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I have the same "hole". I got an old used battery of the correct size, long and narrow. I cut all the stuff out of the inside and put an optima battery inside of it, fabricating a top out of black stiff plastic. It really looks good, works good, and covers the hole like it was originally designed to do.
Mike

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Would you post a photo of this so we can see what it looks like?

My version of covering the hole.

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Another shot

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I have the same battery ventilation hole on my 1948 Deluxe Touring Sedan. It still has the original rubber seals around it - bottom. top and sides, and they are in pretty good shape. The rubber seals were attached with staples to the inner fender. I removed the top one for cleaning and noticed for some reason the battery leans inward, so is not completely against the seals. Will find out when I remove the battery box - it seems to be in good shape. Lowes has some rubber molding that might work for the seals. They would have to be cut and the bend in not quite 90 degrees

Hey Mike that's not a bad looking setup. What type of Optima battery are you running that is the correct size that would fit into that long and narrow old battery? Would you share the Optima battery #? I've had good luck with the brand so far.

Cheers

Evan

It is the 6V red Top SC6A. It measures 9' X 3 1/2". It fits very well inside of the old battery case. I have 4 old cars with that same battery and have had very good luck with them. The other batteries are hidden under floor or in battery compartments so this is the only one I have set up in an old battery case.
Thanks,
Mike

Question - Is the lower panel attached to the upper panel in any way. In photo 1, looks like it might be attached with clips. Thanks

Good question but doesn't appear so -- at least not on the 47. Don't know if they redid the connection or not for the 22-23 series. It's hard to tell if that is a clip or just the way the rubber is stapled to the panel in that first photo.

On 47 the lower panel half bolts to radiator cradle, several bolts across bottom into frame and then connects to rear vertical splasher. The top half bolts to cradle, across top to fender and again to rear vertical splasher. The bottom panel has a wide flat ledge surface across it's upper side and the top panels L shaped rubber gasket sits on that.