uncleaud Posted February 24, 2023 Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 In short my air vent is stuck in the closed position. With the full travel of the lever it opens only about a quarter inch. I've traveled through all the search post of air vents and during my travels I run across one from Sniper that talked about oiling the pivot points to loosen them up. I believe that is my solution but as it is closed I haven't been able to figure out how to access the pivots. I have the fresh air flapper removed and will have the. heater out in the morning but it still appears that I will have to remove the whole fresh air duct to get to the vent from the underside. If that is so, how does the duct work come out. I see the two small nuts up in the front corners but don't see any other obvious points of attachment. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dodgeb4ya Posted February 24, 2023 Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 Do you have the optional fresh air package too? If so that makes access to lube/ free up the cowl vent lid pivot points even more difficult. Removing the fresh air housing with dual heaters is a very involved job. If that's what you have. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncleaud Posted February 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 yes I have the fresh air housing also, however only the heater on the passenger side. The other was never installed. I assumed that the fresh air package was going to have to be removed. I have the interior completely removed so I can lay on the floor and get to everything fairly easy. I guess I am looking for information on the attachment points for the fresh air duct work. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted February 24, 2023 Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 They were available with either one or two cores along with the fresh air setup. This is mine that I refurbished for my P15. I have both cores but you should have a blank off plate for the driver's side. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncleaud Posted February 24, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 that's what I have, understand all that. what I want to do is remove it and all I see for attachment points are the two small studs and nuts that go through the two holes in the upper corners the photo. I seems there should be more than just the two....thats what I'm looking for. I'm sure is it something obvious and I'm just not getting my eye on it. Thanks for posting the pic. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted February 24, 2023 Report Share Posted February 24, 2023 The actual box is held by the 2 studs at the top and the bottom is pushed up by a stud sorta thing on the cowl vent lever bracket. Towards the driver's side of the lower door you can see the little pocket where that pushes. Then you need to separate the outlet piece that clamps to the top of the heater core. Shows 4 screws I think they all go up from the bottom. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncleaud Posted February 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) Thats the info that I needed. Hard afternoon on my back but I got it out. Wife says there is something wrong with 76 year old men working on 76 year old cars, she may be right! Back to the original problem I started out to solve. The pivot points on the air vent are rusted tight..I've got the first coat of penetrating oil soaking tonight. Anybody out there have a secret weapon that they use for freeing up these kind of frozen joints. Thanks for the help. Afterthought...as my car only has the single heater on the passenger. No evidence that it ever had anything different, is there any reason to put the fresh air duct back in? Edited February 25, 2023 by uncleaud forgot last question Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper Posted February 25, 2023 Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 I ended up playing with the pivots for a couple of days. Had to use heat at one point. I suggest that you be aware of fire hazards, have a fire extinguisher handy, use a fire blanket to shield things. Remember that your penetrating oil is flammable. Be gentle, the other end of the is spot welded to the cowl and if you tear that off you'll be dealing with a bigger issue. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Young Ed Posted February 25, 2023 Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 1 hour ago, uncleaud said: Thats the info that I needed. Hard afternoon on my back but I got it out. Wife says there is something wrong with 76 year old men working on 76 year old cars, she may be right! Back to the original problem I started out to solve. The pivot points on the air vent are rusted tight..I've got the first coat of penetrating oil soaking tonight. Anybody out there have a secret weapon that they use for freeing up these kind of frozen joints. Thanks for the help. Afterthought...as my car only has the single heater on the passenger. No evidence that it ever had anything different, is there any reason to put the fresh air duct back in? It still provides outside air to the heater. In the summer you open both the cowl vent and the inside door and get airflow. In cooler weather or rain you close the lower door and air is forced into the heater core. Unless it's trashed I'd put it back in. The top gasket is easily made and the rectangular door one is available new. