Over the past weekend, I had a chance to work on my '66 coupe. It's a Metuchen car, built in December 1965. The car has been in the family since my dad bought it with 11k miles in 1968, so I know what has and hasn't been done to the car.
Dad always complained that the driver's side fresh air vent under the dash would freeze you in the winter, even when it was completely closed. Dad's older brother bought the car in the mid-70s, and also complained of the same thing; in fact, he finally stuffed rags up in the vent to seal it off.
Fast forward to last weekend. I was up under the dash working on the pedal support, and I quickly found the problem: The fresh air vent was installed sideways at the factory! Two of the three retainer nuts were installed, and the third one was left off since the vent being cocked sideways meant that the mounting stud didn't protrude far enough through the vent. The vent assembly should pull up flush to the bottom of the cowl, but there was a good 1/4-inch gap between the bottom of the cowl and the fresh air vent. The vent was in effect always open.
After 45+ years of that vent freezing everyone during the winter, I finally went back and fixed it properly. While I had it out, though, I noticed that the vent appears to be bent. It almost looks as if one side has been knocked almost flat. Could this have been done at the factory, or was it something that occurred after the fact? I even thought that maybe the vent was made that way.
