[1972_GTO]

Does anyone know if you can add the kick panel trim with the pull-knob vents onto an AC car?
What is entailed with this swap?
Where are the holes cut in the body to get the air into the interior/kick panel?
Anyone have any 68-72 A-body kick panels with air vents?

[1972_GTO]

Does anyone know if you can add the kick panel trim with the pull-knob vents onto an AC car?
What is entailed with this swap?
Where are the holes cut in the body to get the air into the interior/kick panel?
Anyone have any 68-72 A-body kick panels with air vents?

[Jeff]

I would think that the non-ac panels would fit provided the vent holes in the body exist on the A/C. I suspect they do. The non-ac kick panels protrude about 4 inches or so from the back of the vent and into the body of the car, so removing and replacing can require some effort because you need some clearance to pull them out. I recently removed mine from my 70 GTO and here is what I ended up doing to remove them. Removed dash, removed parking brake lever/bracket assembly, realized that my body could not contort enough to get in to remove the 6 screws that hold the kick panel in, so I removed the seats, the steering column and the pedal assembly and the heater box. It was still a pain the neck, but I eventually prevailed. (I was doing a firewall pad replacement so I had planned on removing most of this stuff anyway, but I can tell you that it wasn't easy.) The A/C kick panels might be different in design and might come out easier, but installing a non A/C set will require some effort.

Anyway, this was my experience and I would love to hear from anyone who knows any tricks for removal/installation.

['ol Pinion head]

Different bracing in kickpanel area of A/C vs non A/C 69-72 hardtops...

[1972_GTO]

o'ph... does that make a retrofit impossible? My ride builds up a lot of heat on the firewall/FOD and these kick panel vents sure would help (this side of running the AC all the time - once I get it installed..).

Thanks!
Dan

[428GTO70]

I just noticed this on ebay, maybe you are interested. they look nice. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eB...tem=1853904350

['ol Pinion head]

Dan,
While the rh non a/c kickpanel may bolt up, not sure about the function. Do know there is different structure in this area, I believe to support the a/c "pod".

Heat...Does your car have cowl insulation pad & floor insulation in the toe-pan area? By your heals & by gas pedal? Have not noticed this prob in an A-body yet, though in several T/A's it was a real problem after I removed all the floor insulation. Headers & headpipes up close to the floor only exascerbate the problem.

[1972_GTO]

428GTO70... I assume that the non-ac kick panels are the same parts for Chebbys as they are for Pontiacs (more 68-72 A-body part sharing)? If so, they are nice and the price is still cheap although there are 2 days left on the auction. Thanks for the info, I plan on bidding.

o'ph... I assumed (yes...again, I'm good at assuming, at least I know that I have the first three letters down-pat...) that it was going to take some "massaging" to make them work. I expect on ac bodies that there is a kick panel cover or close-out seal over the vent hole on both sides.

...Regarding cowl insulation pad & floor insulation... yes, both. However, The heat insulation appears ineffective. Knowing what I know now, I would have popped for a higher performance heat barrier. I will be addressing the situation this winter as I'm swapping out the carpet (bought the cheap crap, and man is it cheap and crappy...ugh) and having the seats recovered.

['ol Pinion head]

Dan,
Might ck on some form of dynamat for your toepan area. I used a corrugated heat shield material in one of my birds to save my heel.

On the non a/c kickpanels, all the '69-72 2 door hardtop A-bodies are the same. The '68 A-bodies only had one pull knob. The '68-72 post A-bodies also shared the single knob design. Have cut up a few higher trim level Skylarks that had carpet glued & stapled to the kickpanels, had to soak the kickpanel in hot water, to get the carpet to come off, then used trim adhesive remover to get the glue to come off. After thin coat of interior paint, they looked nice.

BTW, if anyone comes across any '71-72 blue non a/c (2 pull knobs) kickpanels in nice shape, still looking for some & will PAY for quality pieces.

[tim]

i have a ac body in the yard and i am restoring a nonac car it appears that the kick panel area is the same on both sides. this weekend i will try to fit the non ac panels in the ac body. there is a block off plate in the floor vent on the drivers side of the ac car. the panels that i will try to fit are the two knob style. who ever would try to fit panels in this situation would need to find something else to do with the other knob. because in the nonac cars it goes to the side vents(outside air)