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Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 6:56 pm
by jaguar&mg
Does anyone know where or how I might get hold of a a heater knob? The left side one is missing on my car.
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:32 pm
by Jose
those circled? they are Vent Controls, they open and close the air vents under each side of the dash. The Heater is controlled by the HEAT button in the vacuum switcher below the radio, and the temperature (cold-hot) slider above the radio.
also you cannot really replace the chromed knob, it is factory-crimped in such a way that once the knob is removed, the knob can't go back onto the cable, so you need the entire cable assembly from the knob back to the vent. In other words, the cable end is crimped to the knob permanently.
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:48 pm
by Orlando St.R
Not sure where you are based, but the Jaguar Spares Day is coming up on Sunday 31 March at Stoneleigh, so that's a possibility.
I have also seen them on ebay recently, though can't find them now, so probably sold.
But I agree with Jose, you need the cable attached!
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 7:53 pm
by Jose
here's a complete S type Vent controls assembly I have from a 1966. To remove the cable and knob, you need a very thin spanner that fits between the back of the knob and the chromed plate over the wood, the cable and knob comes out through the front. I don't know who invented this, but my my, what a difficult design.

- Vents-assembly-S-type.jpg (87.43 KiB) Viewed 3571 times
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 8:28 pm
by jaguar&mg
Thank you — this is all very helpful. It's a bigger project (and search) than I thought it would be. I wonder how and why it came off.
I shall go to Stoneleigh as I'm based in the UK.
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 8:40 pm
by Jose
you welcome.
I don't think it just fell of, someone might have tried to pull it, force-turned it until it broke.
I used two of the S type knobs in my XJ-6, pulling the cable from the knob's shaft was not easy. I had them rechromed and adapted them to the cig lighter and dimmer.
Jaguar reissued very similar knobs in the Series 3 XJ, (1980-1992), but in black Plastic.

- S-type-knobs in-XJ.JPG (108.8 KiB) Viewed 3563 times

- Jaguar-XJ-and-S-type-knobs.JPG (107.21 KiB) Viewed 3563 times
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 10:00 pm
by Jose
jaguar&mg,
I edited the Title of your thread for clarity, since these are Front Air Vent Knobs.
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 11:28 pm
by Glyn Ruck
Those Knobs are swaged onto the cable. They wont just fall off. Cable was supplied as a unit as below. There is a clamping nipple swaged onto the other end of the cable. You cannot extract the inner from outer cable without cutting it. This makes re-chroming the knobs a challenge. You have to seal the entire outer cable in a plastic pipe with silicon with only the knob protruding to be able to re-chrome the knob.

- Vent control - Copy.jpg (986.05 KiB) Viewed 3546 times
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Tue Mar 26, 2019 11:56 pm
by Orlando St.R
Does anyone know where or how I might get hold of a a heater knob?
Just been listed on ebay:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/60s-Classic- ... Swnh5cWsYI

- s-l1600-2.jpg (281.24 KiB) Viewed 3542 times
Re: Front air Vent Knobs
Posted: Wed Mar 27, 2019 12:15 am
by Glyn Ruck
Interestingly ~ There are 2 different crash roll sizes that were used on the parcel shelf that I've been unable to date. There is a shallow offset centre wood piece & a deeper offset.
The chrome end capping I indicate in this picture comes in two sizes. My car has the larger deeper capping of the two.

- Heater control.jpg (449.82 KiB) Viewed 3539 times