What is Astro Ventilation? My '69 came with A/C and has the round "astro" vents in the dash and also one vent slide-lever on each kick panel. However, my car does not have the "Astro Ventilation" emblem mounted on the dash just above the right "astro" vent, nor does it have the mounting holes (so no emblem was ever there.) I have seen 69's with and without A/C that had this emblem. So what is it? http://www.chevelles.com/forum/confused.gif

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69 Malibu Sport Coupe
Team Chevelle 461
ACES 3119

Don't know if this will help, but my coupe without a/c has the dash emblem and the el camino with a/c does not have the emblem although both have the dash balls.

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Harley
69 461 El Camino Nitrous Model, 69 Chevelle coupe
70 El Camino,71 SS Camaro
79 Corvette
Kerrville,Tx.
A Camel is a Horse designed by a commitee

I think "Astro Ventilation" was a GM marketing term invented circa 1968-69 for:
"We're taking away your side vent windows to save money and giving you instead these round little vents built into the dash that you can point in all different directions which have neat little louvers that passengers can play with when they're bored".

My 72 MAlibu 350 had the Astro vents with some sort of emblem on the dash or the vent. The car was a hard top coupe no pillars

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Frank W
Arlington MA
74 Laguna S3 !! ( No motor yet)
73 Malibu Coupe Mighty 305 Power
hometown.aol.com/folingo/ (http://hometown.aol.com/folingo/)

Asro ventilation was standard on the '69 (probably later models as well) sport coupe and convertible models. The air comes in from the cowl vents, enters the interior through the dash and kick panel vents, then goes under the rear seat and into the trunk. Finally, it goes forward into the quarter panels and exits the car through those black plastic vents you see when you open the doors. It's supposed to give constant air exchange for the interior.
Rich

Rich,I now knight thee "BigBlock Chevelleologist". Show him what's behind door #1 !!! Thanks for the info.Shawn http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

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Rich, thanks for setting me straight too. Very interesting. I didn't mean to treat the question lightly with my quick answer, but I did think it was simply "marketecture". Thanks for the info.

On a related note, I CAN tell you that the demise of side vent windows upset more than a few cigarette smokers at the time. Almost everyone smoked back then (just think about the multiple ashtrays and built-in lighters). The side vent window was the perfect place to flick those ashes. Astro-ventilation didn't address that customer requirement. Boy, what a different way of life back then.

Just some nostalgia for ya... TK

I only smoke when I'm on fire, http://www.chevelles.com/forum/rolleyes.gif besides I think the car looks better without wing windows. I think GM was going for the look rather than trying to upset the Marlboro man. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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Wanted: 69 Chevelle Bumper Guards and a Maplight rearview mirror. http://sites.netscape.net/wasjunk57

Our '67 with air also has the astro vent balls for directing the air. The astro-ventilation became standard when they did away with the vent windows. Give me the vent windows any time. When it is 90+ the vents pull in a lot more air than what comes through the astro-vents.

i have a69 chevelle malibu, it has no a/c but i have astro ventalation, it even has the emblom, i hope this helps

Rich, Thanks for the info. I was curious how that system worked. Now I know. Scott

anybody know how to fix the levers that control whether or not the 'astro ventilation' is on or off?

I have one ball vent permanently open, and one vent and a floor vent permanently closed.

only my driver's side floor vent still works with the knob.

It looked like it would be very difficult to fix the little linkages that open and close the vents.

One thing that hasn't been mentioned about Astro Ventilation: When the vent windows disappeared, the open cowl and hide-away wipers appeared. GM found that revising the design of the cowl vent and eliminating the vent windows allowed more control over the air flow. This could be done with or without A/C. Placing the cowl vent below the rear edge of the hood not only gave the car a cleaner look, but allowed air to be forced into the cowl vents with more force. The result is better air flow inside the car and the elimination of the need for vent windows.

If I recall correctly, in 1968 when hide-away wipers were first introduced, Chevelles could come with or without hide-away wipers. In other words, some Chevelles that year (the lower end models) had the standard cowl vent butted up next to the base of the windshield and exposed wipers while other models (like the SS396) had hidden wipers and cowl vent.

Also, some of the air in the lower cowl area was used to flush the rocker panels of dirt and moisture as you drove (except mine that had 30 years of leaves trapped in that area and were slowly making some additional ventilation holes http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif; if you haven't yet, get those 3 cowl screens installed!)

Also, some of the air in the lower cowl area was used to flush the rocker panels of dirt and moisture as you drove (except mine that had 30 years of leaves trapped in that area and were slowly making some additional ventilation holes http://www.chevelles.com/forum/eek.gif; if you haven't yet, get those 3 cowl screens installed!)