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I removed my deck lid vent covers last night for paint removal/prep.
From what I read, they drain over the spare tire compartment. When we prepped the underside of our car, there was a TON of polar white paint on the spare tire compartment, so we stripped it and restored the spare tire compartment. It looks amazing and I do not want to recover it with over spray, EVEN if that is how it was done in St. Louis.
So my question is, when we paint the car this time around, can I just stuff something down in the drain area to prevent all that over spray from ending up under the car again?
Hi c1n,
There's enough of a fiberglass 'lip' that the grills sit against that you can use strips of tape to completely block off the opening from body color getting through. You could tape from the topside or underside.
The sides of the opening were body color but the surface the grills sit on could be blacked-out.
Regards,
Alan
71 Coupes without a/c have plenums under the grills.
So my question is, when we paint the car this time around, can I just stuff something down in the drain area to prevent all that over spray from ending up under the car again?
Short of pouring paint directly into the rear plenum drain, I don't see how any over spray could reach the tire tub, from the rear deck vent drains.
Each vent has a single 1 1/2" diameter drain hose, with a tight 90 degree bend, and a metal cover at the end of the drain, with just a small opening. I can't see how any over spray would go past the bend in the hose. Without the hose in place, over spray would end up in the rear storage compartment.
If you had a "TON" of over spray on your spare tire tub, I'd have to think that it came from somewhere else.
Below is the installation of the drains, as well as the drain hoses and covers.
Hi gb,
Am I right in thinking that at least some time (early) convertible cars didn't have the plenums/drains, so you could see the ground when you looked through the vents?
Regards,
Alan
Hi c1n,
There's enough of a fiberglass 'lip' that the grills sit against that you can use strips of tape to completely block off the opening from body color getting through. You could tape from the topside or underside.
The sides of the opening were body color but the surface the grills sit on could be blacked-out.
Regards,
Alan
71 Coupes without a/c have plenums under the grills.
Seriously Alan, I do not think I could open a thread question that you won't have the perfect answer to, including pictures!
I think "Bubba" did pour polar white paint down the vent slots. The entire opening is white, the screws are white, the opening down to the drains is white, EVERYTHING. But that does not shock me. There is over spray on everything. They didn't even take the time to remove emblems or cover up tail lights or the license tag light. I will do my best to make mine look as fantastic as your pictures!
Once again sir, my hats off to you for your awesomeness!!!
Last edited by c1nicole; Mar 18, 2017 at 03:39 PM.
Hi gb,
Am I right in thinking that at least some time (early) convertible cars didn't have the plenums/drains, so you could see the ground when you looked through the vents?
Regards,
Alan
The drain hoses were eliminated from convertible bodies, starting in 71. 68-70 convertibles used the drain hoses pictured above.
Even without the drain hoses, I don't see how a "TON" of over spray, to use the OP's words, could get through two 1 1/2" diameter holes? Besides, wouldn't any over spray that did go through the holes, likely be covered by black over spray, after blacking out the rear plenum?
The over spray on the OP's spare tire tub, wouldn't have been there from the factory. Since the bodies were painted separate from the frame, I'd guess the over spray on the OP's spare tire tub, was likely the result of something a previous owner did.
Forgive my silly questions, what was the purpose of these vents?
Those vents were for "Astro Ventilation." They allowed for air to circulate through out the car when the vents are opened. They were blocked off on AC Cars.
Tooch
Nicole,
I'm going to do a little police work here.
When you drop the spare tire upper cover is a white outline like someone sprayed from above ie.... two squares?
Or are we talking about over spray shot on it?
It could have got hit while removed during paint.
it sounds like they painted over the bugs and everything else.
We have shops like that here with "tail light" warranties
It probably got hit while out on the shop floor as it sounds like the previous shop was sloppy.
Really... sprayed over the emblems?
They could have at least put Vaseline on them.
Some should not have a paint gun in their hand
Marshal
Those vents were for "Astro Ventilation." They allowed for air to circulate through out the car when the vents are opened. They were blocked off on AC Cars.
Tooch
Quite true. I can see pavement when I look straight down through mine.
Hi c1n,
Those rear vents are vacuum operated.
The Hot/Cold wheel on the right side of the heater/defroster controller operates the vents.
Cold setting… vents open
Hot setting… vents closed.
A single vacuum line runs toward the rear of the car on the top, and then side, of the transmission tunnel.
The vent was closed when the heater was operating so the air in the car was warmed.
At least in some years the blower motor was operating at low even when the switch on the controller was turned to off.
The Astro System was developed to allow fresh air to flow through the car with the windows closed. The system took the place of 'vent' windows which ended in 67 production.
Regards,
Alan
Forgive my silly questions, what was the purpose of these vents?
Air flow enters through the cowl vent near the wiper door.... comes into the cabin through the kick panel vents, then flows out throught the flapper doors on the rear plenum, and out through the rear deck vents. These were on NON-AC cars. Cool, huh?
Nicole,
I'm going to do a little police work here.
When you drop the spare tire upper cover is a white outline like someone sprayed from above ie.... two squares?
Or are we talking about over spray shot on it?
It could have got hit while removed during paint.
it sounds like they painted over the bugs and everything else.
We have shops like that here with "tail light" warranties
It probably got hit while out on the shop floor as it sounds like the previous shop was sloppy.
Really... sprayed over the emblems?
They could have at least put Vaseline on them.
Some should not have a paint gun in their hand
Marshal
Marshal,
Wish I had had a picture BEFORE I had the spare tire compartment half stripped. When I say "over spray" that is an understatement.
Not the best picture, but way better than covered in white. Painted the fiberglass with John Deere BlitzBlack and the metal support Semigloss Krylon. 10 X better than what we started with.
When you look in the vents on my 75 convertible AC car, you can see the ground without the spare tire carrier. There is no plenum. There are block off plates on the back of the body.
Hi,
Doesn't the position of the rear bulkhead in the interior determine if you can see the ground or not?
Didn't the bullhead 'move' at some point? ( Very DUMB about convertible bodies!).
GTO's photo clearly shows the plenum is on the interior side of the rear bulkhead, to be able to see the ground the plenum has to be on the exterior side of that bulkhead.
The GRILLS didn't move, the BULKHEAD did.
There was a thread about this not that long ago but I'm unable to remember the details that were explained.
Regards,
Alan
Convertible with plenum on interior side of rear bulkhead.
An a/c car because plenum is blocked off.
Still needs drain hoses though or plenums would drain into the rear compartment.
It sounds like your car as been repainted in the past. The spare tire carrier was not installed in the body at the time the body was painted at St. Louis, so it would have had no white over spray. Absence of blackout beneath the deck vents and over spray around trim items and lights also suggests a repaint.
Deck Lid Vents 68'
