Interior fresh air doors...and Go!

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71dusterdan

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Hello FABO Family, I have a question, and am looking for opinions for and against.
My car is a 71 Duster. It has been apart for more years than it was together under my care. I may have driven about a 1000 miles if that.
My question: what have all of you done with your fresh air boxes under the dash? How many of you that have modded your cars, still have them? Who has gotten rid of them, and why?

It seems to me, I remember the airflow I got from them wasn't all that great, and I had plenty of crap blown into my car through them, maybe even some water leaks.
Some of you guys may have them and love them... I wanna hear why?

So I guess I am looking for compelling opinions to sway me either way.
 
Well, in my case the doors are permanently closed for numerous reason. The main reason is that I plan to close off the slotted vents in the cowl to prevent rust in the air box. The slots let leaves and dirt into that space then the rain turns everything into a mush in there. It clogs up the small drain holes/slots and any little particles that manage to get though the drain end up lodged in the fender where they create rust from the inside out. I've cleaned out my air box and cleaned out the fenders so it's clean and dry for now. I also installed some 50 watt 4" speakers on the vent doors. They tuck up nice and high out of sight. The other reason I plan to block everything off it is that I have factory AC so there's really no need for "fresh air". I live in a very hot and humid climate and believe me, THERE IS NO FRESH AIR!!! My car is a survivor and has no rust at all (it came from Arizona). The place I live is one of the worst places for corrosion....... near the ocean, hot and humid 11 months out of the year. The only way I can save this car for future generations is by keeping junk out of the air box!!


Now we can hear everyone else's opinions.
treblig
 
I love my crotch box...

Just open the door in the summer with a pair of shorts on, and let the wind blow!!!

Nothin' like a cool breeze across the crotch to keep you cool in summer when you don't have a/c...
 
krazykuda said:
I love my crotch box...

Just open the door in the summer with a pair of shorts on, and let the wind blow!!!

Nothin' like a cool breeze across the crotch to keep you cool in summer when you don't have a/c...
Click to expand...

me too,here in indiana ,july and aug. can be really hot and humid. the extra air is nice.
 
I love mine too. I do not have A/C, so it is a bonus on rainy days to get fresh air and not have to deal with getting rain in car from cracking the windows while driving.
 
In response to Trebligs comments, I don't think completely sealing the cowl is doable. To close/delete/cover the exterior grille would keep the leaves, pine needles, and such out but not water, dust, pollen. There's a crowd of other small openings into there.
As for the fresh air boxes, if someone would create covers, variable vent w/ screen to replace those swinging doors, put me down for 2 pair.
 
I bought my car in the fall
it was about 32 degrees out and the heater did not...does not work

for some reason mine are ductaped shut
 
Mine work great and really cool down the car - when moving. No A/C on a black on black car, it gets hot in there. Yes, needles and other long dead plant material blows out of the passenger side.

Treblig cool idea with the speakers
 
RedFish said:
In response to Trebligs comments, I don't think completely sealing the cowl is doable. To close/delete/cover the exterior grille would keep the leaves, pine needles, and such out but not water, dust, pollen. There's a crowd of other small openings into there.
As for the fresh air boxes, if someone would create covers, variable vent w/ screen to replace those swinging doors, put me down for 2 pair.
Click to expand...

Redfish, I have a spare cowl and I plan to manufacture a cover to fit perfectly against the outer edge of the vent slots. The only other holes/entrances into the box is through the weep holes under the lower edge of the front windshield (I've already plugged those). There are sometimes some small holes coming in from the engine bay side (firewall) but those are also easily plugged. I know that "vent slot" covers are made for 65/66/67 Mustangs but no one (of course) makes them for 69 Barracudas!! I plan to use the spare cowl section to make a template of the surface contour around the vent slots. I wouldn't want to scratch my paint or accidentally dent my cowl so I'll use the spare cowl to make the template. Making the template is easy, the more difficult part is figuring out a way to attach it to the slots and make it look nice at the same time. Then a simple thin rubber/silicone gasket with a little sealer and it should completely seal off the slots from anything that might try and get in there. Actually leaves/twigs/pollen/bugs don't hurt the car body at all as long as the box stays dry. As soon as water get in there all that stuff turns into a mush that plugs up the drain slots/holes on each side. The box acts like a green house and this keeps the mushy leaves/twigs/pollen nice a damp and that's where all the rust starts. If only rain got into the box it would stay clean and probably never rot because water passes right through the box and down/out the drains. The other problem is that the twigs/leaves that happen to get out of the box through the drain holes (SEE PICS) ends up in a extremely well engineered (being sarcastic) pocket built into the rear of the front fender. The pocket gets full of cr@p and stays wet/damp for a long time and eventually corrodes the lower rear front fender (as we have all seen). Again, if only water passed through there it would stay clean and the fender pocket could not hold the water BUT....there's no way to keep the cr@p from getting in there unless you clean it very religiously and often OR cover the vent holes. The vent holes aren't too hard to clean but the rear fender pocket takes a while with a long piece of heavy wire, compressed air and some patience. I have factory AC so if I want fresh air and the weather is nice I simply roll down a window otherwise I run the AC.
I know up North the fresh air box/vents are nice but where I live there is no fresh air except for a couple of weeks of winter (not really winter but at least it's not 95/100 degrees with 95 percent humidity)!!!
treblig
 

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