air vents

[Jim Schwering (9598)]

Hey guys, what gives with my two outside air vents.

The right side has the door with the pivots (as shown )once you remove the Black air diverter.

The left , after the black cover is removed , appears to have a seal with a small square cut out of it to allow the cable to enter . The seal is all caulked up . It seems that even when the vent is opened all the way , only a small amount air would pass through it.

It is an Air car if that makes any difference. Or as I suspect has Bubba been at work here ?

[Donald Terry (38740)]

Re: air vents

That Bubba guy sure does get around! Not sure what he was trying to accomplish with this modification, but that ain't the way the General designed it.

[Donald Terry (38740)]

Re: air vents

That Bubba guy sure does get around! Not sure what he was trying to accomplish with this modification, but that ain't the way the General designed it.

[Wayne Kindschy (33314)]

Re: air vents

Bubba could have had a water leak and stopped the flow.

[Wayne Kindschy (33314)]

Re: air vents

Bubba could have had a water leak and stopped the flow.

[Wayne Midkiff (3437)]

Re: air vents

Jim -- Your described LH is actually RH (& vice-versa). On C2's, the LH kick pad vent is the same, C60 or not. On your shot of the LH, all seems normal, except that with the vertical angle that the bowden cable is attached to the door, it would probably not open. Of course, with the black plastic deflector grille in place, and the cable anchor attached to the tab, it will then allow push/pull action from the proper angle.

Now for the passenger side, which is radically different from the non-air car. The auto-load pic is off my early '65. I've shown the delector door in the RH plenum chamber door partially open so you can see the dense foam that is glued to the door, with a cut-out in the foam to allow the pivot arm to be attached to the door with rivets.

I can't fathom what Bubba was up to in your case, but the "fix" would certainly reduce air flow, whether from outside, recirculated from inside or a mixture of both. In the glued-close position shown in your pic, the system would be set to outside air, with only the little cut-out allowing a bit of inside circulation.

These are expensive items if can't be restored; a plenum just sold on eBay for $ 611.

[Wayne Midkiff (3437)]

Re: air vents

Jim -- Your described LH is actually RH (& vice-versa). On C2's, the LH kick pad vent is the same, C60 or not. On your shot of the LH, all seems normal, except that with the vertical angle that the bowden cable is attached to the door, it would probably not open. Of course, with the black plastic deflector grille in place, and the cable anchor attached to the tab, it will then allow push/pull action from the proper angle.

Now for the passenger side, which is radically different from the non-air car. The auto-load pic is off my early '65. I've shown the delector door in the RH plenum chamber door partially open so you can see the dense foam that is glued to the door, with a cut-out in the foam to allow the pivot arm to be attached to the door with rivets.

I can't fathom what Bubba was up to in your case, but the "fix" would certainly reduce air flow, whether from outside, recirculated from inside or a mixture of both. In the glued-close position shown in your pic, the system would be set to outside air, with only the little cut-out allowing a bit of inside circulation.

These are expensive items if can't be restored; a plenum just sold on eBay for $ 611.

[Jim Schwering (9598)]

Re: air vents

Thanks Don and Wayne,

Wayne, yes you are correct , I crossed my left and right pictures. Sorry about that !

Judging from your picture ,and I appreciate the effort because I know how hard it was for me to get mine , it appears that Bubba took the foam off the door and glued it to the opening. The whole assembly is still there , just Mickey-Moused with a bit ! I fiqured that an A/C car may have been done differently, but I didn't think that the foam glued in place looked right !

I guess I will have to do some rehab on both of them as the rubber or foam edge on the "left one" is also pretty dried out . The hazzards of an Arizona car. No rust, but lots of dried out rubber and such!

Still not having as much "fun" as Gerald Fuccillo, but moving along,

Jim

[Jim Schwering (9598)]

Re: air vents

Thanks Don and Wayne,

Wayne, yes you are correct , I crossed my left and right pictures. Sorry about that !

Judging from your picture ,and I appreciate the effort because I know how hard it was for me to get mine , it appears that Bubba took the foam off the door and glued it to the opening. The whole assembly is still there , just Mickey-Moused with a bit ! I fiqured that an A/C car may have been done differently, but I didn't think that the foam glued in place looked right !

I guess I will have to do some rehab on both of them as the rubber or foam edge on the "left one" is also pretty dried out . The hazzards of an Arizona car. No rust, but lots of dried out rubber and such!

Still not having as much "fun" as Gerald Fuccillo, but moving along,

Jim

[Jim Schwering (9598)]

Re: air vents

Both Waynes,

I fiqured it out ! As Wayne Kindschy said a water leak may have been the reason Bubba sealed the door shut.For whatever reason, Judging from Wayne Midkiff's picture it appears that he tried to seal it shut while closed and eventually the foam stayed while the door seperated from the foam and continued to open and shut whenever pulled .

The cover shown in my picture is definately a foam type material. Add the little cut out and it matches perfectly to what it is supposed to look like . I am fairly sure that is what has happened.

Thanks again all,

Jim

[Jim Schwering (9598)]

Re: air vents

Both Waynes,

I fiqured it out ! As Wayne Kindschy said a water leak may have been the reason Bubba sealed the door shut.For whatever reason, Judging from Wayne Midkiff's picture it appears that he tried to seal it shut while closed and eventually the foam stayed while the door seperated from the foam and continued to open and shut whenever pulled .

The cover shown in my picture is definately a foam type material. Add the little cut out and it matches perfectly to what it is supposed to look like . I am fairly sure that is what has happened.

Thanks again all,

Jim

[Jim Propheter (40599)]

Re: air vents

I currently have my 64 a/c coupe apart for restoration. I found a similar situation with my car. As rain water enters the grill in front of the passenger windshield, it is funneled down on top of the plenum. The top of the vent plenum is canted to divert the water outboard and down to the drain in back of the wheel well. When leaves and dirt enter the grill, it starts to accumulate on the top of the plenum. This “crud” retains moisture and eventually rusts the top of the plenum. The rust holes will let water enter the plenum and then into the interior of the car. This was just about the only rust I found on my car. You can’t see the top of the plenum but you might shine a flashlight from the top of the bottom to see if light comes out the other side. If it does, then your plenum top is likely rusted.

I was not able to locate a replacement plenum. They are extremely rare and expensive. I ended up taking it to a local metal smith and he was able to repair it for me for $225. See the before and after pics. This is a tough repair without major surgery.

Good luck. Jim

Before:

[Jim Propheter (40599)]

Re: air vents

I currently have my 64 a/c coupe apart for restoration. I found a similar situation with my car. As rain water enters the grill in front of the passenger windshield, it is funneled down on top of the plenum. The top of the vent plenum is canted to divert the water outboard and down to the drain in back of the wheel well. When leaves and dirt enter the grill, it starts to accumulate on the top of the plenum. This “crud” retains moisture and eventually rusts the top of the plenum. The rust holes will let water enter the plenum and then into the interior of the car. This was just about the only rust I found on my car. You can’t see the top of the plenum but you might shine a flashlight from the top of the bottom to see if light comes out the other side. If it does, then your plenum top is likely rusted.

I was not able to locate a replacement plenum. They are extremely rare and expensive. I ended up taking it to a local metal smith and he was able to repair it for me for $225. See the before and after pics. This is a tough repair without major surgery.

Good luck. Jim

Before:

[Jim Propheter (40599)]

Re: air vents

After:

[Jim Propheter (40599)]

Re: air vents

After: