Smiths Fresh Air Heater Mk1 pre facelift

V8 Index

Faulty Motor

I was building the dash and changing the switches to toggle type and was just checking my wiring, when I relished the motor had blown, I had always planned to replace the foam and rubber seals.
I removed the Smiths fresh air heater box from the car and dismantled it.
The motor was quite corroded as its position is right in the heater bubble so it is in a semi damp place and my car is a South African, looking at a replacement motors for sale they looked very corroded.

Smiths FHM Numbers?

I ended up replacing my FHM1206/04 with a FHM1202/02 the seller thought it was from a Land Rover but was not sure.
It is a better motor than the one I removed with thicker windings and higher cooper content in the brushes.
I have tried to find what the Smiths FHM part numbers mean, but can’t find any information, please email me if you can tell me.
The rest of the body was the same with the shaft being too long, I did cut this down, but it probably was not necessarily. I stripped the motor and there was still reasonable life in the brushes and lubricated the bearings.

Old Foam And Rubber Seal

Replacing the Foam And Rubber Seal

The foam and rubber seal were in a very sorry state, I replaced the foam with 5mm Neoprene Self Adhesive Backed Foam Sponge and the rubber with 15mm rubber strip black general purpose solid neoprene.
I choose neoprene because it is water resistant, oil, UV light and fuel resistant.

Reconditioned Heater

The matrix was pressure tested for leaks and refitted.The box was prep and given a coat of satin paint.