The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Stock heater louvers

All,
My truck is far from stock and does not have the factory heater, what im askin is for idear's on blockin off the louvers on the passenger side.
has anyone done this an HOW DID YA???...without water being held and rotting out the area?
any ideas will be great!
thanks
Tim

I have left mine in and will drill weep holds to drain what little moisture gets in there. However I am open to closing it up as I am just finishing up the body work to paint and now is the time if I want to do it.

well im all painted up an never thought of that open louver ...well now it is haunting me...if i just block it off witha plate or even glue a pc. of plastic on the inside i know its will hold water somewhere an cause rot....DAM I SHOULDA CUT OUT ..an patched it like the old fuel fill hole!

Those are all good suggestions. Since I have an aftermarket box heater this is what I thought I would do. Go to the local hobby store and buy several packages of sculpty. It is a kind of synthic clay. Make a backing board, mash all of the sculpty together and then mash it into the louvers. Carefully pull the contraption out smooth the rough spots, then bake the sculpty. Now you have a mold of the louvers. I plan to push the sculpty in untill is just stands proud of the outside of the louvers. Once baked I will grind, file, sand the sculpty. Then coat the sculpty with vasilene. mix up some plaster of paris, and make a positive mold. Then coat the mold with grease or mold release, and fill with black silicon. You can put a backer of some sort on the silicon while wet to mount it in the proper place. That is my explanation, here is is my logic. once done and in place the silicon will act as a plug in the louvers, being slightly oversize it will fit very tight, and using black will make it appear to be un filled original. I know it is complicated, but if you or I find a great deal on a fresh air heater then it isn't a chore to pull the plug and install the heater. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Thanks for the Suggestions Gents!..
Lotts to PONDER...but I now have a direction to go

I don't think most of us will live long enough to see them rust out again.