An old friend of mine and I were talking about the logistics of something like this.
Say it takes Chrysler 50 cents to make a door and accompanying fasteners to do it.
Now multiply that by 300,000 units per year.
That's a $150,000 savings over 1 year.
The run of DIESEL 1st gens was 5 years.
They saved 3/4 of a million dollars on ONE cost cutting measure and we know of MULTIPLE other items that they scrimped on.

Now, look at it further from their perspective:

Q: What's the chances not having a cleanout panel for the heater box is going to affect the customer within the warranty period?
A: Almost none.

Q: Will having the door make servicing the components within any easier for our techs?
A: No.

Q: What is the amount of savings for not doing this over the foreseen run of this particular model.
A: Around $XXX,XXX per year.

CHRYSLER: Fine, the customer does not need a "cleanout access" for the heater box, furthermore, Mr. X gets a $50,000 bonus for finding this cost-cutting measure.
Meeting Adjourned!

BTW, I can see this being the case when Chrysler was planning the new body change in 1981, because the pre-'81 Non-A/C trucks ALL had a manual sliding vent door that did allow for some semblance of air box cleaning.
The A/C trucks had a removable vent, IIRC.

It's ALL about cutting costs over a long-term.
If they can cut 10 cents out of something over 100,000 units and it doesn't affect the warranty, or it can still be serviced, they'll make it harder in the long term, because after the warranty expires, it no longer concerns them.
Sometimes even before that, if they think they can get away with it.

Mark.

 

Again well said Mark...I too understand the mentality of a corporation...

 

This looks to be the cleanest most elegant solution I've seen yet. Wish I'd gone this route actually. Very nice.

 

vin, that's a cool idea,,,, looks like your hands are a lot smaller than these clubs of mine ,LOL-LOL-.(wonder what that idea would have chrysler???)

 

Vin what is the gauge, or tach., mtd., to the right in your pic. How about a pic stright on it 's got my intrest.

 

Every Dodge truck I've ever owned has gotten a big square hole cut in the heater box and then had an aluminum plate screwed over it. Then I could clean them out yearly.

 

Think it's time for my truck now I banged on the panel and I could hear leafs moving in there.

 

As much as I'd like to claim credit, that was me quoting a post from page two of this thread. That is member OFCmarc from page two of the thread that posted the pic of his truck and his solution.

I was impressed and quoted it on page three wishing I'd done what he did. I have the classic big square hole with metal plate screwed over it.

 

The problem with this thinking is the fact that it most likely never occured to them that it needed it.
A different scenario: Hey, we could add this at a cost to us of 50 cents, add 1 dollar to the price of the truck (nobody will care about a dollar in the final cost) and end up with a better overall product, a happier customer, and end up making 3/4 of a million in the process!

 

Yep. That's my rig there. The gauge pictured there is an Oil Pressure gauge. The factory sender has gone south on me several times so an aftermarket one was in order.....

Here's a frontal shot of the whole setup....

 

Ofcmarc, those are clean & neat ,,good looking set-up, thanks for the pict's.

 

How are yall measuring how far and where to cut?

 

I cut a small hole in mine then made it bigger in whichever direction needed.

 

Mine has a couple holes in it. And some cracks. Might need to change it someday. Can a sliding vent door like the older trucks have be fitted onto the passenger side?

 

You can cut along the right edge about 1 1/2" deep, but it gets shallow on the left side and an errant blade could damage the heat exchanger underneath. Crossy mentioned using a Dremel cutter which is the safest method. I cut a series of 1/8" holes top and bottom and used a knife to join the holes, then pried the flap out from the right. It broke fairly easily but that was OK cuz I just taped it back on after.