wiper cowl vent delete

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player1up

player1up

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now this might be a little out there..... :wack:

has anyone covered the slotted vents in the wiper cowl?
I know If I'm running A/C that I would have to get clean air from somewhere to be able to use the vent setting (maybe where it drains into the fender, run a tube from there to the front of the car or just let it suck from the drain openings)

Does it look strange? it should allieviate the leaves plugging the drain holes(not that the car would be parked out in the elements, but)
Just thinnking out loud.. :scratch:
 
On MANY of the old cars, rust develops down in the "valley" under the vent openings.........This leads to leaking onto the rugs in our old classics, and speeds the ruining of the rugs, mats, and gives a musty smell after a while (and will rot the floorboards).

Apart from taking it all apart and welding to perfection, I've found that covering the vents with a simple magnetic vinyl cover is really effective in solving the leaking problem.

I don't know if you have this problem, but I can say that it doesn't look too wacked out at all when my cover is in place. (you can cover it with colored vinyl, OR have it painted to match the car). I have to park the car in various places for days at a time, and the cover is a real help. If you eliminated your vents, smoothing it over, you'd have to draw air from somewhere..........BUT, with the fenders off, you should be able to draw in sufficient volume by cutting an appx. 2" square hole (or round) on each SIDE of the vent cavity housing.............and with a properly designed thin-wall louver, you could keep excess water out as well during driving and parking situations.

It would definitely change the look, perhaps change the value (I wouldn't say in a positive way either), UNLESS of course this is a full blown custom........then I would say 'MoPar to ya', and have a blast.

Doc
 
are you refering to the vents on the hood side under the wiper arms..

If so i plan to cut that section out and weld in a piece of sheet metal.. basically because of the weather irritant.. i plan to devise a new heating system that will actually HEAT the car and i will route new vent lines into the fender in some way that i can have a smaller heater box and remove all that rust and what nut under my dash. ill have to find my book of all my ideas and write them all out..

Have you done this yet?
we can swap ideas back and forth as i will be starting it soon.

-Jeff
 
Years ago, with my Duster drag car. I just duct taped over them to keep the outside air out. I had removed everything under the dash.
 
Ok so I'm not crazy, at least not because of THIS idea


exactly what I was thinking pastortom1!!

The car is on it's way to becoming a complete custom as it's only a /6 but it does have A/C. I have the passenger fender off now and I'm repairing the drain holes (had to use donar parts) and part of the inner fender as it has rusted at the seam about an inch from the firewall. I was thinkin about cutting the vents out and welding sheet metal in originally because it looks like there is no way to paint down in there. previous owner painted it like a bee and I can still see the tan color down in there. The idea went from there.


Cerwin, Yup I was planing on getting rid of it but I haven't done it yet. The system should be able to pickup enough fresh air from inside the fenders as long as you still have the plastic inners.

I'll get some pics when I start work on it this week.
 
I just figured out where my leak problem has been coming from too. I have a 73 duster & it has been sitting for about 5 yrs due to lack of funds etc....

On my old dart , it had fresh air vents that you would open manually under the dash. On the duster it had a/c & those areas are not used the same way , BUT the metal is still formed as it would be for those vents.
I.e. , it's rounded indentation , but the actual hole isn't cut out.
Well , that's where my rust is....... :cry:
And i'd like to try and fix it w/o ripping the whole cowl apart at the factory seam or pulling the windshield.
I was thinking of just slicing into the cowl in the area around the wiper blades , just enought to be able to get into there to reapir it & then welding the cutout pieces back in ??
I really just need to get the leak fixed asap(weather permiting) & don't have a garage to rip it apart and do it the right way.

thanks a million ,
I just found this site from a post on moparts , it's awsome !!
 
I cut mine open and welded a patch panel in. I don't have a heater and gave up the vent air. Only people who know these cars even notice. Take your time welding in the patch to avoid warping.
 
I didn't see why I couldn't do that , but some ppl I talked to about it were giving me a hard time saying " no you have to drill out the spots welds , pull the windshield , dash , take the whole thing apart at factory seams "

I know my car isn't a 100point show car , it probably never will be.
The rest of the body is in ok shape , the motor only has about 2000 miles on the rebuild , intereiors good....
I'm just trying to get it into shape to get it back on the road !!

I was even thinking of using fiberglass mat & resin inside the cowl area to repair the rusted out area's.
AFTER of course , removing as much rust as I can .
Figured it would be easier , no one really see's it & once it's painted should be just as durable right ?
 
if you are going to use fiberglass as a patch, you have got to get ALL of the rust out first or you will be doing it again in 5 yrs..

at least thats what I'm seeing on my car from the previous owner, he did some patch work and didn't get all the rust out and it came back.. I could peal up the edge of the patch and it just came out as one piece.
 
I would definately try to get all the rust out , I too know that is VERY necessary.
Depending on what it actually looks like will decide how I ultimately handle it though.
 
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