How to stop the hot air blowing out of my driver's side footwell??

[wolfturbo]

About one month ago on a whim, I decided to see what would happen if I pulled up on the heater lever in my '73. I'm talking about the lever on the center tunnel right next to the hand throttle.

It worked fine and then I returned it to the down position. One problem however: I have noticed hot air coming into the cabin through a vent located right above my feet on the driver's side. I put my car on a lift to confirm that the cable connected to the flaps on the heat exchangers had not broken. In fact, both flaps are in the open position (with the holes wide open). Unfortunately, on the driver's side only I'm still getting this continuous hot air and it is annoying the ***** out of me (especially here in Orange County where it was 80 degrees today )!

Any ideas out there if there is something else that regulates air flow into the cabin that I should be checking. Many thanks in advance!!

[Gordo2]

Sounds like a stuck flapper box. Mine stick intermittently (like this past fall...). May want to re-check if you get the chance.


Gordo

[pwd72s]

Originally posted by Gordo2
Sounds like a stuck flapper box. Mine stick intermittently (like this past fall...). May want to re-check if you get the chance.


Gordo

I agree...squirted some WD 40 on the flaps, and the problem went away...be sure to squirt some on the pivot point of the flaps...

[wolfturbo]

Is the flapper box different than the circular piece that is connected to the cable that connects to the lever in the cabin (if that makes any sense?)

The round piece that I'm talking about has the 3 open holes when the heater lever is in the "off" position. Thanks!

[Kevin Stewart]

The box may not be your problem, under the dash is a card board tube, look and see if its tore or came loose, this is a big problem with hot feet, the tube is only one inch round, Kevin

[motion]

Sheeeeet wolfturbo.... I wish I could figure out how to get hot air in my cab.. these 40 degree mornings are not good for my ears. Hey, we gotta get together for a beer-tire-kicking session soon.

[targa80]

The gate that should close off the tunnel to the front of car is not fully closed. Where you can see the holes in the flap where the cable connects to you need to WD40 the hinge or put your finger in the hole and push against the flap to close it all the way. I used to get heat in the drivers side on 80 degree days until I lubricated the hinge and closed the flap all the way.

[Gordo2]

If yours is anything like mine, just look for the piece of rusted tin in line with your heater hoses... Gordo

[Jack Olsen]

A quick temporary fix is to go to the affected footwell, and pull back the carpet to reveal the vertical flexible ducting (approx 3 inch diameter) that goes up to the underside of the dash. Unscrew the hose clamp at its base (where it connects to the metal feed tube from the sill area), and lift the flexible tubing enough to insert a round piece of cardboard that's just a little bit bigger than the diameter of the ducting. Then let the flexible ducting uncompress down, and it will hold the cardboard -- that's now blocking all air flow -- in place.

Fix the flapper box at your convenience.