Fender air vents? Keep or delete?

[50Ragtop]

Looking at pictures of customized Studes, I see a lot of them have the fender air vents deleted. Like deleting door handles, hood ornaments, etc. I get it; the smoother the better. Or are they being deleted because of rust? The fenders I have are not rusty and the parts I have are in good shape. I even have NOS ductwork. I always thought they were cool and a Studebaker "standard". Yes, I am building a customized Studebaker, but I do want to keep some of the uniqueness of the original issue. What do you think the reasons are for deleting the fender air vents?

[64studeavanti]

I suppose deleting them is more modern, however, you would need to provide an alternate method of passenger cabin venting.

[Flashback]

I think you have already stated the reasons. But just personally, I like you, think they are cool. I have a lot of "original" on the Saturday night special, and I have a mixture of "custom" and "modified". I think the PERSON dictates why mods are made, not the practicality. JMHO

[64V19816]

Do you enjoy the feel of nice cool air coming in when it’s Really Hot?

[altair]

The under seat heater requires air to operate I suppose you could duct it in from some where else. On some of the early models heaters (climatizers) were optional and on those models there were no vent doors. They weren't "custom" they just weren't there.

[Michidan]

I removed the underseat heater in my modified Studebaker. But left the defroster motor, and also kept the fender vents operational. They are great!
Not only is the air nice to have, but I'll even leave them open at a car show, just to show off how cool Studebakers are.

[paul shuffleburg]

My 61 hawk has the vents deleted. Driving thru downtown South Bend in 90+ degrees I wished I had the vents. besides
being cool looking they are functional.

[6hk71400]

Keeping the right vent open with in interior vent door is how you get heat in the cabin. You probably won't drive the car in the winter time, but on a chilly autumn or spring day, having the heat is nice. You don't have to run the fan as the heat will circulate. In the summer, the vents open make for a good air circulation, not to mention the "cool" factor.

Keep em.

Bob Miles

[64V19816]

You can use them as “emergency turn signals”, like the old semaphores!

[DEEPNHOCK]

The vents (open) and the wing vents (open) pull the firewall heat out of the car.
That's how it was designed.

[Bob Andrews]

Do you enjoy the feel of nice cool air coming in when it’s Really Hot?

Okay, I'll bite- How do you get nice cool air through the vents when it's 'Really Hot'? All I ever got was hot air forced in.

[jpepper]

I never liked how they looked and on my coupe they brought in a lot of road dirt. I would delete them. Plumb vents from behind the grill .

[50Ragtop]

I probably should add this is a convertible body, so plenty of air exposure. And I'll likely look hard at adding some sort of ac/heat unit. Summers here in southeast Nebraska can be hot, humid and sticky. But those three or four days a year we get here that are absolutely perfect, 70 degrees, no wind and dry... the top will be down!
Thank you all for the responses, thinking now I'll keep 'em. Just delete the right side plumbing to the heater.

[Hallabutt]

I like my cars to have the feature available, but living in the mild PNW, they are a literal, breath of fresh air. It seems to me more work then it's worth, especially with no rust damage to the area. In your case if I were inclined to do the customization, I would sell my rust free fenders, and secure some that needed the work anyway. Conversely driving my 55 Speedster through Death Valley in 1967, with an ambient temp reported to be 117 degrees, it was like a blast furnace, but at least the air was moving.

Ford saw the light and added them to the TBird in 1956, after one year without. I've never known of an owner of a 1956-57 TBird who wanted to regress and make a later bird resemble a 55. But then "Classic Bird" owners don't seem to be very much inclined to alter there classics. Studebaker owners aren't so inclined.

[Milaca]

From a modern point of view, the fender vents are outdated and quirky. But on the other hand, they make the car unique and they will especially draw the attention of any person that has never seen such things. Just like a three-speed shifter on the column or a front bench seat, young people think these things are cool/hip/rad (what term do young people use these days?) just because they are unfamiliar with such features.