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fresh air boxes

birdfan56

Platinum Level Sponsor
any tips on rebuilding the fresh air boxes on a series V? what holds the springs in place against the back of the boxes?
 

65beam

Donation Time
boxes

your best bet is to order the repair kit from sunbeam specialties. it comes with instructions and all parts needed. part # ip86c. 408-371-1642 or www.rootes.com
 

AlsPine

Donation Time
I Have used the SS rebuild kits to rebuild 2 sets of boxes. It is very easy to do.
The hard part is getting the boxes out of the car. You have to scrape the sealer off around the vent opening then drill out the pop rivets that hold the vent box in.
 

Gary T

Gold Level Sponsor
Vent Box Rebuild

I also have used the SS rebuild kit and rebuilt the boxes. They work great and seals are the most important part of the kit.
 

P. Scofield

Bronze Level Sponsor
It is possible to rebuild them in place with the dash out. I did it. Difficult, well not difficult but you need some patience and dexterity, but very doable. I think I wrote a general post on it once but it was years ago.

Paul
 

birdfan56

Platinum Level Sponsor
boxes done

Thanks for all the info. I ended up pulling out the boxes and rebuilding them properly. The kit worked great! VERY glad i did this BEFORE reinstalling the dash...didn't even scar up my fresh paint. (whew!)
 

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
It is possible to rebuild them in place with the dash out. I did it. Difficult, well not difficult but you need some patience and dexterity, but very doable. I think I wrote a general post on it once but it was years ago.

Paul

I am in the midst of rewiring my car - nearly done! - with Pete Almjeld's kit and thus have my dash off the car and the vent box as accessible as it will ever be. I know they are easier to rebuild off the car, but from surfing the site it is also clear that removing and re-installing them is a PITA. Plus, only one needs rebuilding due to a broken spring and that one is the passenger side, which should be easier. I have a rebuild kit I bought years ago, but for some reason I don't have the instructions. Can anyone scan them and email them to me at 1789alpine at gmail.com. Also, I looked for Paul's write up on doing it in place, but that must have been in an earlier version of the forum. Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks.
 

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
I rebuilt my fresh air vents today without removing them, so I thought I would share how I did it for anyone else interested in doing this the same way.

Before trying it on the car, I rebuilt a loose one that I had from my old parts car. That allowed me to get a good handle on how everything went together, which really helped when it came time to do it on the car. Basically, I just followed the instructions Todd sent me, with a few key modifications.

  1. I used high performance contact cement to glue the aluminum stiffening bar to the new vent door. This made positioning much easier. So much easier that it is probably worth doing this even when rebuilding them off the car. On the car, I think it would be nearly impossible without. You have to carefully force the assembly into the vent, but the plastic is pretty flexible and this can be done without damaging anything.
  2. The hardest part of the entire job was lining up the air deflector with the door assembly while laying on your back. I made this process a little easier by putting double stick carpet tape on the deflector flange. It didn't stick so tight that I couldn't move it around a bit, but with it stuck in place I was able to stick a finger through the opening and maneuver the door assembly into place. I found it easiest to put the two outside rivets in first and only partially tighten them down. Just enough to keep everything together. I then moved over to the three front ones, repeating the process of snugging the rivets but not completely 'popping' them until all were properly in place.
  3. The rain shield can be removed to give you more room to work when you rebuild them off the car. I left it in for my test rebuild and discovered that getting the new springs into the holes on the new doors was a challenge with the shield still in, so I made two slight changes for the 'in car' ones. First, I used my Dremel to 'sharpen' the ends of the springs where they go into the door. I stopped short of actually taking them to a point, but they went in much easier once this was done. Then, to make it easier to find the holes when working blind, I also used a 1/8" drill bit to very slightly enlarge the hole where the spring would be going in. I didn't really drill into it, just used the tip of the drill bit to bevel the opening. The combination of the two made it very easy to slip the springs in, even given the very tight space.
  4. It is good to have a helper who can hold the vent doors open when it comes time to put the springs in, since they have to go in from outside the car. The rain guard on the driver's side was in the way, so I bent it down very slightly so that the spring locating points were accessible. I pulled it back up with a piece of bent steel when I was done.
  5. Even though the driver's side worked, I figured I ought to replace the door while the dash was off. That was probably a good thing, as once off I could see that the hinge was starting to tear. The driver's side was far more difficult than the passenger side, primarily due to the steering column, but also because I was stupid and waited until the wiring was all done and I was about to put the dashboard back in. It would have been a lot easier do it after the old harness was out but before the new one went in. I was able to work around the column and drill out all of the rivets (you will need a long 1/8" drill bit or an extension of some sort, which is how I did it.) However, I couldn't get the riveter in for one of the three door attachment points. It would have been good to glue a small brass nut in place here, as recommended in the instructions for all of the attachment points. I already had all of the rivets partially installed and didn't want to start over so I just used a sheet metal screw there. I am sure that will be fine. (Note: The instructions say the steering column has to be removed in order to remove the vent. if so, rebuilding them on the car has to be far easier than off.)
The whole thing only took me about 3 hours, and I can't imagine that I could have removed, rebuilt and reinstalled them in anywhere near that amount of time. I would definitely do it the same way again.
 
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SASV66

Gold Level Sponsor
Hey Alpine 1789,

Thanks for this aging post on rebuilding the vent boxes in the car. I am trying to decide if I should remove them or try it in place while I have the wiper mechanism and blower assembly out for service. It's been almost 10 years and I am wondering if anyone else has done this in place and can comment?

Much appreciated!
Nick
1966 SV
 

Alpine 1789

SAOCA President
Diamond Level Sponsor
Wow. That was a long time ago! I certainly remember doing it but just re-read it and it feels like I am reading about someone else's work. I'm sure it will come back to me when I have to do it again, but I'm not going to be any help this time around.
 

sunalp

Diamond Level Sponsor
It sounds like they're a PIA either in the car or out. I've never had a particularly hard time removing them or
installing them and you don't have to remove the steering column, or even loosen it.

I like taking them out as I have a much better light on the bench than I would stuffed in a footwell. Not only
that, my back hurt alot on a good day, in the car would be much worse at least for me.
 

volvoguys

Diamond Level Sponsor
I agree with Steve 100%. Having the boxes on the bench is far better than contorting yourself under the dash. Besides, you're going to want to clean out the debris that is laying insides, too.

The 4 rivets that hold each box in place don't need to be drilled out as suggested above. Instead, once the sealing butyl is removed, the rivets can be gently tapped out using a punch driving them inward.

Mark ..... v
 
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