[64SSrevival]

My first question on the forum! My car does have factory a/c but one thing I have noticed after looking at other 64's with factory a/c is that my dash DOES NOT have the center vent (above the ash tray). I have the corner vents but not the center....what gives? Has anyone else come across this? I'm kinda baffled by it. At first I thought maybe the Super Sports didn't come with the center vent but I have looked at many SS interior pictures and they all seem to have it. It's not making sense. Did the original owner have the a/c installed after the car was built and they only cutout the corner vents? How would I know? It doesn't matter or bother me that it's not there, I'm just trying to make sense of it. Any thoughts are appreciated, Thanks!

 

[62BillT]

It could have been installed later by a previous owner at some point through the years. I doubt a dealer would install Factory Air. They would install "Cool Packs" though, but they are very different. Another possibility is that someone might have switched the Speedometer Housing Dash and just eliminated it for some reason.

 

[64SSrevival]

Interesting. So are you saying that there is not a true factory a/c system?

 

[62BillT]

Of course there is. The Factory AC is installed by the Factory.

 

[jayoldschool]

Post a photo of your trim tag, we'll help decode it for you.

 

[64SSrevival]

Post a photo of your trim tag, we'll help decode it for you.

Here is a picture of the cowl tag and my notes from decoding it. Maybe you can verify I have decoded correctly. Thanks

Of course there is. The Factory AC is installed by the Factory.

Of course there is. The Factory AC is installed by the Factory.

Post a photo of your trim tag, we'll help decode it for you.

 

[64SSrevival]

Of course there is. The Factory AC is installed by the Factory.

Hey how you doing. So I've done some research on my car about the missing center a/c vent. I was reminded by my brother that the car was stolen back in the late 70's or early 80's when my cousin owned the car. The car was recovered with some of the interior stolen along with the hub caps and fender skirts. So, that explains the current dash without the vent. My cousin just replaced the stolen parts with whatever he could find at the time. Maybe the a/c was no longer working so the vent was not important at the time. Since I last posted I have already found the correct dash bezel with the vent, vent housing(broken plastic) and the duct section. My next question and hopefully you have the answer, is which duct section is correct for the 64? I think there might be more than one variation? As you can see in the picture I have two different duct sections. The one on the left came with the dash and vent that I bought together. The one on the right I purchased separately prior to finding the other set. The one on the right was listed as a 64' duct. I've done my research online and have seen pictures of both styles being used for the 64' dash. But are those pictures I've seen correct? I don't know. The vent fits inside both duct sections but they clearly differ in the way they mount to the dash. And I'm not sure yet how the duct actually mounts and stays in place on the dash. I'll figure that out once I know which duct I will need to use. Any information you have would be much appreciated, Thanks!

 

[62BillT]

You are correct that there are two different Ducts, but I'm not sure which one is which either. I actually have a Duct that I believe is a '63, but I'm trying to prove that it is myself.

There is also two different Vents and the '63 is Metal where the '64 is Plastic, like the one you have there.

If no one can answer here, I can suggest some other sites that may be able to help.

Good to see that you solved the mystery on how you ended up with no center vent.

 

[64SSrevival]

You are correct that there are two different Ducts, but I'm not sure which one is which either. I actually have a Duct that I believe is a '63, but I'm trying to prove that it is myself.

There is also two different Vents and the '63 is Metal where the '64 is Plastic, like the one you have there.

If no one can answer here, I can suggest some other sites that may be able to help.

Good to see that you solved the mystery on how you ended up with no center vent.

Correct! The 63' is Metal and 64' is plastic. Some of these dash and a/c parts are listed as both. Although they may be interchangeable as far as fitment, they are definitely different in style and looks. Here are some pictures I have been referencing, a couple of them I have in my possession. Let's start with the dash, the 63' Dash (yellow) has an angled cutout for the vent Vs. the straight square cut on the 64' dash that I shared earlier. I included a picture of the 63' metal vent and duct. If you look closely at the duct it is completely different from the 64', the 63' duct has some pretty distinctive looking ears on the side where the vent attaches. The ebay picture is of the duct I purchased and shared in the previous reply. It was listed as 63-64, I didn't say that earlier just to spare any confusion. But it's pretty clear that it's totally different than the 63'. The other picture with the red outline is of a post on craigslist selling the complete a/c system for a 63' Impala Only. You can see that the vent and duct match the other picture of the 63 vent and duct.
So what do you think? I think that the picture I sent earlier with the two different ducts will both work with the 64' vent. The question is, why are there two different one's? I'll have to do some more research, especially since they are completely different in design. As far as the 63' goes, It seems like only the one style would work, the one that's completely different from the two 64's. Hope this helps you as well!

