DIY- Adding Rear Seat Aircon Vents on Indigo Marina

After a lot of procastinations I have finally decieded to add the rear seat aircon vents for the
sole purpose of air circulation. The basic idea is to have the air circulated to the rear seat
passengers from in between the front seats.
The basic layout is to take two pipes from the front floor vents along the central console to
the rear and add vents for air dispensation. The modus operandi is to force blow the air into
those pipes at the front floor vents and then once again force flow the air out of the vents at
the rear.
Items being used are as follows:1. Two 2.5 feet long, 5/8 diameter copper pipes. (The kind used in split ACs)
2. Two 12V CPU cooler fans up front to force feed the air into the collecting funnel.
3. Two 12V CPU cooler fans at the rear to force blow the air through the vents.
4. Two AC vents plastioc types.
5. Tin sheet to make a collection funnel up front and a rear collection chamber.
6. Glass cotton for insulation.
7. Alluminium foil to cover glass wool and inner lining of the funnel and the rear collection
chamber.
What i propose to do is as follows:1. Fix the two 12V fans inside the plastic casing of the front floor vents. There is an
enormous space up there and its hollow from inside where these fans fit quite nicely. (Now
how do I power them? Options are i) I take power out from the 12V socket either through
the long pin of a mobile charger where the output is coupled with the fans input; or ii) I use
a socket where in the power is drawn from the wires feeding the 12 V charging point. Is it
ok to run 4 fans from 2 sockets that all draw their power from the input of the
charger? Or do I run a cable from the battery and power all 4 fans separately?
2. Make a funnel out of the tin sheet or use a normal plastic funnel available in the market
and fix it with screws to the oputside of the blower casing so that the fan blows directly into
the funnel's mouth. Insulate it with glass cotton and foil.Repaet the procedure for the other
side.
3. Attach the two pipes and run them along the entire length of the central console along
the gear lever and hand brake. Insulate the pipes.
4. Make an insulated collection chamber where in both the pipes terminate.
5. Attach the remaining two 12V cpu fans and direct the air flow towards the vents attached
to the other end of the collection chamber.
6. Add a switch to turn the fans on & off as per requirement.
Guys need advise and suggestions on this. Where do you see the possiblities of things going
wrong and where do you foresee difficulties in getting this thing done.

there are two options for the wiring

1) If you are looking for the fans to come on when you switch the main blower on,I would
suggest that you take a lead from either the blower switch or the the blower itself. I belief
that supply should have enough juice to run the 2 fans
2) If you want a separate switch to run the blowers, you can run the leads directly from the
battery. I would avoid the lighter socket as the fuse rating might not be enough to run both
the fans.
1)what are the copper pipes for?
the copper pipes are for channelling the air from the front fans to the rear vents.
2) Why are you bothering so much about the insulation? you r ducts are going to be inside
the cabin. Heat losses(or gain ) will be insignificant as the the air around the duct will be
cooled be the front vents anyway.
The insulation is more for plugging the air leakages from the joints and preventing the pipes
from bumps etc.
i found that as said earlier the fans were no good.They just dont move any air. So today Ill
try and substitute them with the AC supply fans from the CPU. The set up as of now is as
follows:1. Two 1.25 mtr white flexible pvc pipes to carry air from the front vents to the rear. (the
pipes are the kind we use as drain pipes in sinks washbasins etc.)
2. The pipes have been screwed onto the 2 ltr COKE bottles heads after removing the caps.
3. The bottles ahve been cut at the neck to form a funnel which has been pushed into the
floor vent space so that the vents direct air into the inverted bottles and onto the pipes.
4. The CPU fans have been fixed two up front and two at the rear (though will remove them
now) after taking the power from the wiper switch and earthing the other end to the floor.
The on/off switch is a push pull type and installed in an already existing small hole inside
the small parcel shelf beneath the steering wheel of the marina.
The bottles were used instead of the regular funnels as I found pushing the bottle frame into
the vent space easier then pushing the funnel into them.
The air is coming around to the back even at lower blower speeds but now Ill try and see if
the AC supply fan is able to circulate some air or not.
Am also going to the markets after lunch today to hunt for the ac vents. Alt the Indigo XL
rear setup or the scorpio rear set up if can be found at a reasonable price.
No luck in finding the central console fitments of either the Scorpio or the Indigo XL.
Purchased two AC vents of a ZEN for Rs 200. I liked the opel ones as they were quite sleek
but the guy quoted Rs 600 for them.
Even the Ac supply fan is not moving air worth its while and I have found that if i let the
pipes blow directly into the vents the air flow is much better and is reasonably ok. So for
now I plan to leave it as such without the fan till I can find a fan which fits into the space
and moves air too.
The vents have been mounted horizontally and bonded together with duct tape and
insulated covering. The pipes have been screwed onto the neck of coke bottles again cut

