screen from misting up.

Anyone got any advice on how best to do this?

[mowgli]

move the slides to the correct positions, and then fix them in place & cut the cables...

you could easily take out the rotary switch, but as it has the rear demister on it, i'd not advise it.

just how many gauges do you need??

[Peredur]

If you have a look at the wiring diagrams in a haynes manual then it's pretty simple to have an on off switch or even an off-on-on switch for 2 speeds

[jimbob-mcgrew]

as far as the hot/cold is concerned, you can do away with the switch and cable, and set the lever on the side of the matrix to hot.

same thing with the up, down, screen/floor switch, another lever on the other side of the matrix can be manually set.
if you have side vents in the dash/matrix, and are getting rid of the pipework too, you may need to block the exits to control the airflow.

the fan speed switch can be rewired to a simple toggle, using any 1 of the 3 speeds, and the heated screen can also be wired to a toggle if wanted.

once you open up the wiring loom, and investigate which wires go where, it will become clear which you will need, and not need.

if your only using the car in the summer months, you could probably even get away with ditching all the wiring, and just let the incoming mild air-flow do the work.

imaginations the limit with this sort of thing, you can have it as minimal, or not, as youd like, using various different types of switches for whatever design you require.

but then again, im all for simple, and if you just want it out the way, it would be a hell of a lot easier, to just extend the wires to the switch, and move it somewhere else in the cockpit. theres a 2 x 2 inch, blank spot, next to the headlight switch, you could always use.

[Jockyarocky]

Thanks for the replies.

I am going to keep it as simple as possible and just have it set on an on/off switch as I still have one spare.

This is my first rally car and I know most rally cars take the heater out. However as I've been co-driving for 10 years I've been in enough cars in a wet forest to know thats a stupid idea without a proper heated screen.

As you can see from the pic the layout of the dash is very simple and I'm hoping to use the spare switch to the left of the ignition.
http://s13.postimg.org/nst6lnimb/IMG_2352.jpg (http://postimg.org/image/nst6lnimb/)

[Benn]

On off would be easy with a solenoid connected to the heater box. On pulls the flat open. Off pushes it closed.