Footbox vent question

[Vspeeds]

Those of you with footbox vents; Do have open/close gates to close the fresh air coming in? If so how often do you close it? For the guys without a gate, do you wish you had one?

I’m planning on putting a 3 inch vent into the footbox and just to keep it simple, i wasnt going to put a gate valve. It will have an electric Atwood brand bilge blower. The footbox will be surrounded by heat insulation. Just seeing what guys thoughts are. I appreciate your input.

[BEAR-AvHistory]

Don't think you need the gates. When winter sets in I just cap mine. Same with heater intake in the summer.

[d42davis]

I have the bilge type blowers in my car.. The air will flow thru the blowers when off. I seldom turn mine on.
I have a plastic knifegate on the passenger side mounted on the footbox roof. No issues.
I mounted the driver side gate on the vertical wall. I believe road crud/sand blows into the gate and makes it difficult to open and close. And it is in a hard location to reach. I eventually made a cable operated butterfly valve to control flow.
There are days when you leave in the morning when it is 45 F, and you don't want air. In the PM it's 80 F and you do want air, so I think having a easy to reach/operate control is important.
The down side is that when it is 95 F and the road temp. is 115 F, the brake ducts are venting that hot air right off the road onto your feet.

[CraigS]

.....
There are days when you leave in the morning when it is 45 F, and you don't want air. In the PM it's 80 F and you do want air, so I think having a easy to reach/operate control is important.
The down side is that when it is 95 F and the road temp. is 115 F, the brake ducts are venting that hot air right off the road onto your feet.
Very true. A very slight help is to try to pick up the air from the top of the inlets. Usually the hose adapters have the hose nipple on one end so mount it so they are at the top.

[Avalanche325]

I do close them occasionally them in the winter, especially early in the morning. I have the typical plastic gates that everyone uses and I have to say that I pretty much hate them. They are getting harder and harder to operate with the cable. Unfortunately, I put my drivers side in a difficult or maybe even impossible to reach spot with the body on, and it is now permanently open.

I am going to do butterfly valves also. I am thinking about using 3" exhaust cutouts. You can get them pretty cheap on e-bay.

Has anyone found blowers that are quiet? I do use mine a lot here in Florida. They blow air, but are pretty noisy.

[daltmcintyre]

Anybody got a "how-to" on making the butterfly valves?

[Straversi]

Anybody got a "how-to" on making the butterfly valves?

I went to ********** Accessories, Clicked "Fresh Air Vent Kit", Clicked "Add to Cart"

I thought these were expensive but they include the control cables and they work well. I think others, more creative than me have made their own.

-Steve

[Vspeeds]

Thanks for the input guys. I wasnt going to put a shutoff valve in. But after some thought and after these remarks, i think I will. Ive been trying to figure out how to fabricate a butterfly valve to my liking, but I dont have a welder and have basic shop tools. I may take Straversi’s approach and click “add to cart”

[Boydster]

I made my own butterfly valves after not finding what I wanted. Didnt take much. Size the housing so your ducts will fit over, may have to split a notch so you can spread or shrink it. Shoulder bushings from McMaster Carr. Tubing for a butterfly shaft, rivet the valve to the tubing. Doesn't need to be very tight inside. Got some aluminum arms from a place that sells parts for large RC aircraft, clamp to the tubing for a push/pull cable connection. Attempted to go electric, but decided that was a bit much. ;) Remember, we're not talking about something thats going to see millions of cycles.

Honestly, I think the most complicated tool I used was a drill and a hand file...

[CraigS]

Go to Vintage Air, and Summit and Speedway Motors. There have got to be some valves available. This time of year we have 50 deg at 7AM and 80 at 2PM. The valves are invaluable.