Pine needles in the cowl.....

[Greg72]

I hate pine trees.

I seem to spend my life cursing the sticky sap that winds up on my truck, and the pine needles that find their way into every crevice of the truck.

The current problem is that the cowl has a SIGNIFICANT amount of needles in it, and with the recent rains they will be moving to wherever that cowl drain leads..... at which point, I'm sure they will become impacted and help get the rust going for me.

QUESTION: Is it possible to clean the cowl drain by removing those kickpanel fresh-air flaps on the inside of the cab? Just reach in there to pull out the gunk is what I'm thinking. From the looks of the cowl shape, that's the area where they lead to.

Getting ready to put Trogdor away for the winter.....fresh coat of wax, fuel stabilizer and ideally NO wet debris to allow for the rust to start.

 

[Burt4x4]

I ASSume you removed the cowl from under your wipers and tried cleaning it that way? When I remove my front clip I was able to clean\vacum out the area..??

 

[Greg72]

I was trying not to unbolt my truck to clean it.....but I guess I will if I have to. Probably should finally break down and buy a proper windshield wiper puller too so I don't scratch the paint and bugger up the wipers like I do when I pry them off with a screwdriver!

 

[Yukon Jack]

When I got my K5 going after it had sat for about 7-9 years it had tons of stuff in the air vents. I opened them up and got my shop vac hose in there and it did get a lot of crap out. If you had a flexible hose it would get alot more I'm sure. Not sure how much you could get out by hand given the akward position you will be in.

 

[Greg72]

So far I've had 3 removed near the driveway......2 more need to go in the front, and about 10 more around the property in other spots.

 

[bigblock72]

All of the debris does end up in the duct right below the vent in the kick panel. It's easy enough to remove the vent flap and vacuum the crud out with a shop vac and wipe out the remainder with a wrag.

You may want to consider removing the cowl and epoxying a piece of screen to the under side of the cowl to keep that crap out of the cab.

 

[vtblazer]

To answer your question, yes you can pull the crap out through the vents.

Here's a pic of the outer portion of the cowl if wanna see it, you can tell it all drains to the interior.

If you ever tear your truck down to this being exposed, take a screw driver and pry to outer skin open between the spot welds, this allows the water to drain out instead of sitting and causing rust.

 

[Greg72]

Kurt,

Yep, I'm looking at the "Panel" now with no front clip on it so I see what you mean.

I am at a loss why the cowl even has these boxes to begin with? Presumably, to create a compartment to then pressurize air that will flow into those interior kickpanel "flaps" for ventilation....but honestly, I never use those. Does ANYONE?

My temptation is to cut out the ENTIRE bottom of that plenum to keep the junk from accumulating, and on the Blazer at least....maybe just weld up those flap vents too.

Is there any other reason not to...????? Could this in some way affect the defroster, by keeping a certain amount of outside air from moving to the inside of the cab?

 

[BobK]

Greg,
I know on the A/C trucks the flaps automatically close and take air in from inside the truck when the vent lever is pulled to the "A/C" or "Inside".
Although the drivers needs to be pulled by the driver.

If you don't have A/C and don't mind not haveing the minimal ventiliation those vents provide I'd say weld them up.

The fan does suck air from the passenger side plenum though.
see the round hole in this pic.

So blocking off that portion from above would yield no air flow and then if your window fogs up your kinda screwed.

 

[BUDDY]

Could you relocate the intake hole to somewhere else?

Just a thought.

Later,
Buddy

 

[bp71k5]

When I pulled my fenders, I found a small drain vent in that area so the water can drain out instead of going into the cab. It's hard to see but it's just a lip between the sheet metal welds. You can probably add another hole in that area, but damp leaves will still cause a problem. Don't they sell screens that go under the cowl to prevent leaves and junk from entering?

 

[mcne2026]

I have seen the screens for sale at LMC and the other restoration companies. They actually add a nice look to the cowl. The ones I have seen were nice and polished.

 

[Greg72]

Greg,
I know on the A/C trucks the flaps automatically close and take air in from inside the truck when the vent lever is pulled to the "A/C" or "Inside".
Although the drivers needs to be pulled by the driver.

If you don't have A/C and don't mind not haveing the minimal ventiliation those vents provide I'd say weld them up.

The fan does suck air from the passenger side plenum though.
see the round hole in this pic.

So blocking off that portion from above would yield no air flow and then if your window fogs up your kinda screwed.

Perhaps it's an unfair question....but I'll ask anyway.

When you go with an aftermarket A/C setup like VintageAir, the entire system is contained inside the cab (no fresh air from the firewall or cowl...AFAIK). In fact, part of the selling feature of the system is for the ability to remove all that stuff from the firewall to give it a cleaner look.

Your comments make me wonder though....when you actually DO want fresh air to keep the windows from fogging up, how do the aftermarket systems get it????

 

[BobK]

Well I know on Newer cars the A/C runs when it's set to defrost(all air to front window).The A/C dehumidifies the air.
So anytime the selctor is set to defrost the a/c compressor engages(summer or winter).

I'll bet that is how those after market units are set up.

If in fact they only draw air from the interior,the A/C engages on to help dehumidify the air,regaurdless of the temp setting.

My best guess anyway

 

[cegusman]

Just pour some gas down there, light it and it will be the end of those pesky pine needles.

 

[BARRAZA]

....when you actually DO want fresh air to keep the windows from fogging up, how do the aftermarket systems get it????

You don't get any fresh air, which in my opinion is the big problem with aftermarket systems. I have a vintage air system and wish I rebuilt the factory setup. A well setup factory system is hands down better than an aftermarket. All you get with the vintage air system is recirculated heat and recirculated a/c.

 

[Greg72]

You don't get any fresh air, which in my opinion is the big problem with aftermarket systems. I have a vintage air system and wish I rebuilt the factory setup. A well setup factory system is hands down better than an aftermarket. All you get with the vintage air system is recirculated heat and recirculated a/c.

Do you have any photos of how the VintageAir system looks? I downloaded the installation instructions but it's only illustrations...

From what I can see, it looks to be a long enclosure (much like the factory plenum) but the squirrelcage is at the end of the box and is positioned in a more horizontal plane with the inlet air coming in directly from above (recycled interior air).

I wonder if there's a way to build a flexible duct that could connect to that inlet and then draw exterior air....maybe from the original factory hole in the firewall????

 

[BobK]

I wonder if there's a way to build a flexible duct that could connect to that inlet and then draw exterior air....maybe from the original factory hole in the firewall????

Maybe some kind of flapper/divertor could be incorporated enabling you to select fresh or in-cab air...if you want that option of course.

 

[3 on the tree]

When I installed a new heater core in my 70, I pulled the pass vent door and blasted it with 120psi air, BEFORE I put the new core in. Just kept blasting till nothing came out. What I got out was mouse nests and dead mice. My cat was VERY appreciative.