Darrin Fresh Air Vent/Inlet

[njpatera]

Greetings ALL! Regarding the Darrin Fresh Air Vent/Inlet that is up on the firewall coming into the interior...Is this deflector and housing Darrin only or is it also full size Kaiser and/or HJ? Not much left of mine to recognize...Just clarifying what I'll be looking for so I can post appropriately in the wanted section:-)
Regards,
Noah

[joefrazer]

They are the same size as what was used in the Henry J but are not the same units. The Darrin units have doors that are closed manually while the HJ version uses a cable. I’ll post a picture of the Darrin  unit later today.

[njpatera]

Thank you Sir! looks like I'll be searching for those and modifying some more:-)

[joefrazer]

Better late than never...here are a few pix of the vent assembly.

[njpatera]

Thank you! I definitely do not have the eyelet on the passenger side anymore...looks like I’ll probably be paying you a visit in the spring and get some close ups in person to do some metal work and fab...always something:-/

[Corsairdeluxe]

I have next to no knowledge on Darrins. The Henry J vents are the almost the same as 51-53 chevys. They appear to be similar to the Darrin. Just a long shot. Hope it helps.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/1949-1954-Chevrolet-car-interior-firewall-fresh-air-vent-inlet-tube-rat-rod-D/400993003336?fits=Year%3A1952%7CMake%3AChevrolet&hash=item5d5d0ba748:g:rnwAAOSwLqFV8aEa&vxp=mtr

[Corsairdeluxe]

The Henry J driver side vent actuates from the center of the vent as does the Darrin. It is not exactly the same but would be less work to adapt.

[DTort96646]

The Darrin vents open and close manually at each vent. Not all the Darrin vents had the eyelet on the vent lever. Some had just a straight arm with a small rubber ball on the end of the lever. Another running change during production. My guess would be early production was eyelet end, and later production would be the rubber ball end. My Darrin is late production #357, and has the rubber ball end vent levers.

[njpatera]

Thank you...that’s very interesting information! I’d have to assume mine would fall into the running change as well at #388

[joefrazer]

So, I decided to check my documentation and came across a set of product improvement documents dated 3/16/54 and in it, a line entry states that there was a change to the vent operating handle that was effective with car 99. The change was released by engineering on 12/29/53.

It would be interesting to know what the event assembly looks like on a car with a serial nbr below 99.

There is a notation that the fix at 99 is an interim solution. Perhaps what’s in my car is that interim fix.

[DTort96646]

The picture in the Darrin Owner's manual of the fresh air vent, looks like the loop end vent. That would be what was in production at the time of print for the manual. For those that have an Owner's Manual, on page 13 it shows the vent and describes the operation.

[joefrazer]

I’ll point out that my car is nbr 183 so it should have the later style fitted. I’d be curious to know what is installed other cars with serial numbers close to mine.