Cowl Vent Gasket

[48Windsor]

I just got a cowl vent gasket from Roberts. A great ordering experience by the way. I mistakenly ordered a part I didn't need. Contacted him and he corrected the order for me without a hitch. No shipping parts back and forth, etc. A rare experience in this day and age. 

Anyway, the gasket has a ridge on one side of it. The old gasket is gone so I'm trying to figure out if the ridge goes up or down. I assume it goes on the top.

Thanks for any insight. 

[Norm Knowles]

I also need one of these for my 48 Dodge.  Could you give me "Roberts" address so I can order one.  Thanks.  I am not sure because mine is really worn (original) but what is there shows that your assumption is correct. 

[greg g]

Just looked at mine.  The gasket smooth side is up,the ridge goes to the inside of the pinch weld.  I needed a bit of weather strip adhesive.  If l recall lput it in place,taped it down, and closed the vent while the adhesive set.

[mmcdowel]

https://www.robertsmotorparts.com/cars

[48Windsor]

Thanks all. Looks like mmcdowel provided the address.

Tom B

[Pete]

On my '39 Plymouth the rounded side of the gasket goes down.

 

BTW, I first order a cowl vent gasket from Steele Rubber. The fit was awful. I then ordered one from either Roberts or Bernbaum and it fit nicely. 

 

Pete

 

 

[48Windsor]

Thanks Pete, I was nosing around on the cowl seal and found a pic that showed the ridge on the gasket on the top side. 

[Andydodge]

Pete.........a few years ago i ordered a cowl vent seal from Steele Rubber for my 1940 Dodge, it wasn't cheap by the time it arrived here in Oz and it was the wrong size, I emailed & rang them and they treated me like a piece of crap........told me I didn't know what I was talking about.............now I go out of my way to tell people what a shithouse business they are and would not recommend them to my worst enemy..........have had excellent dealings with Bernbaums tho'............regards, andyd 

[49D-24BusCpe]

3 hours ago, Andydodge said:

Pete.........a few years ago i ordered a cowl vent seal from Steele Rubber for my 1940 Dodge, it wasn't cheap by the time it arrived here in Oz and it was the wrong size, I emailed & rang them and they treated me like a piece of crap........told me I didn't know what I was talking about.............now I go out of my way to tell people what a shithouse business they are and would not recommend them to my worst enemy..........have had excellent dealings with Bernbaums tho'............regards, andyd 

 

Andy,

 

    First off, let me say that over several years, I find you to be a very amicable, pleasant and knowledgeable guy!

 

    I have had a number of good experiences with Steele Rubber Products, and found their products to be of excellent quality. Let me give you an example of one interaction I had with them.

   In October of 2013, I ordered some (70-3524-15) tail lamp lens gaskets for my Deluxe Business Coupe. Their catalog showed these to be the proper part for my car, but they were 3/8" too long - they were actually sedan parts. I contacted Mr. Eddie Lail at Steele and told him the problem. I then sent him a used coupe tail lamp bezel, a used coupe tail lamp lens, and used coupe lens gasket. About a week later, Mr. Lail called me, agreeing that there was an issue. In early December of 2013, a Steele Rubber box arrived with my used parts and a brand new (70-3569-15) '46-'48 Dodge Coupe Tail Lamp Gasket set. Also, I noted that their catalog NOW showed the before mentioned 70-3524-15 part to be for '46-'48 Dodge Sedan Tail Lamp Gaskets only! Eddie Lail and Steele quickly resolved this D-24 Dodge problem by bringing out a new gasket part number and correcting their original part number's application. In this case, I thought that they had exhibited prompt, terrific customer support!

 

Walt

[Andydodge]

Walt, I don't doubt that you have had good dealings with Steele, however I ordered the correct part from their paper catalog and what arrived didn't fit, it was way too long and more importantly the cross sectional shape was incorrect also, it was flat on the bottom and would not have fitted into the concave shape that the seal sits into...........this was to fit the Oz 1940 Dodge which uses the exact same cowl vent as the 1941 Plymouth Coupe I had, the Plymouth was a Detroit made factory export RHD assembled in Sth Africa car.........both used the same cowl vent in shape, length, shape of the concave stamping in the actual body etc...........Steele would not listen to any explanation, etc.........I was wrong..........they were right............I had only tried them as Bernbaums I think were out of stock.............I ended up ordering from either Bernbaums or Roberts, can't remember which now and the part that was sent was to suit a 1941 Plymouth(obviously a USA version as thats all thats available)........and guess what......... it fitted perfectly in BOTH cars which indicated that the SAME cowl vent assembly and a USA sourced one at that, for the Oz car was used in both cars............the incorrect seal that Steele sent is still in the plastic bag that it came in, albeit opened and like I said I will go out of my way to badmouth them as often as possible..........this cost me the best part of $60-70 US taking into account postage, etc............me? amicable?..........lol.......nah.......lol........must be those meds working again...........lol..............regards, andyd           

[Dodgeb4ya]

I have had an issue with Steele on a DT rear window rubber  seam that looked bad. They sent me another one immediately.

Good service to me.

[BobT-47P15]

I got mine from Steele Rubber Co at a swap meet.  I think it was something like $38   Looks like they may be up to as much as

50 now.  It fit OK. 

[DrDoctor]

   I’ve used Steele Rubber Products items on several car projects, and have no real serious complaints about them, except that they’re abit pricey, and I’ve also received a few rubber bits that were “gatored” due to sloppy packing. I’ve returned such pieces, and received replacements with no muss nor fuss from them.  I’ve also used rubber items from Mac’s Antique Auto Parts (an Eckler’s company), and also Danchuck’s. Both of those companies have reasonable prices (Mac’s caters to pre- and post-war Fords, and Danchuck’s caters to the tri-five Chevrolets), but since neither of them is Plymouth oriented, be certain what you order is workable for your purpose (but, if it isn’t—it’s returnable . . .). And, before the question gets raised—I don’t have any financial interest, or stock, in any of these companies. This is just my experience—no more/no less. Thx.

