Updated Roadster Dash Vents

Originally done by schraubelocka from www.smart-roadster-board.ch in November 2009. SmartOne from the same forum then wrote up a guide.

This modification was pointed out to me and I was so impressed that I decided to give it a go and write it up in English instead of .ch language, whatever that is, Swiss? Looks German. Oh OK, they speak German.

Alfa Romeo Dash Vents

These dash vents can be picked up from a breakers yard or off eBay. Prices vary wildly. They are standard fitment on the Alfa Romeo 156, GTV and Spider. They open and rotate as normal, close flush and look so much better.

Here are the vents I picked up from eBay. They cost me £10 including delivery but prices vary.

Look in the end and you’ll see the air flow flap, we don’t need this part.

Squeeze top and bottom of the vent to distort and elongate the body of the tube. This frees the flap’s hinges so you can grab it and pull it out. It will unclip from the top flaps.

Here is the main body with the air flap removed.

Around the outside you will see tabs that hold the top section in place. Carefully lever these out of the way…

…so the top part can slide free of the main body.

Look inside the main body and you’ll see a sprung metal clip, pull it out and don’t lose it. This gives the air vent a definite movement and stops it rattling.

Take a hacksaw and cut below the ridge. This is incredibly messy.

Once the parts are separated, you can throw away the lower section. Tidy the edge up with a file.

As you have the file, take the top section and reduce the top lip all the way around. It will need to be able to sit inside the original Roadster ring later on. 2mm all round should do it.

This shows you how much I took off. It fitted perfectly but you can make adjustments later.

Replace he metal sprung clip and push the vent back into tube. It will click back into place firmly.

Take your Roadster original ball vents. These just pull out of the dashboard.

Disconnect the top from the bottom by lifting the clips, careful, they are fragile.

These are the pieces you will have. Throw the ball away and the spring, keep the 2 circles.

Take your previously constructed Alfa vent and push it into the top ring from your Roadster.

It should sit nice and flush and central. File the lip as before if it doesn’t fit properly.

Hot glue (quick and seems to work best) in the gap between the 2 pieces. Ensure that the Alfa vent stays central.

Allow to dry for a minutes before rotating the Alfa vent to make sure the glue doesn’t interfere with the movement.

After another minute of movement, leave them to stand upside down for 5 minutes for the glue to cool fully.

Take the base of the original Roadster vent and clip it back onto the bottom of your new vent construction. A little bit of glue can help if you snapped any of the fragile clips.

Below left is a new vent created on a standard Roadster vent. Below right is a new vent created using a Brabus Roadster standard vent (silver).

Push your new constructions back into the dashboard. If done correctly, they will turn, open and close as before.

They are much better for controlling the air flow to the windscreen or side windows and the flow can be made narrower which increases air flow speed which can clear fogged windows far quicker.