I'll join the ranks and say keep it. I also have the side vent on my 49 and it sure is nice to have that cool air. Most are covered with something but heat still gets thru. I saw one on a truck and someone had lettered "GM Factory Air" on the screen. I read somewhere that there were originally 74 holes in the firewall for various hoses, wires and such. I used a piece of heater hose on the vent drain and carried it thru to the ground. If you do that run the hose thru the firewall hole and it will line up almost exactly with the spout.
