Installing a Hurricane IP-2100 Evap/Heater

[LikeStig]

I thought I’d share how I installed a Hurricane Air IP-2100. This was a very not-fun project, but hopefully with the foresight of my experience this can be an easier project for the next person. I first came across this unit on a build by Jake at Classic Daily: https://classicdaily.net/autobuildpages/1975-bmw-2002-turbo-m42-2/. I have seen someone on this forum selling a self-branded “conversion kit” but it’s actually just this Hurricane air unit with the fittings going direct through the firewall. The self-branded shtick and indirect answers to questions on here felt shady. Pics of those installs looked a little gnarly, at least the ones I’ve seen.

 

1. The first picture attachments are the unit as received from Old Air Products and followed by changes I made. I ordered mine without the defrost servo-motor thing, and no upper outlets on the plenum as well. I thought this would open enough clearance but not quite enough. I ended up removing it, disassembling the blower housing and rotating it so it shoots down. Should work just fine! When I get everything sorted out I’m going to design and 3D print a vent system to use the stock vents as well as some vents on the sides of the center console. When I get around to it I’ll share the files for that!
 

2. The people at Old Air Products were really nice to work with. The main issue I ran into on this unit is that the fittings are in an upper location. I wouldn’t be surprised if they could make a version with fittings in a lower position. That would simplify all of this 200% but may require the unit is placed in a visible location.

 

3. The original plan was to make a fiberglass enclosure to replace the heater box in the cavity. It didn’t work at all. If the fitments on the unit came out on the lower section it may have worked. I couldn’t get the unit in any type of position where the evaporator would be anything near level. The other clearance issue is the regulator that comes off the bottom fitment- it requires additional length off the unit, and clearance on the ring that comes off the end. To get this regulator to fit in the cowling, I had to cut the upper section of the heater cavity, cut the lower lip off the cavity, cut part of the dash shelf off, and then sanded part of the dash down to the internal support structure which probably opened up 1/8-1/4” of clearance. This was necessary to get the unit high enough in the cowling to fit the regulator. Cutting this area with the dash in-place was not fun but I didn’t want to pull the windshield out to get the dash off. In the end I used a Dremel oscillating cutter (flat blade attachment) and it actually worked really well in the tight area with awkward angles.

 

4. I went through several designs for the final enclosure. In the end I went with the design in the pictures with 16ga steel. The center section needs to extend wider than the cavity itself to get an adequate seal so the enclosure is designed in 3 pieces, with the center piece being installed first. It needs to be pinched slightly to get the forward section on the ledge, and the upper end behind the wiper linkage. Once that’s in place, sealed and bolted  the side pieces get popped in. Making these pieces took a lot of careful templates but I think with the basic measurements I provided are a good start. 
 

5. I used silicone throughout the installation of the enclosure and attached the panels with rivets. I used clecos during the design process, and used them while sealing the panels during the final installation, then added rivets individually. It was a challenge to get the rivet tool in the corner, used a properly sized spacer while still gripping the end of the rivet to get it to work. Getting the side panels into place with larger panels around the edges isn’t easy, so don’t get crazy with it. I bought some “flex tape” to go over the edges and whatnot to get a 100% airtight install- plus use it to seal the hole for the fittings from the cowling. Next step when I get back to this project.

 

 

Edited June 8, 2020 by LikeStig

[NickVyse]

that's a big unit you've squeezed in there, well done! Am I right in thinking it no longer draws any fresh air?

 

[TobyB]

Quote

that's a big unit you've squeezed in there,

 

Wowzer- yeah, that looks like some work!

 

When the silicone falls off the exterior bits, or starts oxidizing,

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Strip-Calk/?N=5002385+3293194020&rt=rud

has been bery bery good to me.

 

t

 

[LikeStig]

9 hours ago, NickVyse said:

that's a big unit you've squeezed in there, well done! Am I right in thinking it no longer draws any fresh air?

 

That is correct, but for me the pro’s outweighed the cons on that. 

[Conserv]

Wow! This was clearly a substantial and brave undertaking! Bravo!

 

For a car like the ‘02 — whose heating and ventilation have been a weak spot since the car’s introduction — it’s especially important to have more choices in the HVAC arena. I hope you’ll take this project to a very polished end, and then share with us your evaluation of its strengths and weaknesses.
 

Thanks and regards,

 

Steve

 

 

 

Edited May 25, 2020 by Conserv

[m42002]

Weel done, and great documentation. You are a tinkerer of a major sorts.

Having the hoses come out the top side is a nice option. The glove box is still usable.

Quote

Am I right in thinking it no longer draws any fresh air?

Having installed the 1100, these units aren't made to draw in fresh air. You can see in LikeStig's pics the intake is in the passenger comparment. The Hurricane units all end up in this configuration.Nothing but recirc.That's why we have vent windows!

Edited May 25, 2020 by GoGo Garnet

[halboyles]

1 hour ago, TobyB said:

When the silicone falls off the exterior bits, or starts oxidizing,

https://www.3m.com/3M/en_US/company-us/all-3m-products/~/3M-Strip-Calk/?N=5002385+3293194020&rt=rud

has been bery bery good to me.

 

This is the best stuff for reinstalling a heater box, pedal box, ....  It is so resilent that you can fill random holes that you don't want to weld/patch right away and it will stay pliable for years.  Also, if you are having a hard time keeping a washer on a bolt (think starter motor bolt, upper e21 clutch slave bolt) stick some of this on the washer, squish it onto the bolt, and it becomes a third hand!

