Kick Panel Question

[Tire Guy]

My truck has had both interior kick panels removed and a carpet tacked up to cover the hole. How difficult is it to replace them? How are they attached to the cab, from the inside or outside under the fender? The part's dimension is much larger than the inside hole. Thanks for the advice.

[OrrieG]

They are metal screwed to the door jamb and cab side. Mine had been cut up for speakers, I replaced them with one made of 1/4" plywood in the same shape but with fiberglass speaker pods, ac outlet and courtesy light. Here is a picture of the panel and where it installed. I used push clips to avoid screws.

[Tire Guy]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

They are metal screwed to the door jamb and cab side. Mine had been cut up for speakers, I replaced them with one made of 1/4" plywood in the same shape but with fiberglass speaker pods, ac outlet and courtesy light. Here is a picture of the panel and where it installed. I used push clips to avoid screws.

Looks great. However I am missing the vents on both sides too. So there is a large gap on each side. I will post pictures Thursday.
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[OrrieG]

Post 255 starts the kick panel fabrication. Post 889 and 905 deal with the vent and light.

The vent is from a 09 Mustang, F150 pickups use the same one. They come in paint finish (like mine) or full chrome. There are lots on Ebay. There is just enough room for a 2 inch flex hose to run from under the dash into the kick panel location.

The light is a 64 Olds Starfire sail panel light, Impala and Buicks has similar. I picked it up at a local swap meet.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

...The vent is from a 09 Mustang, F150 pickups use the same one....

You used FURD parts in our beloved Chevy truck?! I'm telling!

Does look great though. "I'm copying!"

[Dan in Pasadena]

Yikes! That looks goood, Orrie. Now you've done it though, we need the details on the source for the vent, light, etc. if it's in your build thread can you point us to the post numbers?

[_Ogre]

if you don' have the vents water can get in your cab from the cowl vent
shave the cowl vent it keeps water from rusting your truck from the inside out
then you can also cover the kick area with anything you want

and for dan:

don't tell anyone, but truk has:
chrysler trunk, ford mustII front end, 03 ford mustang hydroboost, nissan remote brake reservoir, 07 ford fusion seats, dodge dakota power windows and a bunch of cheap off shore parts
pretty much covers the spectrum

[Tire Guy]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

if you don' have the vents water can get in your cab from the cowl vent
shave the cowl vent it keeps water from rusting your truck from the inside out
then you can also cover the kick area with anything you want

and for dan:

don't tell anyone, but truk has:
chrysler trunk, ford mustII front end, 03 ford mustang hydroboost, nissan remote brake reservoir, 07 ford fusion seats, dodge dakota power windows and a bunch of cheap off shore parts
pretty much covers the spectrum

Already happening. Can you post a picture?
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[Speedbumpauto]

Not sure what you're looking for but I used a fiberglass cowl vent from a vendor here to solve the water problem and used the vent area inside for the fuse panel on the DS and the needed space for the Vintage air unit on the pass side. My panels are aluminum and then upholstered but ideas, as shown, are almost endless.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

....and for dan:

don't tell anyone, but truk has:
chrysler trunk, ford mustII front end, 03 ford mustang hydroboost, nissan remote brake reservoir, 07 ford fusion seats, dodge dakota power windows and a bunch of cheap off shore parts
pretty much covers the spectrum

I've got to sit down, I think I'm getting a case of the vapors! LOL.

[Clarance J]

Tire Guy. They are in the mail. Good luck on your project.

Earl aka Clarance J

[Advanced Design]

Originally Posted by Clarance J

Tire Guy. They are in the mail. Good luck on your project.

Earl aka Clarance J

Earl, that was very nice! Missing updates on Clarence J...

[Tire Guy]

Originally Posted by Clarance J

Tire Guy. They are in the mail. Good luck on your project.

Earl aka Clarance J

Thanks Earl. This is just the opening salvo on doing the interior. I'll put them in with new kick plates and jury rig the cables until after the a/c install then I'll know where to run the cables properly.
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[Tire Guy]

Originally Posted by Clarance J

Tire Guy. They are in the mail. Good luck on your project.

Earl aka Clarance J

Arrived today and they look even better in person.

Earl you rock!

[Clarance J]

Tire Guy. Glad that you like them and glad that I could help. Two days to cross the country, OR to GA. Not bad.

Earl

[Task Force Era]

Speaking of the smooth wiper cowls. Brothers were supposed to be producing them in sheet metal. 3 months later, I'm still waiting on mine

[bowt1ed]

Originally Posted by Aftermath59

Speaking of the smooth wiper cowls. Brothers were supposed to be producing them in sheet metal. 3 months later, I'm still waiting on mine

Dynacorn has them. I ordered on (cost @ $45) through a local retailer/rod shop. Cheers, Jim

[Speedbumpauto]

Went to their online catalog and only found the louvered cowl. Do you have a part number?

[Task Force Era]

Originally Posted by bowt1ed

Dynacorn has them. I ordered on (cost @ $45) through a local retailer/rod shop. Cheers, Jim

Man! Even through restorationpartssource.com it's way cheaper than brothers. Think it was around $80 or so plus shipping. This place is $53. Gonna check and see if they're in stock

[_Ogre]

speedbump???? where did you find that gem? that is sweet
post a link if you can



i did it the hard way, obviously. do it the speedbump way

[_Ogre]

i cut my kick vents out and put speakers in the holes

[OrrieG]

Speedbump, good idea on the fuse panel. I still like the air flow from the vents, figured it didn't rust out in 55 years so I will let the next guy worry about it 25 or so down the line....

[Tire Guy]

I was mistaken, the vents are in place, however, the levers to open and close the vents are no longer attached. Here is the picture. I see I can do all kinds of things to the kick plates. How do I control the vents?

[Tire Guy]

Related question:

This fall I am going to have installed a Vintage Air AC/Heat/Defrost system. Will they need the kick panel area to do the install. Do I need to keep that into account before I buy some replacement kick panels?

[Speedbumpauto]

If you have the stock firewall, the Vintage unit won't need that space like mine did. I set the firewall back 5" for the location I wanted for the big block so I absolutely had to use that space, even for the smallest VA unit. That's the reason I used the solid cowl vent and used the space on the other side. Plus, I couldn't find new doors/seals for the vents and IMO, sooner or later they leak and become noisy and I didn't need any hot AZ air competing with the AC unit.