around the neck and the open portion is being wrapped around the vent inlets.Had to cut a
small semi circlular arc in the plastic console by the side of the hand brake lever for the
pipes to come out. After this I ahve wrapped a plastic sheet around the bottles and then
stuck them onto the vents to secure the joints.
I also tried to put air through a smaller pipe into the glove compartment and it worked fine
till I tried to close the thing up. I realised that I have cut the hole for the pipe bang in the
middle of the trajactory of the lever which opens and closes the door hinge of the box.ahaa
now i have a big gaping hole there while i need to drill another one for the pipe now. Any
suggestions on how to close that hole now?
the pipes etc are all in place and I have realised that if I leave the pipes just like that
beneath the arm rest console it gives out more air than if I add the vents. After carefully
examining the vents I suppose that the close shut trap inside the vents( the one which helps
in closing the flow of air) is perhaps the culprit. So I might end up removing it and then
seeing if the flow of air increases.
Finally the mod is complete and is working satisfactorily. Will upload pics very soon but here
is a brief about the set up.
1. Used two collapsible pipes to carry the cooled air from the front floor vents. The collection
chamber is made of two coke bottles cut from the neck to form a funnel. The pipes have
been screwed onto the necks of the bottles.
2. The middle portion of the bottle has been made hollow on both sides and form the
clooection chamber for the air carried throught he pipes.
3. The two Aircon vents (side vents of a Zen) have been mounted side by side and taped
together and also screwed together using a small wire twisted around two holes drilled
along the side walls to keep both of them together.
4. Two 12V cooling fans from the CPU AC supply have been mounted on one end of the
hollow bottle tube, one after another so that both of them move in tandem. The middle part
fo this hollow tube has now two bottle necks glued into its side onto which the air discahrge
ends of the pipes have been screwed on. This way the air is being discharged in front of the
fans.
5. The other part of the hollow bottle tube has been duct traped onto the air vents. Then the
entire setup has been wrapped in a plastic sheet and then again duct taped.
6. This fixture has been moutned beneath the hand rest mounts in between the two front
seats.
The air flow is good and uniform. If the fans are switched on the air flow increases
considerably but I have found that it works best when the original blower speed is kept at
either No 1 or No 2 position.

1. It is how the vents look from the rear. The first shot is if you are sitting right in the
middle of the back seat. Second shows the view as seen from the eye level i.e. this is how
they look if you see them sitting. The third shot shows you the side view behind the drivers
seat.
The thing on top of the vents is the arm rest in the middle which covers the vents and forms
a sort of housing.
Attached Images

This set shows you the front assembly. The two white pipes in the first picture are carrying
air one to the rear vent (left side) while the top one is carrying air to the glove box to turn it
into a sort of chiller.
The second picture shows the setup from a wider angle and depicts how the pipes are
positioned in front of the front part of the central console which then carries the pipes to the
rear.
The third and fourth pictures show the pipe position in the glove box. It needs to be
changed and am working on putting a foil covering inside the glove box to insulate it even
better.
Attached Images

This set shows the pipe layout through the central console and the two 12V DC fans working
in tandem to force blow the air out. The third picture shows the fan position with the hand
brake lever engaged while the next one shows it in normal disengaged position.
Attached Images

The first picture shows the switch to control the fans. The rest of the photos show the wide
angle shots of the entire setup.

