Fitting a proper cabin filter to the Hiace Super-Custom

As this is more 'custom' than 'fixing' I put it in here .

The front LHS headlamp has a hole to the back/top of it that allows air into the cabin, via the fan. There's a flap over this so you can shut it off too, which has sound deadening foam on it, which on mine was flaking off so I used a hoover and cleaned it all off.

The hole looks a bit odd but is actually a perfectly flat surface that is merely a funny shape (see photos). Depending on your headlamp type the room available varies, it's a great shame that Toyota kept fiddling with the front because it fragmented parts for a rare van into 3-4 much rarer sets of parts for a rare van.

So you can use foam (aquarium carbon activated foam) or a proper pleated filter. I bought a cheap (but excellent Febi) pleated carbon filter for an Alfa 159 for mine as it's about the right width. I also bought some soft sticky foam to form a gasket with and used it on the van and both sides of the filter plate.

I cut the filter plate from aluminium, and cut down the filter with scissors. I put mesh on my inlet as I was contemplating foam then, but found that the pleated filter did in fact fit so I'm using that but left the mesh in anyway. I have no idea about air-flow yet BTW, but it may be about 2/3rds that of an Alfa 159 I guess. Use aluminium or steel so it's able to hold it's shape when bolted into the 3 bolts there and thus seal.

The key is to get the plate the right size and shape, if you blow up the photo and start with that on cardboard you'll get there without too much grief. Once done the van gets cleaned and the foam stuck on, it helps if you are a contortionist. Then cut the filter, I used Dow Insta-stik low expansion foam from a foam gun as it was handy, to strengthen the edges and seal the parts that overlap the plate. A Glue gun may be good too but not in very hot weather. You'll have to do this each time you replace the filter BTW . Bear in mind the Febi has an airflow direction and each side looks different.

BTW if the bolt threads on the van are a bit rusty run an M6 die with some oil up and down by hand and they'll clean up nicely. You'll need 3 bright M6 nuts too.

The filter is held to the plate with a piece of wire bent to retain it and hooked into the plate via two 2.5mm holes. My bit of wire came from a paper lantern but any piano wire will be fine. Mine is curved slightly to avoid the hood of the Transit Mk5 headlamp touch as it nestled between the pleats.





















Hope this helps, it's a bit DIY but Toyota don't seem have ever supplied a part for this.