3055645 duct baffle

[K5Rob]

IYKYK. This baffle is in my 87 k5 blazer hvac box. The truck does have ac. The baffle is tied to a metal damper via a linkage on the outside of the box. The baffle is driven by the metal damper. There is a rod that goes thru the center of it. These baffles are prone to breakage apparently and mine is broken. I dont see how the rod connects with the baffle so it is fixed and not just free floating. Mine was semi functional somehow but only allow the metal damper to close about half way which was killing a lot of my defrost pressure and dumping pressure to the vents and floor.

I cant really 100% tell what exactly the baffle does. I cant find a replacement. I am gonna keep the ac stuff in place but i really only need heat thru my defrost vents. I suppose floor would be nice as well.

So my question is if the baffle is really necessary or not. Best i can tell is it should work the way i need without it, except there is kind of an open plenum area without it which may decrease pressure. Looking for opinions from someone who has dealt with this before. Meaning what should I expect if I put everything together without the baffle

 

[maplec10]

Any luck bud? Im having the same exact issue.

 

[K5Rob]

Any luck bud? Im having the same exact issue.

No, i put everything back without the baffle. Works great. All i can tell is theres a small pocket in the airbox that the baffle diverts air away from. So its hardly necessary. One thing i did was seal up where the defrost duct riser meets the airbox, you will notice there is a decent gap there from the factory. I did not go crazy sealing every little seam up.
Some leakage is ok.