Once the vents are off there will be two studs screwed into the bottom of the dash.
You might want to remove these as well, to avoid putting gouges in the top of your head. :sad:
On my '74 there is a thing like it, that is part of the EGR system. It is supposed to be a temperature controlled vacuum valve, so that the EGR valve doesn't activate until the engine is fully warmed up.