When I built my 54 I put my original fresh air vent tubes back in. I noticed they had some kind of insulation mat inside. I have read somewhere that material was made from asbestos, so I don't use my vents. Does any one know if this is fact. It sure would be nice to be able to use them. Maybe take them off and try to get that out and ad a heat shield on the outside?
I have some extras that you could have. I will look at them and see if they have stuff inside. I did not use them on my car. Are you going to Salida?
Hey John, hope everything is good in southwest Missouri. Thanks for the offer, I might take them off and see how hard it might be to get that stuff out. It may not be to difficult being in there for 60 plus years? Salina won't happen for me this year. (Taking care of ageing parents). But yeah let me know if yours have that stuff in there too. I've actually thought about taking mine out and making a cold air intake but that hasn't happened and probably won't. To many irons in the fire.
Here are two that I have. I think they are left and right. One of them had a removable fiber mat in part of the tube that I easily pulled out. The other was hollow.
Maybe they put that insulation in the tube from the exhaust side. Its been long enough since mine were out I don't remember. About an inch thick? Now that you have it out does it look like asbestos or can you tell? Sorry for all the questions and thanks for taking the time. Its about time for a trip to Neosho its been awhile with all the covid stuff, hopefully this fall. Would still like to meet you sometime.
Here is a photo of the stuff I pulled out of the sheet metal tube. It came out in two halves. It did not look like any asbestos material that I have been around, more like scotch brite pads. Surely out paths will cross someday.
Probably not asbestos. Asbestos was expensive, they only used it to resist high heat. More likely some kind of coconut fibre or coir used as sound deadening, to prevent engine noise from echoing inside the car. VWs had similar fibre packed "mufflers" in the heat ducts, from the engine to the interior of the car. You could probably get the same effect by wrapping some insulation around the outside of the pipe. A small piece of Dynamat or carpet should do the trick.
Just removed tubes from a 52 Chevy parts car, one side has that fiber mat like shown in WZ Junk's picture.
On 54 Chevrolet with power steering they used a flexible duct on the left side to clear the massive steering box. The right has the insulation from exhaust.
Any interest in parting with these? I’m trying to bring my engine bay back to its original look as best as I can and I’d love to get my hands on these if you don’t mind shipping
...if you are putting a V8 in your Chevy, and want to use those tubes, I'd line em with some thing like Dynamat or such, if you run em empty you will get a lot of heat into your car from the engine compartment, ran em on a 51 Chev I built with a 400 SBC and it was like the heater was turned on all the time without the original fiber or other liner....(400's seem to run warmer anyway.)
In general, coating what is believed to be asbestos containing material to keep it from becoming friable is all that needs to be done. I was a certified asbestos remover and could supervisor it’s removal or sealing for California. Almost any paint will do. Pink was used as a sealing color. I personally would remove any product in an air duct.
Rusty, that would be rad if you could. I found some flex hose online that should fit, but I wouldn’t mind getting some in there that are a little more stock looking for the right price
I only have one vent tube,...drivers side I believe, good condition, take $20 for it plus shipping, send me a zip.
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