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I have a mostly-complete ARA unit that I was told came from a 1953 Mayfair but it never occurred to me that the tubes might be shorter for different years or body styles! I'll have to check when I'm next at my Oregon shop and I'll look to see if it has the rubber rings. I know that the 1954 Cavaliers and Patricians had the new one-piece wrap-around rear window that was lower than the 3-piece unit of '53 so perhaps that's why the difference.

Howard,

They appear to be black rubber, with a no/smooth texture. This is based upon looking at the bottoms of the rings where they were shielded from the UV damage.

I would guess tinted just a normal rubber color would be appropriate.

Howard, I noticed that your rings have two holes while Kev's have three. Any idea why the difference?

There were any number of aftermarket trunk AC mfgs in that 50s era which might have used these plastic ducts so I would not be surprised at several variations in hardware and trim items.

The rings I have which I am fairly sure come from an ARA unit has 3 holes as does Kev's. One of Let the Ride Decide's rings has two holes while the other has what looks to be 10 locations where screws could have been placed. 6 of them appear to have been used. 10 holes seem a bit of overkill as two or three should be more than adequate so maybe that ring passed as a universal replacement at the time.

Depending on the distance between the holes, the 2 hole ring might have been off one of the late release Packard supplied ducts which never made the parts books. Those ducts apparently were released maybe for 54 and could be retrofitted. The original flat louvers only had two holes and I could easily see Packard issuing the duct and rings to be a direct screw in replacement for the louvers where screw holes into the shelf were already in place.

This is why I haven't posted any updates on the car recently. (temp inside the closed and insulated garage)

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Ask a man who's freezing his tail off.

That would be The Man with No Underseat Heater.
Also note that BigKev is not working on the A/C this week....

I installed 2 220v heaters. one is 7500 max watt and the other is 6250 max watt. my closed and insulated garage will go from 30 to 60 in about 30 min. yes they do run the meters, but once i get to temp i lower the wattage and turn down the thermostat.

course yesterday it was in the 70s.

Half the garage is actually still packed. Been waiting to get through the expense of the holidays and for Nicole to have a steady paycheck again before I get out there and build out the work benches and of course, procure some kind of space heater.

It took Nicole until the very end of December before she found a company that would set up and pay her what her experience demanded. So running with a single income since August has significantly put a strain on the household finances and the "fun money".

Could be worse Kev, you might be sweating your *$$ off..... LOL