Stubborn like a man who needs directions but refuses to ask

[HotRodPC]

Whewwww my neck hurts now. We gotta fix that pic.


It's very possible you may not have had duct work to those 4 Bi level vents. Heater may have been either Floor or Defrost only. This is why your controler says Heater and Defrost. Heater to the Floor, Defrost to the Windshield.

I don't know about Squares, but I know older trucks had a Standard heater option and a Deluxe Heater option. Where Standard heater was just floor or defrost and only 2 fan speeds Hi and Lo. Deluxe heater had Floor, Bi level and Defrost with Hi, Med and Low Fans speeds.

What I am certain about is, usually the Heater Only trucks had a cool blank pocket in the instrument cluster cover for things like a place to put your smokes or cell phone instead of a vent, and the center dash vent in that trim band was solid with no vent there. In fact, alot of guys liked to mount their aftermarket stereo there if they could. If it was an AC truck, you couldn't do that because there was duct work behind it, so I have a feeling your Bi Level vents were part of the aftermarket AC Conversion and no longer needed. I'm sure one of the guys with a Non AC, Heat Only truck can confirm that.

You must be registered for see images attach

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Okay I have some input! And a theory. The orignal owner must have ordered and or made/found an a/c version dash bezel with the extra vents. That being said you would not have had a crossover tube that feeds to the upper and lower vent in the bezel. I’m guessing they added that style gauge bezel to give there aftermarket a/c some vents to go to.
And your heater box shouldn’t have a provision for it(like a 3 inch hole, you would know if it’s there or not lol) and you figured out that you don’t have that diverter piece that mounts on the face of the box and I’m pretty sure that’s correct. Just make sure you have defrost duct

So basically you have everything you need as far as ventilation tubes. You would just have to rip out that other crap and then find a non a/c dash bezel and that would be how it came.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

The only thing I’m not sure about is the vents in the dash board(not the bezel) I’m not sure if both a/c and non a/c trucks have the vent closest to the gauge cluster, or hell even the passenger one I’m not sure about. But a/c trucks have two vents on the dashboard and two on the gauge bezel. Non a/c only have one on the dashboard none on the bezel

I honestly can’t remember if non a/c trucks have any vents on the dash at all

Edit: Hotrod pretty much said it above lol

 

[bucket]

Generally, non-AC trucks do not have dash vents. @RetroC10Sport has found trucks that are an exception, but they seem to be super duper rare.

So basically, those dash vents will not have anything to hook up to them. I also noticed in the pic of the heat controller, it looks like there was a separate control for the AC unit in the cubby right above the heat controls. I see the back of the cubby has been hacked and there's a screw hole visible. I'd bet each corner of the opening has a screw hole, right?

 

[bucket]

I forgot to say, I've seen that exact same aftermarket AC setup before. The lines even went into the cab in the same goofy spot and also the truck had that same downsized glove box. It was a small block truck and had a York compressor mounted to the driver side of the engine.

 

[3spd6]

I stayed up a bit late last night trying to locate a 1973 non AC with interior photos and was rewarded with and archived sale from 2011. You guys are correct. There are no dash vents on a non A/C 1973. Either they replaced the dash components or they were cut. Either way mystery is solved and I know how to proceed. going to have to go search for an unmolested non A/C dash and if I'm lucky I can find a full length dash trim that says Super Custom.

Thanks again

 

[highdesertrange]

you have a factory heat only set up with an aftermarket AC. it appears all the factory heater parts are there however the hoses are disconnected leading one to believe a leaking core. I have never seen a heater only truck with dash vents. highdesertranger