I have a 70 Cutlass S and the driver side kick panel has the vent in it and operates with one push/pull rod. On the passenger side there is no vent in the kick panel. It is a factory a/c car. Is this normal or will I find that the passenger side panel should have a vent as well? I want to put in panels with speakers, but they're sold in pairs and come with or with out the vent and hole for the rod. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Thanks,

 

Your drivers side has a non-AC kick panel. AC cars do not have the kick panel vents.

 

Fun71, my car does have a vent on the driver side. That's why I'm confused. It works fine and the car does have OEM a/c. There isn't a vent on the passenger side and I'm thinking someone along the way may have covered it up. I really don't want to take it apart to find out and thought someone here could shed some light.
Thanks,

 

Fun71 just told you the answer in post #2.

 

OLDSter Ralph. I'm not trying to start a pissing contest, but no, he really didn't. There is factory a/c on the car AND a functioning vent on the driver side. Back in the day, I can't imagine someone going to the trouble of modifying a non a/c car with standard OEM components for air. Vintage air has been around for most of the cars life as well, so why not use them? But even if they did, why cover only one vent and not both or why at all? My assumption is there is a vent on the passenger side too, but I don't want to take the panel off to find out. If I turn the wheel so I can get a good look in the wheel well, is there an intake that would be visible? I'm just looking for a quick solution before ordering speaker panels and taking things apart.
Thanks

 

Post some pics of your interior.
The passenger side kick panel area on an A/C car has the recirculation door for inside vs. outside air. The passenger kick panel on an A/C car looks completely different than a non- A/C car. It is not simply covered up. There is a large molded bump that provides room for the recirculation door vacuum actuator.

68-72 A/C kick panels


1966 was the last year than GM A-bodies had a vent on the passenger-side kick panel with factory A/C. Starting in 1967 all factory A/C cars got a metel plate covering the hole in the cowl on the driver side and a solid kick-panel as seen above.


How many pull cables are on your driver-side kick panel? The kick panels below are factory non-A/C kick panels. Notice there are two cables. One is to open the kick panel vent. The other is to open the vent in the dash. If your car has 2 cables, it was certainly added, as an A/C car does not have the door behind the dash vent for the other cable to control. If your kick panel only has a single cable, it was most likely added from a car that had vent windows ( any 1968, or 69-72 2 door sedan, 4 door sedan, wagon, etc.). There are threads on this forum where owners have added the vent on the driver side in a factoy A/C car. It is simply a matter of removing the metal plate and installing a vented kick panel.


To answer your last question, no, the kick panel vents are not visible from the outside of the car. Air is delivered through the cowl vents just below the windshield.

 

Post a pic of the body (cowl) tag. That should show if your car left the factory with A/C.

 

You have the mod that my granddad did. A AC car will accept a post coupe non AC car's kick panel with vent. The AC car just blocks off the vent's plate in the body. So, you can, and the previous owner did, remove the block off plate and install the vented kick panel. I consider it an upgrade, especially since Olds's will not do flow through ventilation through the AC HVAC system without the vent fan being on.

If you want the speakers in the kick panels, get the AC ones. You won't have that vent anymore.

 

As Koda noted above, a non-AC kick panel can be installed on the drivers side of an AC car. That is apparently what a previous owner did to your car since AC cars did not come from the factory with kick panel vents.

 

Yes he really did. The kick panel with the vent is NOT original to your car. NO A/C cars came with kick panel vents. There is no fuzz on that statement. Some time in the last half a century, someone replaced it.

 

Loaded68W34, Tom, Thank you! This is what I needed. I'm a bit busy today, but will go through all it later. In the mean time here are some pics of my panels and a stock photo of the engine compartment. Circled is the accumulator (?) and crossed out is what I have in a parts bucket that came with the vehicle. Tomorrow I'll have time to pull the car out and take a pic of the tag. Thanks again!

 

Koda, thank you! That explains it all imo and yes, I agree it's an upgrade. I like it, so I guess if I want kick panels with speakers I'm going to have to get 2 sets.
Thanks again,
Mark

 

Fun71 - Yep, and thank you for following up Kenneth.
Mark