[LikeStig]

Still working away on this project. Had two questions below I wanted to ask.

Updates- Getting that regulator tightened into its final place was a huge PITA. Extremely little access to the female-end fitting, one of my DA sanders had a thin metal wrench which I was able to get on the fitting from the interior, while tightening the regulator from the cowling. My busted knuckles will take some time to recover! Following this attaching the regulator coil to the upper attachment was a challenge, but with some patience and a quality window seal pick it went into place. Next steps are to get all the electrical done, and wrap up the condenser/compressor end. I’m swapping in a new engine (stuck across the CA border, long story) so I have some time before I can get around to the engine side for final hose measurements.

 

I will design and 3D print a plate to replace the stock heater controls in the dash over the next week. I’m really excited that the kit switches fit in this location and match the 2002’s pull switches! Thought I’d also share better pictures with the stock console, I’m going to need to make some mildly-modified side pieces for the console to get it the 1” forward it needs to go, but again very pleased with the OEM appearance.

 

Q’s-

1. What type of shop should I be looking for to get the AC lines bent and cut with fittings? Scratching my head on where to get this work done. I think I read online that I can bend up some dry-cleaning hangers to shape, and bring them to a specialist shop to have the lines built to shape/length.

 

2. The AC kit uses this heater bypass to open/close the coolant to the heater. Any good sources for getting custom coolant hoses? I need them to be pretty exact if I want to get this heater bypass inside the cowling as well.

[Son of Marty]

Ask a custom hot rod shop where to get  custom ac hard lines they should have a idea of who does it, as for your heater hoses you might consider having them made of metal and using a short bit straight hose at the connection to the engine and heater  Another idea is if you can fine a good napa store they have a huge book that shows basically all the heater hose made since about 1950 by diameter see if you can barrow it and find something close to what you need.

[fjord-tii]

Very nice build. I’ve been thinking of this solution also. Once you have it running, I’d like to know about the sound level. Was very surprised by how loud the fan is the first time I switched on the heater in my 02.

[LikeStig]

8 minutes ago, Son of Marty said:

Ask a custom hot rod shop where to get  custom ac hard lines they should have a idea of who does it, as for your heater hoses you might consider having them made of metal and using a short bit straight hose at the connection to the engine and heater  Another idea is if you can fine a good napa store they have a huge book that shows basically all the heater hose made since about 1950 by diameter see if you can barrow it and find something close to what you need.

Thanks for the tip! I’ll do exactly this. I hadn’t considered using metal sections in the cowling area coolant hoses to get a precise fit. I like this idea. Really would like to get this valve in the cowling, and I’ve been anticipating the issue of tightening the hose clamps in the cowling but one of those projects I only need to do once, I guess. Thanks again.

[Evyatar]

Is there any continuation on this insall?

[LikeStig]

On 7/30/2021 at 10:32 AM, Evyatar said:

Is there any continuation on this insall?

Yes! Some small progress has been made. I recently swapped in a new engine in the car and since then the AC project was put to the side

I installed a hose bulkhead at the bottom of the cowling for the connections to pass through. It barely (but perfectly) fits there. Unfortunately the pipe bending tool I tried to use for making the aluminum cowling heater hoses wasn’t able to make tight enough radii out of the aluminum tubing to fit the heater valve controller- I ended up using elbows to route the hoses tight enough into the space which worked! Getting access to everything is really tough, building a ship in a bottle. I bought an AC hose crimping tool off eBay that seems to be doing the job well, this job the first time around would have been impossible ordering custom built AC hoses.
 

I am using reduced barrier hoses in this section of the system to cut down on bulk, and standard barrier hoses in the engine bay for added durability. The only catch at the moment is the #10 suction hose in the cowling- it has a slight bend in the hose in one spot. I tried a ton of fitting configurations to make it better but the straight fittings were the best option. Old Air Products makes a straight 18” aluminum hard line that I may order, and bend up to better route this hose. Couldn’t find anyone who makes custom AC fittings that would make the right bends where I need ‘em.

One other catch was getting the fittings attached on the engine bay side on the bulkhead. The bulkhead threads drop into the plate and have a long/short end. I needed to install the threads upside down so the shorter end of the bulkhead threads were on the engine side, otherwise the long ends would hit the firewall. Despite this the firewall still needed to be massaged a little to make space for the nuts on the fittings. Ultimately the process to secure everything in place was to: thread the firewall side fittings on with the threads loosely attached to the bulkhead, tighten the bulkhead threads into place, then tighten the engine side fittings, and finally install/tighten the cowling side fittings. Simply cutting a hole in the cowling here, rather than using a bulkhead, would save a lot of fiddling but I’m happy with the way it looks.

 

I did 3D print a plate for the heater controls but I am going to make an improved version. Next steps are to (1) finish routing the AC/heater hoses, (2) get the unit wired up, (3) charge the system with fingers crossed I don’t have any leaks, and finally (4) modify/finish the center console with 3D printed HVAC ducts.

Edited September 21, 2021 by LikeStig

[dlacey]

With that large plenum protrusion, do the windscreen wipers work?  An E30 combined heat/cool unit can just about fit, but one problem is that the fans are mounted high in the plenum and foul the '02 wiper mechanism.

[LikeStig]

21 minutes ago, dlacey said:

With that large plenum protrusion, do the windscreen wipers work?  An E30 combined heat/cool unit can just about fit, but one problem is that the fans are mounted high in the plenum and foul the '02 wiper mechanism.

Yes they clear! There is about 20mm of clearance from the top of the shroud I built. Of course, anyone’s mileage may vary.