I have always liked cowl vent's even when they leak they do a great job of circulating air, granted sometimes when it's hotter than monkey love it still helps. I have never understood why people fill them in, I have heard it said that they installed a air conditioner and don't need the vent and it leaked so the filled it in. In the spring and fall just opening the cowl vent makes for a more comfortable ride, My old sedan has the 3 notches from almost closed to wide open. Does your hot rod or custom gave a cowl vent? Even my old roadster was equipped with one. HRP
My 33 pickup still has its cowl vent and I use the heck out of it. Much better at bringing air into the cab than pushing the windshield out. I will never fill that vent in.
Yep, my big ole Lincoln has one, and I've used it many times. It needs a new gasket, old one is hard as a rock, it leaks a little water sometimes, but I seldom drove it in the rain anyway. Even when I do put in AC, I'm planning on leaving it for those spring and fall days when the temps are just right for outside air instead of AC.
Yes, '39 coupe, '40 Convertible, and 2 '41 p/u's..It's one of the first things I make sure are functional. Love the cowl vents. My '40 Convertible's cowl vent was smoothed over/covered with bondo, all mechanisms still in place, once I exposed it, it works great. My wife and I took the '39 out for dinner today, hot day, high eighties cowl vent opened up.
The 1926/27 Model T has what looks to be a cowl vent set in the obvious location, but it was actually a fuel filler door. In saying that, once the gas tank on the underside of the cowl is removed, then it offers an opportunity to become a vent I guess. I am sure other have taken advantage of that possibility before. I have a T with this door in use and use it as an access door to fill my windshield washer bottle. I have set up an inside level which locks and releases the door as required. I will be running a/c so don't feel the need for a vent...
Wescotts' "California Hiboy Special" option included hidden hinges and filled cowl. Apparently the practice of deleting the cowl on the deuce was so wildly popular Dee Wescott figured "give the customer what he wants". Mine
Fill the cowl vent , fill the roof, shave the handles etc , IMO That stuff just doesn't belong on here. Our 3 pre 48 cars have a functioning cowl vent, our 49 coupe has functioning fire wall fresh air vents.
On my T coupe, that is the door for checking my brake fluid and washer fluid. On the Plymouth, the old vent release lever wouldn't clear my air conditioner so I rigged an old power window regulator to make it work.
love em. its one of my main gripes on model A's, no vent. Henry thought the windshield opening was enough, i disagree. even on my late model pickup, an 89 diesel dodge, the side vent is open all summer. in my 34 coupe, open the cowl, and open the back window, and now you got some airflow.
The cowl vents were put there for a reason. That reason still applies today. If it leaks, put a new gasket in, and make sure the cowl vent closes completely.
while I agree with you, it would be interesting to know when all these things happened. My coupe had filled roof and filled cowl from I believe back in the late ‘60s. Trends here seemed to be later than the USA, so I would be curious as to when they first appeared. ( let’s not mention shaved door handles, although they probably appeared, or should that be disappeared, on many a custom in that era ).
Love the cowl vent. It can be a "lifesaver" on a miserably hot day. Even 85 degree air blowing across your legs feels reasonably cool.
Can’t beat them. I would never fill one in. Had our share of bees join us in the 34 pickup because of the lack of screen designed into them but the 37 has a screen. Even better, I love the tilt windshields. They give a max blowjob during a hot humid day.
..............The only way that it could have been better is if those shorty lake pipes were open as well!
Nothing better than an early morning drive with the cowl vent open. My wife will often ask why I need the a/c on.
Hello, When I got my first 1940 Ford sedan delivery, of course it had cowl vents. Even teenagers needed some kind of traditional air conditioning. The vent was opened, the wind wings turned inwards and the side windows were rolled down. That is 1960 technology for A/C. luckily, for me, the vent fit nicely and never leaked during any car washings or the So Cal rains, when it rains. We did need our custom A/C on those long summer road trips to south Orange County and San Diego county surf spots. To top off the full effect of the air flow, we even had to take out the rear window of the back door, so our longboards could fit, two no problem, three a very tight fit. But, usually, the towels and old t shirts plugged up the open areas to keep the exhaust fumes from entering the open cracks. When we took out the t shirts plugs, the air flow was blowing at maximum speed and going right through the whole interior area. There was no smell of exhaust or so we did not think there was any smell. Jnaki Cruising around with the girls from our high school always had the vent open. The different perfumes of different girls played havoc with my eyes and nose, so the vent was always open. Sometimes, as good as the vent open created a cool area inside, it also dragged in any odors from the cars in front or nasty diesel busses or trucks. Diesel exhaust and perfume did not do wonders to my sensitive nose and eyes. On our 2nd Ford Sedan Delivery purchase, my wife like the real A/C that came with the car already installed. So, the vent stayed closed most of the time. For some reason, I had to fix a small leak after it was opened and closed several times. Open/closed all of the time in high school, never a leak. Open rarely, if at all, in the years that we drove the 327 powered sedan delivery, it had a small leak. Interesting…
Both of my 34's retained the cowl vents, my 40's vent is electric to clear the A/C and I added one to my A rpu caab when I built it. Yes, I love my cowl vents.
Between the cowl vent and vent windows on my '46 wagon we get great air flow. The only issue I ever had was returning from the Wavecrest, "Woodie" show in California and was driving thru the Needles CA area. A gas station sign was posting 118 degrees. I had to shut the cowl vent because my feet were burning.
I love the cowl vent, it works very well, I use it all of the time. Funny thing is I use it ALL of the time, I even forget to close it some times when I turn on the a/c, then I get bummed out thinking the a/c needs recharged or serviced, until I remember to close it!! The Vintage air works great, except when the cowl vent is letting 100 plus degree out side air in!!
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