VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 installing cowl vent

Can someone tell me where the spring bracket for the cowl vent adjustment latch gets mounted? All the pictures I take are never enough.

On the original cowl wood for my Phaeton there was a notch for the bracket, only problem was the bracket was not screwed in that notch. :confused:

The spring bracket for the cowl vent linkage is screwed to the bottom side of the instrument panel wood crossbar, directly in line with the cowl vent linkage. :cool2:

Thanks for the advice on the spring bracket. I can see with some careful repositioning of the wires how it would work.The bracket and spring however , only have a normal drop of 2 1/2 ", and 4" is required to reach the tensioning latch. I'm thinking of replacing that spring with something longer or softer so as not to pull the screws out of the wood.

How long is your existing spring? The correct spring should have a free length of 2 3/4".

Hey Skipper! Where did you come up with a free length?

I measured an original spring.

Cool! I need that information. Can you tell me the wire size and OD of the coil? Also what kind of hooks? :p :p

The wire size is .075". The spring has two hook ends and 20 coils. The O.D. of the spring is 1/2".

JYD-This site is really great, I would be in trouble without it. The spring that was in there was about 2 1/4" and very stiff. I did replace it with a softer one about 2 3/4" and it works fine. My next problem is where to run the armor covered wiring harness through the body to the tail light bracket. Is it posible that when I welded in :confused: :confused: new body panels (before putting this project to rest for the winter)I didn't notice a hole? By the way I went through all the G & D mags for the past few years and there are no revealing :confused: pictures. :confused: :confused: :confused:

The gas gage, tail light wires run along the drivers side inner frame not inside the body. There are holes for the stove bolts and wire clips.

Also, the tail light reinforcement bracket that mounts inside of the rear fender has a raised area for the tail light wires to pass through into the tail light arm.

There is a hole in the chassis through which I can run the wires to tail light arm. But, what about the armored covering, it's slightly too large to go through the chassis. I could enlarge the hole if this is where it's suppose to be? :rolleyes:

There is no armored (metal) covering. The wire is covered by a woven cloth loom. The armored covering was used in 1929 and 1930 on the tail light since the wiring harness was exposed.

Also, the wiring to the tail light does not go through a hole in the frame. It bends under the lower frame rail and then goes to the tail light support bracket inside of the rear fender. :eek: :eek: :eek:

Hey Skipper!

I have a problem with that last post! I've looked at Bill Barkers 31 coupe and it has a SS conduit on the tail light wiring. Also Bill Barlage 32 Phaeton has the SS Conduit! I have the original wiring from my Cabriolet, I'm going to look at it later when I can find it.

I don't. Ya can't argue with the factory stock Charlotte Mae the 1932 Chevrolet. You've seen her Brucie........and she is totally all original........and there is no SS conduit on her tail light wires...never was. Besides, the way that the wire is routed there is no room for the SS conduit anyway. Also checked my original cabriolet........same thing.......no SS conduit. I also have a new old stock wiring harness as well and it also has a wiring loom for the tail light wires, and not a SS conduit. Besides, inside of the rear fender is a wiring loom bracket. It mounts to the bottom fender bolt against the body of the car. It is specifically made to hold and route the tail light wires to the tail light arm reinforcing bracket from under the bottom frame rail. The bracket is about an inch wide and it has a tunnel about an inch long for the tail light wires to go through. The tunnel ID is made for the woven wire loom, but the ID isn't big enough for an SS conduit. Because of the location of this bracket, there wouldn't be enough exposed wire to warrant an SS conduit and the conduit would have to be in two short pieces if it was used in conjunction with this wiring loom tunnel bracket.

Remember also, that both of these cars are from the Oakland factory and as we both know different factories did different things, and cars have also been known to vary within the same factory as well.

Maybe we could get Bill Barker to take a picture for us? I'll see about scanning the picture that I have. Just one more mystery that the chat page will solve!

Humm.......there ain't no mystery on my end since I'm looking at a factory application. Anyway, get a photo of an original car if you can, not a restored car. If I had a digital camera I would take a photo of my original car and after you see the factory routing of the wire harness and the loom bracket you would understand why there is no SS conduit in this application on my car and why there can't be on this routing application. Now, if the loom bracket was missing, and the harness was routed differently, then a SS conduit could be installed with no problem.

Thanks JYD for that info. I wondered about it myself. My 32 SC had a wire loom around the wires. The loom was in threads when I got the car, and covered in dirt. I found a SS conduit from Harley Davidson and it fits thru the hole in the frame, and in the bracket. I have to paint the fenders soon so I can change it to a woven loom. The SS looks cool, but thanks for the info.

That explains it. My replacement fenders do not have that tunnel. I'll do the best I can and maybe someday fabricate something. Thanks to all. :arrow: :arrow:

p.s., one last question ( I hope ) regarding the wiring harness. Where does it pass through the fire wall, from behind the dash to the chassis? I thought I had it figured out but when I went to install the free wheeling cable there were no more holes. :(

The wiring harness comes up on the inside face of the cowl on the driver's side. It is held in place on the side of the cowl by loom clips. It then goes up inside of the cowl at the top of the toe board, between the steering column and the left side of the cowl, under the instrument panel, on the face of the cowl insulation mat. Again, the harness is held in place with loom clips.

THANKS AGAIN

You bet and good luck!

At least some 1931 models came with armoured tail light wires. It was not SS but zinc plated or galvanized steel the same type as '29-30. I believe that you can get the same type and size (two wire) from Rhode Island Wiring Services or from Y&Z in Redlands, CA.