 

[62BillT]

I know some guys like using the nicer '63 Chrome Metal Vent in their '64. You may have to modify the opening to make it work though, as it is a little different as you have indicated. You could always use the '63 Dash, but to confuse us all some more, lol, the Speedometer Cluster is not a direct fit. They say it can be tweaked with minimal effort though. I'm still not sure about the Ducts. If someone doesn't jump in to let us know what is what, you may need to just test fit them to see which one fits the best.

By the way, if that's your Chrome Metal Vent, you sure have found a nice one. As they can get pretty pitted.

 

[64SSrevival]

Correct! The 63' is Metal and 64' is plastic. Some of these dash and a/c parts are listed as both. Although they may be interchangeable as far as fitment, they are definitely different in style and looks. Here are some pictures I have been referencing, a couple of them I have in my possession. Let's start with the dash, the 63' Dash (yellow) has an angled cutout for the vent Vs. the straight square cut on the 64' dash that I shared earlier. I included a picture of the 63' metal vent and duct. If you look closely at the duct it is completely different from the 64', the 63' duct has some pretty distinctive looking ears on the side where the vent attaches. The ebay picture is of the duct I purchased and shared in the previous reply. It was listed as 63-64, I didn't say that earlier just to spare any confusion. But it's pretty clear that it's totally different than the 63'. The other picture with the red outline is of a post on craigslist selling the complete a/c system for a 63' Impala Only. You can see that the vent and duct match the other picture of the 63 vent and duct.
So what do you think? I think that the picture I sent earlier with the two different ducts will both work with the 64' vent. The question is, why are there two different one's? I'll have to do some more research, especially since they are completely different in design. As far as the 63' goes, It seems like only the one style would work, the one that's completely different from the two 64's. Hope this helps you as well! View attachment 29688 View attachment 29689 View attachment 29690

I know some guys like using the nicer '63 Chrome Metal Vent in their '64. You may have to modify the opening to make it work though, as it is a little different as you have indicated. You could always use the '63 Dash, but to confuse us all some more, lol, the Speedometer Cluster is not a direct fit. They say it can be tweaked with minimal effort though. I'm still not sure about the Ducts. If someone doesn't jump in to let us know what is what, you may need to just test fit them to see which one fits the best.

By the way, if that's your Chrome Metal Vent, you sure have found a nice one. As they can get pretty pitted.

No, the chrome metal 63' vent is not mine. I got the picture off the internet.
Funny that you mentioned using the 63 dash and vent set up, lol. The yellow 63 dash is mine. I picked it up at a car swap meet in Long Beach CA. For the same reason you mentioned! I was told that finding a 64 vent that's not broken is almost impossible! Not sure why this part is not mass reproduced! You can pretty much build a 64 Impala completely using reproduction parts!! But no a/c vent reproduced??
Anyhow, I bought the 63 dash as an option before I found the 64 dash, in this game you have to get whatever you can get your hands on, right. But I really, really want to keep this car true to it's original and correct parts. I did find a guy locally who made some plastic vent housings and I bought one. But it wasn't well designed and fits kinda crappy. I'm hoping to either modify it to fit better or wait for another prototype to come out. There's a guy on ebay who uses a 3D printer to remake the corner vents and they look to be well designed and made. He is currently working on the design for the center vent!! He hopes to have a prototype in a couple months after he buys a newer advanced machine. I will keep you posted, I'm anxious to see how it turns out.
In the mean time I guess we still need a solid answer on the different ducts. I'll post an update if I find a solid answer. I still need to check the assembly manual for any information on it.