82transam

iTrader: (18)

Just wondering where the black plastic vents on the back of the B pillar drain rain water etc to. I know they are to vent air in and out of the cabin, but the reason I ask is because once spring comes around I'll be making wheel well patches for my GS project, and if those vents somehow drain water out down there I don't wanna block the drain or anything. TIA

alien_rx7

The only thing that I've found that they're used for is the rear drains for the sunroof. Ran a wire to clean out the drains and that's where it popped out at. Otherwise they're solid, no connection into the cabin of the car unless you break the weather seal around them and the body. At least if we're both talking about the same things. You're talknig about where those black plastic vents that have only two screws that hold them in and are foward of the triangle panes of glass right? Only black vents on the b-pillar I know of

jorx81@aol.com

iTrader: (6)

Then why do car's w/o sunroofs have them?
If they were for drain there'd be nasty stain lines running down the body on a lot of cars.
I could be wrong?
I've taken some apart, but can't remeber exactly what it does, I do know inside there is a plastic duct, that I assume is for interior venting, the drains for the roof, go down infront of the gas tank I thought.
I have one car someone cut the roof from an fb and cut a smaller hole on an sa and just laid the fb top on and filled the seams, it was mikep's work and he did a really good job actually, welded it in as well, he ran the drain lines down the front windsheild pillars(which may be the way they all are.)
I cut a roof from a car planning to do the same thing can't remember where all the lines were ran for it.
got me wondering now.
When I do the roof conversion I'm going to shave the vents(along with hatch lock, pass door lock, windsheild sprayer), just another place for water to get in.
Most older cars with vents like that will have rust spots below the vents somewhere, I've seen rust coming through on lots of restored vw bugs, water puddles and there's nothing you can do.

jorx81@aol.com

iTrader: (6)

Oh, I believe the ducts in the vents are shaped so that they don't collect water. They have a lip that goes to the outside of the body I think also. That's not to say water dosen't get between there over time.

RotorMotorDriver

iTrader: (1)

Those black plastic things are in fact the drains for the sunroofs on the sunroof cars, but I dont know what else they do.

The drains around the rear hatch go down into the rear 1/4 panel area, but I dont know exactly where.

~T.J.

alien_rx7

Decoration and a mass production by-product.

Quote:

If they were for drain there'd be nasty stain lines running down the body on a lot of cars.

I've seen the stains inside the ducts and just a little dirt actually make it out. Rain water usually isn't a hard water and will not leave many mineral deposits, hence no stains.

Quote:

I could be wrong?
I've taken some apart, but can't remeber exactly what it does, I do know inside there is a plastic duct, that I assume is for interior venting, the drains for the roof, go down infront of the gas tank I thought.

Only for the hatch

Quote:

I have one car someone cut the roof from an fb and cut a smaller hole on an sa and just laid the fb top on and filled the seams, it was mikep's work and he did a really good job actually, welded it in as well, he ran the drain lines down the front windsheild pillars(which may be the way they all are.)

Those are the front two drains from the sunroof.

Quote:

I cut a roof from a car planning to do the same thing can't remember where all the lines were ran for it.
got me wondering now.
When I do the roof conversion I'm going to shave the vents(along with hatch lock, pass door lock, windsheild sprayer), just another place for water to get in.
Most older cars with vents like that will have rust spots below the vents somewhere, I've seen rust coming through on lots of restored vw bugs, water puddles and there's nothing you can do.

Seal the vents back up. Like I mentioned, there is a weather seal between the vent and the body. Most likely once that seal is broken moisture will start collecting inside the car and your rust starts appearing.

anthrax

This is just a throey, however thoese vents most likely allow air exchange between the supper hot air in the body cavity, and cooler outside air

pratch

As stated above, they serve to vent the cabin in addition to housing the sunroof drains on cars where applicable.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

ok its agreed that it vents interior air then, as well as the sunroof (I know this for fact). The more I think about it maybe, they are designed in such a way as to not collect water, because when I wash my car I spray the hose directly in there and it all seems to come right back out. I'll have to take a closer look next time I'm working on it (soon I hope)

alien_rx7

If it also vents air from the cabin space, then why doesn't water get into the cabin space especially when we spray that area with water during a car wash?

jorx81@aol.com

iTrader: (6)

like i said, the shape of the duct inside the vent.
Am I wrong?

82transam

iTrader: (18)

Yea its gotta be the way its designed, with the vent angling downward to let water flow out. I'll have to investigate it more closely I guess.

faye x7

I don't see how it would vent the interior of the cabin and I don't see why they'd put that there anyway. I can only see it allowing moisture in, not out.

Anyway, I will go on the record too, to say that they are part of the drain system for the sunroof drain holes. (The holes in the back anyway, the ones in front come out in the front wheel well I believe.

Keaponlaffen

it vents the air from the cabin so you can close your doors!

if the inside of your car was completely sealed, and the windows were all up, you wouldn't be able to open or close your doors very well.... I suppose it will also help with pressure differential with temperature changes.

Every vehicle has them, just in different places, and most new cars they are hidden. There are drain holes in the bottom of the panel they are located in, so it shouldn't matter if water/moisture gets in there, as long as the drain holes are clear...

faye x7

Well, I figured they vents would be somewhere else, not where water goes through.

alien_rx7

Then if this is all true, and they are vents for cabin pressure then could these also promote the dreaded storage bin rust? Seems like the rust generally starts from the inside out and possibly this is a source of moisture between the two layers of metal that are down there.

Keaponlaffen

I suppose that could be a valid reason for the storage bin rust, as well as the fact that the anchor point for the torsion bars for the axle is a bracket spot welded onto the unibody... and if you want to know what happens when you spot weld two pieces of thin sheet metal together without rustproofing, just ask any 1st or 2nd gen Toyota Truck owner... that's why the boxes fall apart on them.

My Toyota ('82) has rust right around the lower part of the B-Pillar behind the seats on each side (which also happens to be the pillar that the little vents for cabin pressure are located in)

When I fixed my wheel well rust on my '79 GS, I realized how the mounting brackets for the suspension were constructed, and noted the design flaw that lead to the "dreaded" rust problem

Keaponlaffen

Right below the chrome vent on the floor behind the seats is where the rust was surfacing... the underside of the body on the false panel (between the interior and exterior of the truck) is rusted right through, but is not visible, and causes no structural problems with the truck....

BIG J MIXALOT

??????

faye x7

I love those old Toyota trucks. Drove one around for a week or so and enjoyed it.

82transam

iTrader: (18)

They definaly vent air as keaponlaffin said all cars have them, Mazda just chose to make them a styling feature. I also agree it might be part of the rust problem. Guess I'll just go with my original plan of replacing teh rusted metal and undercoating everything, everywhere.

Keaponlaffen

Yeah, it's my daily driver at the moment... it gets better mileage than the RX-7 even with 33's on it

It's my second love. My first love is still my '79 GS

My third love is my g/f, but we won't tell her I said that, ok?