heater drain tube??

Tearing into the 71 I took off the drain tube for the heater intake. It went into the pass side kick panel into a large mass of foam and then nothing other a smaller tube though a grommet out under the hood. I'm assuming there has to be another part there for the water to go into, right?

 

John, are you talking the tube that drains the air box in the cowl?

 

err. that is/was sparky as Jayhawk. Gotta change that avatar while I'm here. :twisted:

 

The heater itself just has a small rubber nipple that comes out just under the heater hoses. The air intake at the cowl has about a 1" diameter rubber hose that runs to the passenger side kick panel and dumps down. I assume that's where the foam you're talking about is. That's all there is.

 

Yeah, the air intake. So rain goes through that tube and collects in the foam waiting to rot away? Is the small tube that enters that side kick panel under the hood part of that system? Or am I backwards and that isn't a water drain? Does air get pulled into that? I haven't gotten deep enough in the dissassembly to see.

 

John,
The foam should have a notch cut in it, for the drain tube to go through. The foam should not get wet if it is installed properly. Someone may have stuck something in there, other than the factory cut foam. If that is the case, you're better off to just get rid of it. The water dumping into the kick panel should just drain out the bottom. If it doesn't, the drains in the bottom of the panel might be clogged with mud or dirt. My Commando came from Texas, and that kick panel was full of real fine dust and mud. I just stuck a garden down inside it and flushed it till it came out the bottom clean. No more problems.
The smaller tube sticking through the firewall is a drain for the heater box itself, I guess, sometimes water can enter the box through the fresh air intake. The drain keeps it from leaking in the floor.
Good luck, Jerry