What do the kick panel actuators actually do? Do they control inside vs outside air? Which way is what - towards the front vs. towards the back?

The vents bring fresh air into the car. You open the vent by pulling the slider and close them by pushing it.

How about the astro vents in the rear quarter door jambs. What is the actual reason for them?
(69 coupe)

I thought I saw a diagram once somewhere of the astro ventilation system and it showed that air came in through the cowl out the kick panel/dash vents into the car and then out the vents in the door jamb....It's been a while, so I can't remember where I saw it.

So, if you have the AC on, you would want to close these vents - right? To keep the outside hot air out of the car...

If you have A/C you don't have kick panel vents. You have a vacuum operated damper on the passenger side that opens to recirc air inside the car. No damper of any kind on the drivers side, just a steel plate behind the kickpanel.

The astro vents in the doors lets air into the quarter window area theoretically to keep the area dry. The vents have a set of cloth flaps behind them that only let air in from the door opening. The air that comes in the cowl goes down throught the lower cowl, into the rockers and out the slot's in the lower edge again to keep the rockers dry to minimize rust.

Thats good info guys, Thanx.

Rick

Mark, are you sure about that? My car has factory AC and has the levers that I'm talking about. Ok, maybe I wasn't clear in my description.

On the left kick panel there is a slider that is attached to a cable (that goes I don't know where). There is another one of these on the passenger side kick panel. So what do these do then???

Those go to the vents in the corners of the dash. Pull them back, they open the vent, push them forward they close the vent. Only used in either Bi-level or MAX AC. Dash vents in an A/C car dash are only connected to the heater-A/C ductwork under the dash. In non A/C car's they let fresh air into the car from under the cowl area.

A/C kick panels have one slider each side used to open and close the dash vents. Non A/C cars have two sliders per side, one for the dash vents, one for the kick panel vents.

Mark is correct on this.

Originally posted by RSS:
How about the astro vents in the rear quarter door jambs. What is the actual reason for them?
(69 coupe) They're actually "pressure relief valves"; they're outboard of the door weatherstrips, and allow pressurized interior air an escape path through the quarter window cavities to the outside so the outside air vents (kickpad and dash ends), heater, and A/C systems can work efficiently. If the air inside the car can't get out, the outside air can't get in through the vents/heater & A/C systems. They function as a "calibrated air leak" to ensure continuous airflow through the car when any of the outside air inlet systems are opened. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

JohnZ,

Thats a very detailed answer. You are a mountain of information, not to mention amazing. I look forward to, and enjoy, your posts. It never dawned on me that the astro vents were out-board of the weather strips for that reason. Thanx for all the great info.

Rick