Attached Images

The small issues are there like the voilet coloured pins holding the things together and
ofcourse then there is the issue relating to the wire setup which will be sorted out very
soon.
In this setup what is the position of the direction controller knob? I assume it has to be the
face level + foot position. So does it in any way reduce the efficacy of the face level
circulation?
Yes the direction control knob is in face + foot position only. No it doesn't. Just in case you
want more air you can go in for a higher blower speed. In any case I generally use it at
speed 1 or 2 only and it is fine even in Delhi heat.

Now you need to do something to get the finish right, why don't you think of some
fibreglass enclosure. I'm sure there will be good fibreglassers in Delhi. It can even help you
angle the vents slightly up for better directional control. You can also provide the rear
blower fan speed adjustment for the rear passenger. From the photo it looks like you have
provided it somewhere near the driver
I am looking to procure the Indigo XL rear central console part. If I can find it good
otherwise then Ill work on the finishing part. a full Fibreglass enclosure might hamper the
rear part operation of the hand brake but it would definately work for the front facia.
I have noticed ,they have a wonderful ducting system for rear seat cooling.
Do check them once, might help make a wonderful set-up rather than all this Jugaad
On the contrary, is'nt the normal blower OK with A/C on.
A Bigger car like Safari, the a/c cools the entire car on speed -1 from the front blower in no
time.
Why dont you get your a/c checked at a reputed shop for achieving better cooling.
Lancer has ducts for rear seat cooling? Can you elaborate on what kind of set up do they
have? Normally blower is at 1 or 2 only for cooling and the car cools just fine. Its just that
on real hot afternoons after the car has been parked in the sun for long it just helps in
better air circulation. Plus the rear passengers feel a lot more comfortable with the flow of
air on their limbs on such hot afternoon

After a lot of procrastination I ahve finally started on redoing the setup again to cover the
few drawbacks from the existing set up. Shall post the pictures of the setup asap too.
Removing the centre console has given me time to clean it up as well and believe me guys
do take time out to open it occasionally to clean the carpet and the floor area under the
console. You will be surprised to see how much it does accumulate over time.
The idea is to
1. Straighten out the delivery pipes and shorten the distance too.

2. Refix the vents so that they point upwards and not merely straight to the feet only.
3. Redo the chamber to realign the vents and refix the fans.
4. Remove the plastic chamber in favour of alluminium.
The pictures are posted below of the set up. Questions and suggestions are welcome.
Attached Images

A brief explanation of the set up is as follows:Two small holes were drilled into the blower outlet wall facing the cabin. Small funnel shapes
were cut from the neck of the soft drink bottles and were inserted into the holes so that the
open end of the funnel would face the downward draft of the air from the blower. The pipes
were attached to the bottle necks and would be covered by the gear console. Lower ends of
the blower outlet have been taped shut partially to increase more air pressure and flow
through the pipes. Since this entire setup would be covered by the console the tapes would
stay out of sight.
Now the Dilemma: How to construct an Aluminum Box that will fit beneath the centre arm
rest but also house the two small ventilators in a slightly upward tilt position. In case the air
pressure is not enough will ahve to install the fans as well the same way as in the older
setup. Ideas, mate?
Still in a fix. have sourced smaller vents but now finding it tough to make the pipes attach
to them. One option is again using the bottle necks from the 500 ml bottles on individual
vents or using a rubber hose to fix the pipes to them. Fabrication a unit to hold them is even
more trickier than I thought it to be.

After 4 days of labour and finishing the plastic jug into a black matte finished product it has
come to a naught. As I had used the Jug outer curvature to hold the vents the pipes cannot
attach properly to the vents rear sides. Tried making an enclosure but then the flow of air
was not adequate. Again mounted the fans but even then didnot work out properly. Now in
a fix. Tonight will discard the jug and just use the vents propped against the side walls of
the arm rest with open pipe outlet just in front of the vents. In case more speed would be
required will try to attach the fans once again.