[Speargun]

Has anyone closed off the cowl vent without cutting them out & welding in sheet metal?

I have a Classic AC kit and no kick panel vents so I don't need the cowl for fresh air. On top of that, if I drive or park in heavy rain, my floor board gets soaked.

[694.1]

" don't need the cowl for fresh air."
Yeh, you may. The moving air keeps things like the cowl & rockers from rusting. Also helps cool the cowl, supplies the defroster & heater...
If the floor gets wet, you have clogged rockers or leaky welds / sealant.
And nice Bird!

[Firebob]

The vintage air kit had block offs for the cowl vents.

[Speargun]

This is what I'm talking about blocking off.
The AC recirculates air inside the cabin and I don't have kick panel vents so the only thing that these are good for is to collect leaves, bugs, & rainwater.



I'll eventually smooth the cowl like this '69, but I don't want to do that until the car needs a repaint. Until then, I may just put some lexan under the grill...

[Firebob]

Ah. I thought you were talking about something else.

[Speargun]

So here's the solution I came up with.

I traced the openings in the cowl onto cardboard then transferred that to some 22ga sheet metal. I cut the pieces out with tin snips, leaving a 1/2" extra all the way around. Cleaned up the rough edges on the sander and screwed the covers down to the cowl.

Now they'll come off, get cleaned, painted, and I'll add some foam tape to the bottom side to seal them up and prevent chafing.

[amcmike]

Originally Posted by Firebob

The vintage air kit had block offs for the cowl vents.

So the SureFit comes with it included? I'm debating between that and Classic Auto Air.

Also wondering what the center vent that comes in the kit looks like. I'm not a fan of the one that comes with the CAA kit:



Speargun, nice job on the homemade covers.

[Speargun]

I have the Classic AC in my car and there are 3 things that I wish was different.

1) The center vent. They definitely could have done better.
2) The AC control.
a) It's ugly!
b) It has no feedback. There is zero friction or detents on the 2 horizontal sliders.
3) The blend could be better. It's super cold or hot. Finding the sweet spot between condensation dripping off the vents & sweating is a delicate process.

It does, however, blow ice cold or super hot. So it's doing it's job.

[Firebob]

The vintage air kit I got was an older one I bought used but it came with two( sort of) oval block offs for the vents in the firewall that aren't used for fresh air anymore. I used an original center vent in my dash so it looks completely stock from the driver's seat.

[amcmike]

Originally Posted by Speargun

I have the Classic AC in my car and there are 3 things that I wish was different.

1) The center vent. They definitely could have done better.
2) The AC control.
a) It's ugly!
b) It has no feedback. There is zero friction or detents on the 2 horizontal sliders.
3) The blend could be better. It's super cold or hot. Finding the sweet spot between condensation dripping off the vents & sweating is a delicate process.

It does, however, blow ice cold or super hot. So it's doing it's job.

Thank you for the feedback Speargun. Very helpful.