[rallyace]

Other than price, I have had no issues with Steele. They always have a large display at the Syracuse Nationals and they have folks that know their products and will take information from you and send you a catalog that is just for parts for your car. I have only ordered from them once but was quite satisfied with the result. AndyDodge, I don't doubt your experiences as when dealing with a big company like Steele, the rep you talk to makes a huge difference in how the deal goes down. When I had my MG, I had a similar experience with the worlds largest British car parts supplier. The rep did not want to know anything about shipping the wrong electrical part (correct part number on box, wrong part in box) and would not accept a return.

[Happy 46R]

Cowl Vent Gasket was next on my list of to do's so I spent some time reviewing the many posts from the last 10 to 12 years about the gaskets and the fit. I had ordered a gasket from Andy Bernbaum and received the cut to fit type with a flat side and a domed side but nothing that indicated a lip. Someone had installed regular gasket material in the tray around the vent and glued it in with a brittle white colored cement product. When I removed the gasket material and the glue I found that the channel for the gasket was actually flat bottomed and not curved at all. Most of what I have read suggests the alternative so I am thinking that perhaps the cowl had been reworked at some point in time perhaps due to rust? Anyway I used a black GE 100% silicone adhesive sealant in the bottom of the tray and formed the cut to length rubber seal around the tray; domed side up. Like others I used some clamps and some clothes pins to hold it in place and trimmed off any excess silicone. Once the sealant was semi dried I put the cowl vent back on and weighted it down onto the seal before attaching the control arms. Once through the car wash the next day and looks like a winner. Photo shows the old gasket material removed and laying beside where it was and the new rubber material glued in place. Thanks for all the great input to help out us newbies.

 

 

[Leo White]

On 3/27/2021 at 3:20 PM, Happy 46R said:

Cowl Vent Gasket was next on my list of to do's so I spent some time reviewing the many posts from the last 10 to 12 years about the gaskets and the fit. I had ordered a gasket from Andy Bernbaum and received the cut to fit type with a flat side and a domed side but nothing that indicated a lip. Someone had installed regular gasket material in the tray around the vent and glued it in with a brittle white colored cement product. When I removed the gasket material and the glue I found that the channel for the gasket was actually flat bottomed and not curved at all. Most of what I have read suggests the alternative so I am thinking that perhaps the cowl had been reworked at some point in time perhaps due to rust? Anyway I used a black GE 100% silicone adhesive sealant in the bottom of the tray and formed the cut to length rubber seal around the tray; domed side up. Like others I used some clamps and some clothes pins to hold it in place and trimmed off any excess silicone. Once the sealant was semi dried I put the cowl vent back on and weighted it down onto the seal before attaching the control arms. Once through the car wash the next day and looks like a winner. Photo shows the old gasket material removed and laying beside where it was and the new rubber material glued in place. Thanks for all the great input to help out us newbies.

 

 

Is this a 52 cranbrook? If so do you have a picture of the lever that opens and closes the vent.  I just replaces my seal and am now having issues trying to get the vent to open and close properly

[Dartgame]

I used a seal from Bernbaum. If I installed it with the flat side up the vent would not close completely and seal. I flipped it over with the doubled lipped side up and it works fine. I used weatherstrip adhesive to install it.

[Dodgeb4ya]

The flared raised lip of the gasket faces up.

It helps assure a tight seal against the cowl vent lid just inward of the rolled bead on said cowl vent lid.

[Happy 46R]

Hello Leo White, thanks for the inquiry. This is on a 46 D25C Club Coupe and no I don't have any photos of the control mechanism. I will certainly try and get a couple tomorrow and post them for you. 

 

Ok Leo here are four photos of the control mechanism. The first shows the bolt head side of the two piece connection. The serrated teeth on each piece are adjustable to set the amount of compression the lower edge of the cowl vent exerts on the rubber gasket in the hood tray.

Edited August 3, 2021 by Happy 46R
updated information

[Happy 46R]

The next photo is the nut side of that same connection. It shows the serrated edge of the bottom piece of the connector.

The photo shows the pivot point of the handle as it feeds through the dash brace to the firewall. Looking closely you can see the controller bolt head from the entry above.

The last photo is the cross bar that connects the pivot arm to the outside edges of the cowl vent itself. There is a small adjustment available on these edges to help exert even pressure on the cowl gasket by the cowl vent. 

 

Hope this helps with your problem.

 

 

 

Edited August 3, 2021 by Happy 46R
Updated Information

[Leo White]

10 minutes ago, Happy 46R said:

The next photo is the nut side of that same connection. It shows the serrated edge of the bottom piece of the connector.

The photo shows the pivot point of the handle as it feeds through the dash brace to the firewall. Looking closely you can see the controller bolt head from the entry above.

The last photo is the cross bar that connects the pivot arm to the outside edges of the cowl vent itself. There is a small adjustment available on these edges to help exert even pressure on the cowl gasket by the cowl vent. 

 

Hope this helps with your problem.

 

 

 

Thank you so much for the pics, this will help me out a lot.  

[Dodgeb4ya]

Lubricate all your cowl vent linkage pivots.

That will make the linkage operate much more smoothly and with less effort too.?

[Happy 46R]

Not sure of the best method however after your post Dodgeb4ya I got my White Lithium squirt can out and lubricated both sides of the pivot on the dash support to the fire wall and all three points on the top cross bar. You are correct in that it makes it way easier to operate. Thank you for the tip, I never thought of that.