Cowl vent issue

[Sniper]

I looked thru the tech info and searched the posts trying to figure this out to no success.

 

My cowl vent was not working properly, would barely open.  So I dug into it.  Found that almost all the bolts were loose so I tightened things up.  All that did was make it virtually not work at all.

 

I think the problem is that brackets the vent itself bolts to, circled in red in pic, are not pivoting.  The service manual was not helpful nor was the parts book.  I think those brackets are supposed to pivot but when I try to move them by hand nothing, they are solid and what is flexing is the brace those brackets are attached to and that is spot welded to the bottom of the cowl.  I do not want to break those welds.  I put some Kroil on them in hopes that it will loosen up.  But the question I have is this, are those brackets supposed to pivot?  I don't want to try to force them to if they aren't supposed and the lubrication chart doesn't mention them. 

[Dodgeb4ya]

Yes they pivot.

A common problem as no one ever lubes any of the cowl linkage.

Spend the day carefully trying to free them up.

Cowl vents work very easily when correctly adjusted and lubed.

[Sniper]

I''ve had a couple other Mopars over the years with cowl vents, none in as nice a shape as the 51, but those actually worked properly.  Thansk for the info, just went out to try to move them after setting overnight, no luck.  Will hit them with some more Kroil and wait.

[Dodgeb4ya]

Yeah.. 

They can get froze up real good!

Ballistol is another great product.

I use it on frozen heat risers.

[Doug&Deb]

Remember the service manual was written when the car was new. I don’t think they envisioned lunatics like us driving them 70 years later. Keep oiling the parts and be patient, they’ll free up.

[Sniper]

Well, the manual mentions oiling the wiper pivots and that is in the area.  I couldn't find my can of Kroil and my precision oiling bottle is too empty to put more on so I bought some CRC Freeze Off and got the pass side one freed up.  The driver's side though is being stubborn.  I'll let it soak overnight and try tomorrow.  Thanks for all the help folks.

[RobertKB]

Once you free the pivots up and oil them it is worth lubricating every other moving part. I find white grease works well and spread it thinly on parts that move against each other and there are lots of those. Just go under the dash with a light and see where parts move when opening and shutting the vent and apply grease as needed. My three old Mopars with cowl vents all have them working very smoothly. 

[Sniper]

Roger that, I ended up cleaning all the old gunk off the parts and will get some Lubriplate from NAPA.

[Andydodge]

If you can try and lightly tap the pivot area which may loosen some of the crud & rust, once they are moving even a little they should work free as the pivot is not of such a fine tolerance like a bearing or similar, as the tolerance in the hinge is pretty wide it allows water etc to fine a home and rust starts, keep at it....any sort of oil, WD40 etc will help.............andyd   

[MikeMalibu]

I had to use a torch and PB Blaster over several days to free up the hinges

[Sniper]

Thanks for all the help, I ended up getting my heat gun on it and I was able to get it to move.  Once that happened I worked it completely free.  Cleaned everything up, but some white lithium grease on all the pivoting and sliding parts, replaced missing hardware adn tightened everything up.  I now have a smoothly functioning cowl vent.  One more thing off the to do list.

[RobertKB]

Glad it all worked out. Persistence combined with good advice always pay off. 

[Frank Elder]

1 hour ago, Sniper said:

Thanks for all the help, I ended up getting my heat gun on it and I was able to get it to move.  Once that happened I worked it completely free.  Cleaned everything up, but some white lithium grease on all the pivoting and sliding parts, replaced missing hardware adn tightened everything up.  I now have a smoothly functioning cowl vent.  One more thing off the to do list.

Thank you for giving us a follow up on your problem, a lot of threads ask for help and then never tell us what worked....I’m so glad that your vent is freed up and working, it’s the little things on these cars that are frustrating.?

[RobertKB]

55 minutes ago, Frank Elder said:

Thank you for giving us a follow up on your problem, a lot of threads ask for help and then never tell us what worked.

 

Ditto. I totally agree.

[Andydodge]

Ah!!.........factory air conditioning of the most pure kind..........lol.........good to hear that it worked out.........andyd