vent windows (young-un's ?'s)

Okay, how should vent windows work? on my car they only seem to open about 30 degs and i notice no differenc in cooling when they are open. are they supposed to swing all the way open to force air in? are they supposed to help with cooling or just help buffer the wind?

 

Mine swing all the way around and blow quite a bit of nice cool air in on me in my 56. Pretty sure that's the idea for all of them.

 

I'm an old fart, and grew up with cars with wing windows. As I remember, the main purpose of wing windows was to draw the pipe, cigar and cigarette smoke out of the passenger compartment. At that time (mid '50s') damn near everyone smoked. The '34 ford coupe had a cool feature, when you rolled the pass window all the way up, then continued cranking the window would come back down about 1/2". This was to let cigar smoke out. Politically incorrect, but effective.

 

yes they are supposed to be able to direct air straight at the occupantsin the front

and allow the hot air out in the rear (4 doorsand some 2 door sedans like my shoebox ford)

 

have your vent window open so air blows right in your face is a great idea, till you get stung in the face by a hornet.

 

All the way open is the ONLY way to have them. No need for A/C if they're all the way open.

 

For me it depends on how hot it is. Springtime I just crack it for a little fresh air, Summer I have them twisted full open for a poor mans AC... YEEEEEHAAAAA!

 

what kinda car you got??????? some of them don't open all the way out

 

Another important wing window advantage ... in cold climates, no heater fan is needed once you're moving - just regulate heated air flow with the wing(s). Also, windshield doesn't fog up if wings left cracked a bit.

 

anybody have their car's original owner's manual?

they're not an on-off switch. they have infinite adjustment within their range, for whatever condition you're trying to effect.

even opening windshields were intended to take advantage of the low pressure area at the base of the windshield, not just allow rushing air into the cabin.

the neatest car i had as far as innovative ventilation was a '65 Mercury Breezeway sedan... the center of the back glass rolled all the way down. with the vent windows barely open, and the back glass down about 3", it was like having AC.

 

Old MoPars also had vent windows in the back, and on a hot day - as long as you were moving - having all four vent windows open plus the cowl vent gave you a nice breeze flowing through the car.

 

Not all vents open all the way around. I have had some cars that would only open about half way and you couldn't get fresh air blowing in your face.

 

I had a devil of a time with the ones on my 47 Chevy but finally got them better than new. some of the crankers just get abused and the windows don't open or close properly. I like opening mine along with the cowl vent, its like a magic carpet ride if there is no passenger the floor mat flosts.

 

yup, all depends on the car, some manufacturers thought you should get the coolbreeze in the face, some thought just the venturi affect was enough to pull out the hot air or, smoke from the smokers, i have several cars and all have vents and some open all the way, some don`t, some crank open, some just push open, some even close themselves when you go fast enough.....

 

With wing windows and lower vents open you should not even need a/c in a car when moving.
I don't know why they got rid of wing windows on cars. To me a car is not an "old car" unless it has wing windows on it.

 

My 38 Chev had the crank open, they worked great for all of the reasons stated above

 

Vent windows also help expel the fart fumes!