VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1933-1936 '33 roadster cowl vent operation?

Before I break something, is there a secret to getting the cowl vent to open?

The operating rod moves just a little bit before it stops.

i tried pulling it to one side and the other to see if there was some sort of mechanical lock/stop, but no luck. I don't want to push it too far to one side if there is no lock, or push too hard forward if there is a lock.

Thanks,
Doug

Here are some pics under the dash.

Is the linkage between the operating lever and the cowl body installed reversed front to back? I can't see any way that the vent can operate with the linkage the way it is.

Doug

My 1935 Chevrolet standard Phaeton, the cowl vent handle pushes forward to open and backwards to close.

When I first got the car , I found the cowl vent would not open to what I thought was full open position . I got upside down on seat looking at it and the mechanism has notches for each position of opening. I attempted and took the mechanism apart but could not get everything lined up to open it more , so just put it back together and grabbed it and pulled it further open by hand.

Not sure exactly whats happening , as hanging upside down like a bat is not comfortable.

Re your problem , have a good look under there and see which side the notches are on , then put pressure to that side and move forward to open.

Maybe a bolt and nut for the opening system has been over tightened and restricting the handle. ????????



I also take it that you are aware that the roadster body WAS NOT MADE by Fisher body, but supplied to Chevrolet/GM by an outside supplier.??????????

That's why the firewall does not have the fisher body tag and the tag was placed on right side floor or seat riser wood. That gave you the factory that produced it and the month and the serial number of the build.

The Chevrolet MODEL NUMBER was 146 for factory order use .

mike lynch

I cannot see how the cowl vent and the handle can even work with that plate of spaghetti wiring mess underneath.

Also looks like one of the instruments is stopping the mechanism from working , that's a mess ! I know you did not do it, but now your going to have to correct it under there .

mike

Yeah, i looked at that wiring mess and thought: Crap, why me?

Does that look like original wires to you? Or a rewire job? its all braided cloth insulation on the wire.

I also came to the conclusion the wires are going to have to be labeled, disconnected, bundled and reconnected so it isn't a rats nest,and doesn't interfere with the vent.

I very much dislike working upside down under dash boards.

On the plus side, with the seat bottom out and several layers of Harbor Freight moving pads to lay on, its better than some cars I've worked under the dash on.

Doug

I cannot answer your questions re originality, but the wiring has most likely been replaced with period correct cloth wrapped wire.

Its the non bundling of the wires and general mayhem going on under there. Altho the wiring looks like and most likely does work correctly. If you do have a problem you want to be able to chase and follow whats under there to find a problem.

When I was re-doing my 35 standard coupe for the last time in 1996, I purchased a Ron Francis wiring kit for street rods and ran the wiring fuse panel sunken into a non stick lasagna tray where the battery would normally be. Problem , lift up seat and everything is right there before your eyes. Use probe to check which fuse is acting up.

I am just about to do the same thing to my 1935 Chevrolet standard series Phaeton, with the fuse panel sunk into the floor in a meat loaf size pan.

The guy who wired the car in 1982 used all red wires, that's right all red, beautiful job on running wires but insane to start checking glass fuses.

My 35 roadster under construction will also have the same system under the drivers seat .

mike lynch..........

I used a Rebel Wiring harness for my '37 Ford.

http://www.rebelwire.com/

Wonderful harness, top quality wire and ever wire was labeled every 6" so you couldn't screw it up.

I see the Filing Station has original style wiring harnesses for the '33, cloth braided, for '33 cars. They aren't cheap.

Doug

NOTHING on these old cars is cheap. The price of our cars has dropped significantly down , and one might not get the cost of restoration back if forced to sell, due to circumstances.

A lot of stuff went under the hammer at Barrett Jackson this weekend , at costs where you could NOT hope to restore the car for what its selling for.

If you put a car into auction with them or anybody else, if you do not have a reasonable reserve , you can easily get skinned alive. Better to lose the entry fee than let a car go as a steal.

Parts, sometimes you have to bite the bullet as they say and pay the piper, when it comes to certain items.

How much is that cloth covered wiring harness ??

mike.....

In order to save cost I painted my cloth covered wire with clear oil base poly-seal Helmsman. It keeps the cloth and rubber together. The wires are color coded. These have a tracer color woven into the cloth if you look closely.

Removing the front seats is a must for working under the dash. Laying on the floor and toe board is way easier than hanging upside down 1/2 way on the seat.

$545, IIRC for an original style harness for a dual horn car. Add about $300 if you want to add turn signals to the car. At least the $300 included a black or chrome plated , strap to the column, switch. :P

Doug

that seems stiff in price. My ron francis kit was purchased for less than that.

But you want to keep it a high point resto, so either make a new harness yourself or step up to cash register.

mike

I rerouted the offending wires and tidied up a little under the dash. It could still use some work, but...

Anyway, someone put an #8-32 fully threaded machine screw through the cowl vent lever, instead of shoulder bolt; that screw had a very high coefficient of friction and was never going to let the lever slide on that spring loaded detent lever, so i made a 7/16" long sleeve out of some .218" drill rod by boring a .160" hole through it on the lathe and installed that sleeve on the machine screw so it acts as a roller.

The vent work fine, now.

Doug

[b][/b]YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH.!!!!!!!!!!!!

Another solution is found, because some member of the mickey mouse club was at it, again.

Hard part is actually getting under there among the spaghetti wire jungle and seeing properly what your trying to view.

Nothing like hanging upside down or twisted pretzel like on the floor for a few hours.

fun EH ?

mike lynch

I would sooner be working under the dash of a 33 than most modern cars. I am a touch over 6ft which makes it rather difficult to fit into the matchbox sized space under the dash in the modern cars.
Tony