55 F100 cowl vent install

[flyboy71]

Ok so I had this discussion with a co-worker about the idea of closing the cowl vents on my project and the idea hit me about having a door I can open and close to keep all the water and junk out of the cowl. Lo and behold, he brings a section of his scrap '55 cowl in to work for me to have to see if I can make it work somehow. Its a bit larger than it needs to be both width and length but Im toying with the idea of grafting it into my cab. It really cant be centered easily because the passengers side wiper gets in the way. I'll be spending a lot of quality time in the garage staring at this for a while.

[fordamericana]

You could make the vent a bit smaller to accommodate for the position of the wiper, and that would still allow you to center it... Are you going to seal up the remaining slots across the cowl?

[flyboy71]

Yeah I would need to modify the size of it to fit and maybe the shape a bit. I would seal the cowl vents that would be left after the install. Im not quite sure how much air would get in with this vent alone since Ive never ridden in a 50s F100 but Im told the cab gets pretty windy. I may not even try this but it was given to me and im intrigued.

[fordamericana]

It would definitely be different!

[hazelnut]

It would be one of a kind if it was on your truck. Instead of making the air come inside the cab you could use it to have Ram Air on your truck Would give you a few extra ponys plus the air going into the engine would be a lot cooler. To center it i was thinking that you could move the passenger arm to the outside like the drivers and make the actuating arm longer to reach and maybe turn over the wiper arm lever so it gos backwards. When the wipers were off they would both be to the center. Just a thought But ive got to be honest with you, I like it and im trying to talk you into it

[Zorm]

that would be cool if you can get it to work with too much modifying. I would agree, make it a little smaller, cut out like an inch or two and with a little creative ducting, you could pull some air off for the engine...hummm

[cdeal28078]

It would be one of a kind if it was on your truck. Instead of making the air come inside the cab you could use it to have Ram Air on your truck Would give you a few extra ponys plus the air going into the engine would be a lot cooler. To center it i was thinking that you could move the passenger arm to the outside like the drivers and make the actuating arm longer to reach and maybe turn over the wiper arm lever so it gos backwards. When the wipers were off they would both be to the center. Just a thought But ive got to be honest with you, I like it and im trying to talk you into it

That is what I first thought of when I saw it Hazelnut, Ram air for the carb. I always liked the way that vent looked on the 50 F1's and think it is a cool idea on a bump. Looking forward to seeing the finished product
clint
What car had something like that?An LS6 Chevelle?

[flyboy71]

Im still sizing it up to see how I can make it work. I know that moving the passengers side wiper over would be a task so if I do chop it down it would need to be 14" to center it. Im not sure how much air that would catch. Another idea for cowl air is to move it to the rear of the hood and right angle duct it in when the hood is closed. I'll keep staring at this some more. I think it would be cool. If I end up doing it Ill make the open-close mechanism out of a power seat gear drive instead of a lever and have it actuate when the heater controls are set to bring in outside air.

[flyboy71]

I made a little progress but only to get this assembly down to where I can size it up better. I can either let it extend beyond the cowl and section the hood to clear it or try to make it narrow to fit. The other thing is its 4" too wide that if I used it the way it is I would need to relocate the passenger side wiper.

[FORDification]

I like the way you're thinking, but don't limit yourself to that one. Those kinds of fresh-air inlet scoops were used on a multitude of vehicles. I think the ones used in the '50s-era Jeeps might work better, since they're a bit more compact and would fit between the wipers without a lot of unnecessary modification of the scoop just to make it fit.

[foghorn]

Like keith said lots of the older cars and trucks used this type of fresh air intake. You see a lot of them on older like the 30-40's my father in laws 47 chevy even has one.




Foggy

[flyboy71]

Anyone have an old cab or car body they can hack one out of? I agree I need something smaller but it was free too. There were 6 layers of paint on the thing though.

[Mancar1]

When you do get it done it will look great. The old 50's Ford had a good vent airflow. I agree that you could find a junk yard smaller one. I will keep an eye out for one for ya.

[flyboy71]

I managed to section the piece and narrow it to fit in the center without moving the wiper. I ended up taking 4 inches out total but I would think a 15" wide vent will pull in plenty of air. Now I need to finish it, clean it up and weld it in place.

[foghorn]

Looks like from the pic that its still gonna over hang into the hood area. You might have to do a 4 section mod like they do for chopping a roof on a car or truck. This is just a thought you know more about what you got going there than i do. Im putting ideas out to you so to speak.




Foggy