dons56 Posted April 30, 2017 Share Posted April 30, 2017 My 1956 Special Riviera gets an enormous amount of heat from the engine into the passenger compartment. At first I thought it was just coming in through holes in the firewall in such places as the accelerator linkage pass through. A couple years ago I replaced the speedo cable and realized that there is a massive area around the fender attach point where air is able to go around the firewall and in the ends of the dash. Can anyone tell me the proper or best way to seal this up? I mean, I could stuff fiberglass insulation in there and then have it blown all over me and the interior. Or I could find less irritating material to stuff in there but it begs the question, how would I keep it there and how was that done originally? Was there actually an insulator there or was it just a cardboard air block? Let me add one thing... I am planning to add "factory AC" to this car in the near future. I don't know if this will have any effect on that but I am concerned that the AC will have trouble overcoming all that heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 Seems like some vehicles from that era took their fresh air intake for the heater and passenger compartment through ductwork that started near the "behind the grille" area. BUT there should be some valving at the firewall area to modulate it, like some sort of flapper door. IF it was a '56 Cadillac, that had a heater core on EACH side of the cowl, I'd say that somebody didn't replace on when it started to leak, but this isn't one of those cars. Not sure how your plans for a/c will affect the situation. In the mean time . . . to plug the hole might best be done with some rubber sheeting material or similar. Even some of the DynaMat-type insulation could be used in pieces to plug things off and might later be cut through as needed for the a/c items. Until much more current, it was common for there to be an opening between the fender and cowl, at the rear of the fender. Some cars had a rubber "filler" that went in that space, a sponge rubber-type of weatherstrip. Their kick panel vent air came through the cowl, though. NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnD1956 Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 5 hours ago, dons56 said: A couple years ago I replaced the speedo cable and realized that there is a massive area around the fender attach point where air is able to go around the firewall and in the ends of the dash. That's a new one on me. My 56 Super does not have any massive holes in these areas, and I doubt others were built that way. Is there a chance you can get a picture of where you're talking about? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dons56 Posted May 1, 2017 Author Share Posted May 1, 2017 3 hours ago, JohnD1956 said: That's a new one on me. My 56 Super does not have any massive holes in these areas, and I doubt others were built that way. Is there a chance you can get a picture of where you're talking about? It was new to me as well. I could barely get my hand in there. I don't think I could get a camera in there... I may pull the padded dash off and take a look... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beemon Posted May 1, 2017 Share Posted May 1, 2017 You could always try spray foam. If you don't like it, just chisel it off. I think the factory used some type of tar/undercoating spray at the Firewall holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dons56 Posted May 7, 2017 Author Share Posted May 7, 2017 My son, SpecialEducation, spent some time with Mr. Earl today... He took some pictures. Notice the left turn signal on the right side of the photo for a reference. Big gaping hole leading to the fender... If there is nothing that is supposed to go there I guess I can fashion something... Now we know. Just have to pull the dash... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
61polara Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Make sure you heater valve is shut off and it is not heating the interior air. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dons56 Posted May 7, 2017 Author Share Posted May 7, 2017 What heater valve? I bypassed the heater core a few years ago... ;-) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 What is that piece with the ribs on it? Perhaps a Buick parts book from back then might have some illustrations of what it's supposed to look like in that area? NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dons56 Posted May 7, 2017 Author Share Posted May 7, 2017 You are looking at the place where the arrow is pointing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NTX5467 Posted May 7, 2017 Share Posted May 7, 2017 Thanks for the clarification. NTX5467 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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