VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND NEWER 1946-1948 Fresh Air Unit

I've been following the restoration of the '48 convert on 1948chevy.com. One of the recent photos shows the installation of a "fresh air unit" which I'm guessing ducts fresh air from the grill to a vent inside. I've owned a '46 Chevy for 38 years and seen many more and have never seen this accessory on any other cars until now. Was this a factory option or dealer/owner installed accessory? I always thought the only source of fresh air was the cowl vent. I'm just curious about this item.

The fresh air entered from behind the grille and was connected to the heater. The Super Deluxe dash heater was necessary. A control under the dash regulated the air flow. The unit was first available in 1942. In all my years I ave seen only one unit and it is on a region members 1947. For some strange reason the dealers never promoted it.
The fresh air unit would force air into the cabin keeping out drafts and preventing steaming of the windows. For years Nash was know for its "Weather Eye" which did the same thing and was found on every Nash automobile. Studebaker also had the Climatizer that served the same purpose. The "other" GM cars had a heater fresh air intake optional and was quite common, at least in the north.
Chevrolet's first attempt with a fresh air intake was in 1939. A scoop mounted on the right cowl brought fresh air into the defroster (I have one on my 1939) and it works fairly well. Chevrolet offered nothing again until 1942. The 1939 and 1940 GM cars all ofered that intake and again more common. It was not available on the 1940 Torpedo bodies due to the lack of an exposed cowl and they had a frontal air intake.
While I don't drive my 1939 in the winter the fresh air intake (Chevrolet called it Controled Air) does prevent the windows from fogging up during rain in the Summer. The defroster fan must be on for it to pull in any amount of fresh air due to the air scoop being out ofthe air flow.

The Fresh Air Unit is a very rare accessory, i've only seen two cars with this accessory. It is meant to be installed with the Super Deluxe Heater. The reason why is because it feeds fresh air directly to the Super Deluxe Heater. Also the directions show the installation of the Fresh Air Unit on one side and the installation of the Super Deluxe Heater on the other side. I'm sure the Super Deluxe Heater can be installed without the installation of the Fresh Air Unit but you can not install the Fresh Air Unit without the Super Deluxe Heater. The passenger side wheel well and the panel behind the grill is already stamped (configured) for this accessory.

Can you post the instructions you are talking about or a picture of the Super Deluxe Heater. I just removed some ducting on the 47 parts car I have. It came through behind the grill then through the inner fender through a valve. I also removed the heater, but the ducting wasn't attached to it if I remember right.