It's certainly not for everyone, but I thought I'd show what can be done with very little. My shop these days is a very temporary one, so I have a 20lbs shoved into a 5lb bag, and I can't hang anything on walls or modify anything. So no work bench, no air tools, that sort of thing.




They're probably not the most perfect recreations, but they allow the defrosters to work, provide a permanent place for the VIN tag, and don't look half bad.

I made them out of some steel shelving I picked up from a recycling outfit in Boulder.

Here's the remnant of the shelf.

The cutouts are the left and right vent, the center cover, the tabs to hold the vents to the dash panel, and on the side you can't see is where I cut out material to fabricate the crappy little plastic brackets that hold the wind breaker to the sunroof rails.

The tools I used:

-poster board to make a template (actually a lasagna box)
-pen to draw
-dental pick as a scribe
-Dremel with cutoff wheel and little sanding drum thing
-a bastard mill file
-a medium set of channel locks
-a bench vise with no bench... It's a really nasty little beat up thing that I wouldn't even bother mounting to one if I could
-a couple of body hammers
-A pry bar
-some heavier gauge steel stock (mainly to hold the thing for some hammering and as something stiff to clamp the welder ground to)
-a MIG
-a drill with a 1/8" bit
-pop riveter and two pop rivets (VIN plate)
-paint prep spray, primer, and paint

Aside from maybe the welder, the body hammers, and the pop riveter, this is all super common stuff, and nothing about it is hard.

Tomorrow I'm making the triangle pieces that cover the side view mirror mounts, and maybe the triangle vents. If there's any interest, I might do some documentation.

 

Seems like a lot of work for $60 in new parts.... Time is money.

Finished product looks good, tho.

 

...nice to get creativee..I highly commend you.
now..get a hold of LRB Speed..(you can thank me later.)

 

You guys seem to be under the very mistaken impression that it was difficult, time consuming, or a bother. Even with a severely reduced toolset, it took all of a leisurely afternoon (with a trip with the wife to home depot for pots and potting soil in the middle) that ended well before dinner... Some of us take pride in "built not bought".

 

Lrb speed makes an awesome replacement and these look great as well, were you looking to sell them?

 

I saw these in person last week and they are indeed, respectable.
My vents have been MIA for quite a while and my first instinct, the junkyard, proved fruitless, so I guess I'll attempt something similar.

Unlike Jason though, it'll prolly take me at least three attempts to get something decent.

 

Definitely not looking to sell anything. Just showing that it can be done with a very limited toolset in an afternoon for a dollar or so.

Thanks, Clokker!

 

While I do thing they came out very clean, and I like your rounded edges - I would rather not waste an afternoon trying to create something when there is an off the shelf alternative that is cheaper than factory mazda vents, and will last the life of the car. Sometimes just getting an hour or two away from the wife and kid is a fight, and the last thing you want to do is be mid-job and get pulled away. For that reason, LRB Speed all the way.

How are yours attached to the dash? I added foam to that steel panel on the top and bottom and it got rid of a few rattles that I had.

 

I used the holes that the originals used for those shitty plastic shrapnel-in-waiting bits and welded on two metal tangs per side. Just lined them up, tacked them on, and bent them to hold it all tightly into place.

The rounded edges were done with nothing more than a set of channel locks and a file... Took about half an hour to do both sides.

 

Thanks for the reps guys!!!

Spectre6000- Nice work dude! Definitely appreciate hand made stuff, that's what lead us to where we are now!

 

Muchos gracias.

 

for 50 bucks i think i'll save the time and buy the premade LRB set. time is money so it really depends on how much your effort is worth.

good job nonetheless.