Well went to fix my Cab fresh air vent on the '49... And found that one of the corners of the cab has cracked that goes threw one of the screw holes. Frame is way worst shape, then I thought. so I dug out the extra vent frame I have. Put the frame and a new gasket on it. Once I put my vent door back on found that it didn't close tight enough to seal the weather out. Long store short... How did you guys delete the vent? Has anyone used the OEM vent door after weld it up so it looks stock? How did you do it? Looking for your experience (Pros/Cons)?


Merry Christmas to everyone!

 

I filled the vent on my 49 after much thought on how the original sealed poorly after trying all the suggested remedies. I took out the gasket and put it back together. What I did is bend some rod to fill the gap around it and welded it shut. I removed the handle from underneath the dash. I was in the way of the wiper motor and mechanics, anyways it was roached to begin with.

 

You could try the Vaseline and silicon trick, I use this for one off gaskets with opening parts.
Remove the door and any old gasket material. You will then want to paint the areas if in poor shape before proceeding. Once everything is clean and ready decide what surface you want the gasket on (cowl in most cases) and the other surface you will want to have ready to set into final position. If you can reinstall and still get to the surfaces then great but if not just make sure you know just how it will sit when finished.

Ok so it is simple once everything is cleaned and or painted you will mask off with a good quality painters tape around the side where your gasket will go leaving the free space that the gasket will stay in. So for a cowl vent you may end up with a 1/2" to 5/8" wide channel around the opening. Then the next step is to wipe Vaseline around the part not receiving the gasket in this case the cowl vent door. This keeps the silicon from sticking to the mating surface. Next you will put an ample amount of clear or black silicone in the channel area you masked off and keep it smooth but a bit high and then close the vent or place the vent into the opening so it sits how you want it to stay. Then let it dry over night and the next day open the vent, clean off the Vaseline, remove the painters tape and you should end up with a gasket that fits like a glove.

If possible you would want to add a .0010 shim between the door and hinge so that the door rests in the correct location but .0010" high so after everything is dry you remove the shim and now the door has just a bit of compression when closed. Hope this is useful, it has worked for me many times over the years.

Kevin
LFD

 

That looks great Mervy49. I was thinking about making it look like it was still operational from the outside and not fill in around it. Did you just want a smooth look?

 

Yep, I opted for the smooth look. Originally my plan for the truck was to keep it totally original but as time went on, I made too many changes to it to consider it stock.

 

'51 F1, I welded up the cowl vent. Going with air conditioning. Easier to do electric wipers, and needed the space for the AC unit.