'New-car manufacturers spend a lot of engineering resources minimizing what they term NVH, which stands for noise, vibration, and harshness. One component of the noise factor is the wind whistling through cracks in the seals around the doors and windows. The musclecars of the '60s are famous as wind-whistle generators, and much of that noise emanates from those quirky vent windows prevalent in most '60s cars up until 1968 when, on most GM cars (except El Caminos, for example), the vent wing disappeared.
For those of us who accepted these rolling wind chimes as part of the charm of a '60s musclecar, there are some solutions that can minimize that extra noise pollution. The best answer is a loud exhaust system. That does wonders for masking most annoying sounds, but assuming you've already done that, the next best fix is to take the plunge and rebuild those dried, cracked, and broken vent-wing seals. We attacked a couple of vent wings that had seen better days on an abused '66 Chevelle that we are slowly resurrecting from the dead. The process is similar for other cars as well. The easiest part of this whole deal was ordering the new parts from Original Parts Group (OPG). We could have even replaced the glass itself if necessary, but our green-tinted pieces survived in decent shape so we reused the originals. If this looks like more work than you want to take on or your barn find is missing its vent windows, OPG also sells complete assemblies ready to bolt in place. Once we had our new replacement pieces on the workbench, we decided to disassemble one side at a time so we could check our work if we got confused. The entire job took a little over two and a half hours, and now we have one more system rebuilt on our way to a fully resto-modded Chevelle.
Removing the original vent-window assembly from a coupe like this '66 Chevelle is relatively easy. You must first remove the armrest, window crank, inside door handle, and then the door panel. This will allow access to the vent-window lower mount. Then all that's left is the bolt at the leading edge of the chrome window frame, the small nut at the bottom of the door, and the long sheetmetal screw that passes through the inner door shell. With these three attachment points removed, the assembly will twist right out. You don't have to remove the window.
PARTS LIST All the following part numbers are for '64-'67 Chevelles only, and some are only for '66 and '67. Similar parts are available for other year Chevelles as well. DESCRIPTION PN SOURCE PRICE Vent-window frame, right CH26802 OPG $91.95 Vent-window frame, left CH26803 OPG 91.95 Vent weatherstrip VWW2501 OPG 65.95 Door weatherstrip AMS5007 OPG 60.95 Vertical glass channel GRC0018 OPG 20.45 Vent-window handle CHV4350 OPG 38.95 Glass vent-window assembly, left CH26707 OPG 299.95 Glass vent-window assembly, right CH26708 OPG 299.95 Glass, vent-window, right CH240366 OPG 89.95 Glass, vent-window, left CH240368 OPG 89.95