Fresh air flow?

[a69vette]

On a non-air 69, where does the fresh air come from? I am looking for a way to increase the air flow or just get some cooler air. Florida is great, but hot in the summer time.
Thanks, Rick

 

[Tom Bryant]

fresh air

Rick,

Air for the heater and vent system enters through the vent screen at the base of the windshield.

Tom

 

[Valkguy]

There is supposed to be a weather strip under the hood toward the rear. I'm told it is there to prevent hot air from the engine from entering the cockpit through the "Astro Ventilation system."

It is missing on my '69 Coupe and the air coming out of the vent can get really warm especially after parking the car for a few minutes.

This piece of weather strip was included the the kit that a got recently, but it is really weird. It is rounded on one side and has about a 60-70 degree angle on the other. I haven't been able to figure out how to install it. I don't even know whether it glues to the hood or the car itself.

Does anybody know where and how it attaches??

 

[69MyWay]

Rick,

When I get back to my home computer I need to send you some pics of my cowl. My car was/is a non-air model. There are two large oval vents that go on either side of the cowl just in front of the hinge pillar. They have a rubber gasket that has to close off an otherwise large gap between the cowl vent opening and the vent flap. If yours is like mine was, that rubber is long gone and you have a constant source of engine heat rolling into the car.

This should be fresh cowl air from under the windshield. However, here in Florida the engine heat seems to over power it. Plus, the outside air temp is hot to begin with. So, you are ramming hot atmosphere air in with a supercharge of engine heat from the firewall right onto your toes.

Plus, there are two ports just above the main vents that are open all the time. They are each about 2" in diameter. That means you have another 4" of hot air getting under the dash.

With a non-air car, I don't know the solution. Since I am running a vintage air under the dash unit, I sealed these off for good.

BTW-Prior to deciding on the vintage air system, I was able to pick up the entire factory a/c system including a near perfect control panel, vacuum lines, in dash and firewall side ducts, housing, evaporator, heater core, and blower motor. The only thing I don't have would be the condensor, lines, and compressor. I was planning on making fresh R-134 compatible lines and running a late model R-4 style compressor.

I think I will be trying to sell what I have soon. Not sure what it is all worth-but thinking about asking $400. What do you think?

Chris

 

[redmist]

Vintage Air

Chris I inquired about installing the VA system in my 78 but was strongly discouraged from doing so by a retailer/installer of the system. He said it was unbelievably hard to install.
Did you install yours or have someone do it? Are you happy with the results? What specific system did you get?
Thanks
Pete

 

[69MyWay]

Pete,

Vintage Air has a new system out called the Super Cooler II (compact). It uses electric valves and runs on the 134 freon. The dimensions are perfect for the C3 dash. It has superior cooling and heating characteristics vs. the stock a/c system. They also have a control panel that fits the console exactly like the stock control (looks different though). The electric system requires no vacuum to open and close the valves.

Here is the down side. You need to pull the entire dash out to get a proper installation. You also need to find a way to either fiberglass, plate, or build some kind of block off on the firewall. You will be removing the old air box to make room for the Vintage System. This will leave a large hole in the passenger side of the firewall.

The benefit for me is superior cooling, clean engine bay, and electric operation avoiding the need to run additional vacuum lines off the motor. This is a complete custom installation and most shops would not get involved in the job.

I put a system in a 36 Ford recently very much like this one. It is an awesome system. You are correct. Vintage Air does not sell anything pre-made for the C3. However, I know from experience that it does fit and should work.

This is a do-it-yourself job as few retail installers will get involved. Mine is not finished yet so I don't know how happy I am with it. However, if it works anything like the others I have messed with then there is no doubt I will be very happy.

Also, this is something to consider when the whole car is torn down. That makes it easy to install. If you have a complete car and are just thinking about putting this in, then I agree it would be a huge job and might want to reconsider.

Chris

 

[a69vette]

Hello Chris, Thanks for all the email pics. Man, have you got a job to do. As for my '69, it's all orignal. I don't want to change that, at this point in its life, all the value comes from having nothing changed (execpt the leaf I told you about, which I still have the orignal). The floor vents can be cut off and the "hot" air will stop (or slow down), I was just wanting to find out if the "ball" vents had specific routing to fresh air, and if maybe something could increase the fresh air flow. I do have air flow thru the ball vents, but as you said, " in Florida, it's all hot air". Thanks for the many email, I love it!
Rick