I have a 72 Cutlass S which came factory with A/C, however the previous owner removed the unit and blanked off the opening. I have recently purchased a unit from a 71 Cutlass and in the process of installing in the near future. I did some investigating under my dash and as seen on the photos I have duct/vents to driver and passenger grilles but not to center console. When I run my heater the air only comes out of the box on the floor and not my vents, is this the way it is designed. The opening the heat comes out at the floor appears to have been cut out or is this factory. Do I have a faulty A/C controls or does the opening on the bottom need to be covered to redistribute the air?

After further investigation I believe this is the heater box, not 100%

 

You appear to still be missing some duct parts. There is no duct to the console, but there is a diffuser that bolts to the bottom of the HVAC box to distribute the floor air. Console cars got a different diffuser than bench seat cars. The console diffuser directed air at the two footwells, whereas the bench seat diffuser let the air flow straight back.

In heat mode air is only supposed to come out the floor outlet. If you use the vent mode and set temp to hot, you'll get heat out the dash vents.

You appear to be missing the curved duct that connects the center vent (under the speaker) to the top of the HVAC box.

 

Had these from the last AC duct problem, may help some.

 

Looks like what I am refrencing is a heater box, not 100%?