Ok!! Don't laugh....stupid question

[mcubedntx]

Ok!! I have this 69' and I have had it for 4 years, but recently moved into a new home and now I have a 20 X 44 shop, so I have been taking my truck apart piece by piece. The bed is off, the hood, the cowl, and if my 3 year old was Bam-Bam the front sheet metal would be on the ground. I removed the passenger side rocker panel tonight and while I was messing around I noticed that the vents in the kick-panels are sealed off by the front of the cab. For some reason I thought the vents would be exposed when I removed the frontend. Both are badly rusted and I had planned on just sealing them off with some sheetmetal, what are the ramifications if I seal these off? Are they to recirculate air? if so can I create my own vents? Also does anyone have a cut away of how the air circulates thru the dash? Is there a way to get a rustproofing product in this area ie: Zero-Rust or POR-15?? I want this done right and I am affraid I will have to remove all the spot welds to gain access to this area. Thanks for any and all advice

[4x4Poet]

On Tuesday, I pulled off the cowl on my K10 and looked and felt thru the kick panel vent openings. Because my K10 was parked under an ash tree thru the Fall, the cowl and kick panel cavity were full of ash seeds and leaves. I've vacuumed, so far. With the kick panel vents removed, I intend to stick a water hose nozzle inside each kick panel cavity to blast out whatever dirt is sticking to the cowl cavity down low. I'll make sure the drain openings run clear and I can't feel any dirt within the cavity. Then I will scrub wash as best I can with Marine Clean and rinse.

The K10's cowl only has inner surface rust down low. No holes or bubbling. After drying I'll convert any surface rust with zinc phosphate. Then, after drying, I'll reach in with both a brush and rag soaked in POR15 to coat the inside of the cavity to hopefully stave off further rust. I think I'll also POR15 coat the cavity under the cowl and the underside of the cowl itself since only the topside of the cowl shows its color. I can't think of any other way of addressing the cavity's vulnerability to rust. Oh, yeah, before I install the cowl, I'll install cowl screens to stop accumulation of seeds, leaves, twigs, etc in the cowl cavity that won't pass thru the cavity's drain holes due to their size.

It won't hurt a thing to seal off the kick panel vents unless the bottom of the cavity gets filled up with leaves, etc. How will you clean them out?. Otherwise, the cowl cavity has drain holes. Or you could remove the air vents, blast & paint them, and replace the rubber seals that cost $5 each. Personally, I would only seal off the kick panel vents to make room for a kick panel speaker mount. I want the kick panel vents there so I can reach in and clean out the area above the drain holes and address any future surface rust problems without having to remove the outer cavity metal. Plus, the vents add a fresh air option I want to retain.

[mcubedntx]

My vents are so badly rusted that the former edges that had the seal are gone. To give you some idea one side has totally rusted out at least an inch from the original vent hole, the other is worse off that the other. It has rust and missing metal in some areas 3' away from the original opening. I am assuming from your post that the cowl opening has drain holes that allow condensation to move down the vent and release into the atmosphere. This area as well as the "A" pillars are my most problem areas. I know what causes all the rust, the answer is how do prevent further damage after repairing these problem areas. I have already decided on the cowl screen, even contemplated closing up all the holes in it as well. You can also bet on one thing, those damn drip rails will never ever leak into my "A" pillars again.

[ChevLoRay]

Well, my '69 has "some" rust in the plenums above the kick panel vents. My truck has A/C, so I know I need to bring in some outside air for everything to work properly, like the defroster for sure.

I want to seal off the air intake at the cowl....completely. Then, I want to add ducting of outside air, into the cowl. I'm thinking that some flex hose, appropriate for the task, can be used to route the air from in front of the radiator support, to accomplish the task.

Bottom line it to eliminate the possibility of water, dirt and leaves/pine needles, accumulating in the plenum at the kick panels and rusting them out after I get them fixed.

As for sticking a water hose into the cowl and hosing it out....I'm gonna bet that you'll find a rust hole somewhere and end up with water in the cab. Hope not, but I just don't see how it can be prevented. But, here's hoping you have a rust-free cab....at least at the kick panels.

[Vince M]

If you have the front fenders off you can see the outside of the "tunnel" for the fresh air vents. I am going to cut a big hole in the tunnel on each side and then patch it up with sheet metal later. The patch will be completely covered with the fender once installed. The good thing with opening up the "tunnel" is you can get to the back side of the air vents and rustproof everthing inside or repair and rusted out pieces.