67-69 Firebird cowl panel fit 69 Camaro?

[sdkar]

Hey guys,

I am considering doing away with the fresh air "slotted" cowl vent on my 69 Camaro since I have installed a vintage air system and do not need these and have capped them off.  I was looking at welding in this area, but on the Camaro panel, the area is sunken down and needs to be raised.  This would involve building a new curved corner and lots of extra work that would be very time consuming and more difficult.   However, the Firebird panel does not have the sunken area and simly has the slots on a flat looking panel.  Therefore, I would not have to go thru the trouble of raising that area and making the curved downward corner.  Also, the factory cowl vent in the center of the Firebird panel looks like it will fit under a cowl induction hood nicely and not be seen. 

My question:  Is the Firebird panel the same width (from fender to fender) as the Camaro as well as the distance from the windshield base to the hood.  I believe Firebirds were wider than Camaro, but is the cowl panel still the same dimensions.  The Camaro panel is approx. 51-1/4" across.  If anyone has access to a Firebird cowl panel and can get these measurements and let me know, that would be great.  Thanks.  Email me or post it here in case anyone else wants to know as well.

Steve
sdkar@bellsouth.net

[JohnZ]

I'm not entirely clear on what you're trying to accomplish, but I'd be surprised if there was any difference in the cowl structure below the screw-on vent grille panel between the Camaro and the Firebird.

[mikes 67]

Back in the late 80s I bought a 67 firebird with a wrecked front end. I replaced the front end with a camaro front clip. The firebird cowl panel worked with the camaro hood, but with the difference in the heights of the hoods, the firebird cowl sticks up above the camaro hood.    It would be best to modify the camaro cowl.

[OG69Z]

Hi Steve,
I recently attended a Goodguys show in Pleasanton. One of the large vendors had a display Camaro with a cowl with no vents. It appeared to be an aftermarket produced item. Sorry i didn't get any info. You might do a search or question on http://www.lateral-g.net/forums/.  Most of those vendors post there. At least someone might send you in the right direction. Definitely no need to fab your own.
Good Luck
Bob

[sdkar]

Bob,

I believe I found the part you are talking about.  It doesn't have the vent holes, but it still has the indentation.  This is the indentation that the Z/28 stripes would line up in.  I want to take a panel and get rid of entirely the dip in the panel altogether.  Also, on the cowl hood, there is a small indentation that lines up with this dip in the cowl panel.  I'm going to order a firebird and see how it fits.  If it does fit like I think it will, I will weld up the vent holes and see how it looks.  Hopefully it will achieve the look I am thinking it will.  If not, I still have my Camaro one.

[JohnZ]

If it does fit like I think it will, I will weld up the vent holes and see how it looks.

If you weld up the vent holes, your dash and kickpad vents won't work, and neither will your heater/defroster or A/C.

[OG69Z]

Hey guys,

I am considering doing away with the fresh air "slotted" cowl vent on my 69 Camaro since I have installed a vintage air system and do not need these and have capped them off. 

John,
  I'm not familiar with these systems, but as Steve says it apparently won't be a problem.
Bob

[sdkar]

I have found two possible solutions for what I want to do.  First, I ordered a 67-69 Firebird cowl panel.  It still has the vents but does not have the indentation that the Camaro has.  So I may just have to weld a flat piece over the vent hole and the slight indentation on the cowl hood and it looks like it may work.   

However, since ordering the firebird cowl, I found a website that offers the exact look I was going for.  if you want to cut down on the welding, the part can be found from alvilauto.com.  They make several offerings of cowl panels including one without the vents but still has the indentation and also exactly what I was looking for, a panel without both the vents and indentations.  So, if I am not the only one who was looking to do this, check them out. 

[OG69Z]

Hi Steve,
  Good to see you found what you were looking for.  I think your link was wrong, maybe :    https://anvilauto.com/product_detail.php?product=cpanel
Their cowls look like what I saw at the show, but I thought they were steel, but I was probably fooled. Anyway, again glad to see you found it.
Bob

[sdkar]

I did put down the wrong website address.  It should have been "Anvilauto.com".   However, I'm going to blame this month edition of Camaro Performers magazine.  They had an advertisement for this supplier and had it spelled incorrectly in their magazine as "alvilauto.com" and I copied it exactly as it was written in the magazine without thinking.  Anyway, thanks for the correction.  And again, for those interested, go to Anvilauto.com to check out their stuff.