theres a brass colored thing RIGHT behind the fuse panel on the passenger side, behind the lower panel of the dash. it has a vacuum attached to it, but the vacuum is cut. pic is uploaded.. no idea where this is supposed to go

 

That is a vacuum actuator that I believe operates the passenger side recirc door. There is a small vacuum line that should be plugged into it. The same thing happened on my car and the line is hard to find again if it gets unplugged.

 

what do you mean "recirc door"? where the heat comes out?

 

side face vent

 

oh ok gotcha thanks

 

well not the side vent itself but the door that opens/closes to send air to that face vent.

 

The recirc door opens so that the climate control system can draw air from inside the cabin instead of drawing air from outside. If you put the a/c on high the door above the passenger's feet should open if the vacuum line is connected properly.