The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Driver side cowl vent, How does it attach?

The driver side cowl vent hinge looks like it is spot welded. This hinge on my ’47 was seized when I got it over 20 years ago and the spot welds gave way when I strong armed the vent handle. I could kind of wedge it shut or have it open when needed. I recently had my truck in a shop where they dismantled it. I’m putting it back together and don’t see how or where the hinge attaches to the truck. It attaches somewhere inside between the kick panel and the cowl. How do I attach it? Do I need to remove the kick panel? I did get a copy of the FAM, but this is not in there.

There is a bracket that spot welds to the cowl on the inside, see the pic.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8129104279/in/album-72157631867396207/
If this has been broken loose while not attached to the vent it will drop into the fender. You could fabricate a bracket but short of welding it back in I don’t think adhesives will work due to the leverage/force applied to it. As far as I know the bracket is not reproduced, broken off, missing brackets are common as it is only held by pressure and two spot welds.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/12647382934/in/album-72157641244124604/
The 2 screw heads you see in this view belong to about 1/2” long bolts that go through the bracket above.
Here is the entire assembly (early ‘49) showing the 4 Stove bolts and all the parts. Yours may not look exactly like this as there are 4-5 different hardware versions depending on year.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/8129342725/in/album-72157631868452754/

Thanks for the reply! I think I saw that first pic in your build post when I started searching for an answer. So it spot welds to the cowl, no way to bolt it on and the kick panel or cowl needs to be removed to get it attached. That sounds like quite a task.

If a guy had "just" the right shape electrodes on a spot welder, the bracket could be zapped back on. Otherwise, clamp it in place using the broken spot welds for position, drill a couple holes in the cowl and plug weld it back on. I think it would be possible, although alignment might be touchy.

Alignment is my biggest concern, so having the vent door closed will take care of that. I might learn how to plug weld with this, or get a spot welder. I do not want to open up the area, the sheet metal is in good condition.

I found the bracket down in that body cavity. There are alignment holes in the cowl, and the bracket is embossed. It should be easy enough to clamp it in place and hit it with the Gmaw.

I decided to document the bracket before installing in case anyone needs to make one. I clamped the bracket in place using the alignment marks. Welded a spot at each end, there’s not much room to get at it.

I just posted an issue with this same part. See post 1948 Chevy Truck Vent. See photos in the post. The issue I have is defining the proper angular alignment of the that hinge support. In your case I see that the door channel is missing, I would suggest locally making a part of the channel that is longer than the hinge, weld the new channel portion and then spot weld the hinge onto it. On second thought you you may be able to spot weld the hinge to the new channel and then weld the channel in. By the way I’ve replaced the screws with hex bolts. Also if go to YouTube you can find Carter Auto restyling video but he does the repair on the bench not on installed vent door.

I forgot to follow up on this, maybe it will help Tex.
In the picture I posted of the welded on bracket you can see that part of the door channel at the top of the bracket melted away.
After painting my truck I installed the side cowl vent door. The welds interfered with the hinge so I ground for clearance. The force of the spring tension easily overcame the strength of the welds.
It seems the thick metal bracket welded to the thin body sheet metal is a poor design here.
I made a mounting template based on the angles of the bracket to align the bracket to the opening.
I used a combination of 2 long bolts(cut to length) through the kick panel held in place with nuts/lockwashers and a couple Chicago rivets through the cowl vent channel.
That still didn’t get the door perfectly aligned, it wasn’t closing flush. After I attached the handle that helped. There are only two positions, open and closed. I’m not sure if there is a detent in the handle, but it closes nice and tight now.

My side vent will stay at whatever angle you want between full open and full close. I can't remember if there are detents or if it is just a tight friction fit. Truck is not at home so I can't check now.

There is only open and closed. If the hinges are lubricated and operating freely, the springs will go to the extremes. Open or closed. Very important to keep the hinge points lubed up regular. When it gets stuck closed, a good time is not had by anyone. Scraped knuckles and damaged parts soon to follow.

I like being able to open my vent a little or a lot to control the airflow. I figured that was the way it was supposed to be.