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncleaud Posted February 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 Where is the rectangular door gasket available at? I haven't been able to find it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncleaud Posted February 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 1 hour ago, Young Ed said: It still provides outside air to the heater. In the summer you open both the cowl vent and the inside door and get airflow. In cooler weather or rain you close the lower door and air is forced into the heater core. Unless it's trashed I'd put it back in. The top gasket is easily made and the rectangular door one is available new. It's in good shape, thats not it. I just don't see the advantage of outside air necessary for the heater. When it's winter and twenty degrees seems like that would make the heater work even harder to make the car comfy. When its warm could just open the main vent for cooling and not be concerned with the rectangle door. You close the outside vent and open the rectangular door for recycle air when its cold. I might be overthinking, it or possibly under thinking it, but it seems all the levers and doors make a simple process more complicated than need be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUTFXD Posted February 25, 2023 Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 (edited) 18 hours ago, uncleaud said: Back to the original problem I started out to solve. The pivot points on the air vent are rusted tight..I've got the first coat of penetrating oil soaking tonight. Anybody out there have a secret weapon that they use for freeing up these kind of frozen joints. I spent 11 months fighting with mine and trying different things, in the end Heating he pivots for five minutes(approximately) with a propane torch then working them back and forth with a pair of vice grips did it. I then lubricated the pivots with dry silicone lube. The cowl vent now works like a charm! Edited February 25, 2023 by OUTFXD 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncleaud Posted February 25, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 25, 2023 I'll give that a try in the morning. I'm going to buy one of them little mini butane torches and try that. They are small and have a concentrated flame that should be easy to contain. That and my air hose should keep the fire danger down. Will keep you posted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OUTFXD Posted February 26, 2023 Report Share Posted February 26, 2023 I tried one, didnt work for me but hopefully you will have better luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
uncleaud Posted February 27, 2023 Author Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 Didn't work for me either, not patient enough to work at it 11 months? I got a die grinder up there and ground the head of the pivot stud on one side, couldn't lay on my back anymore to get the other one so if all goes well in the morning I should have it out on the bench. Couple quarter inch pins and cotter pins should make good free moving pivots. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper Posted February 27, 2023 Report Share Posted February 27, 2023 (edited) Took me several days, maybe even a week, of farting about with it till I got mine free. I think I was rewiring the car at the same time, so I'd fool with the pivots for a bit, go back to rewiring, fool with the pivots, ect. till I got them free. I tried a lot of different penetrating oils and such, but heat is what got it done. Here's the thread Edited February 27, 2023 by Sniper Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Solution uncleaud Posted March 3, 2023 Author Solution Report Share Posted March 3, 2023 well I finally have free working vents. For those of you who are following along this was what I finally had to do. First of all I used penetrating oil and let it set. Didn't work. Next used butane mini torch and was able to get a wiggle but still wouldn't move. Played with it another day and decided to take a die grinder to it and take the end off the pivot and replace it with quarter inch bolt after I got it all out. Good idea except asI took the end off the pivot I found that it is a brass rivet that doesn't come out even with a punch and hammer. However with end ground off the rivet it did free up and pivot like it should. Got some white grease work into it and it works like new. Probably not done according to Hoyle but it is how I skinned the cat. Have all the air ducts cleaned and painted, just have to craw back under there and put it back together. Hope my back can take it. Thanks for the input. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy 46R Posted March 3, 2023 Report Share Posted March 3, 2023 Just for information when I am contorted under the dash I have an old canvas air mattress that I only inflate about a 1/4 to 1/2 full. It just seems to take the weight off my shoulders and neck and being that thicker material it doesn't puncture easily on any protruding metals. It also makes sliding from side to side a little easier than the rubber matting. Dave Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sniper Posted March 3, 2023 Report Share Posted March 3, 2023 9 hours ago, uncleaud said: Probably not done according to Hoyle Wow, I haven't heard that used since I was a kid, I'm 58 now. That was my old man's favorite thing to say. For those too young to know about it, Hoyle wrote the book on card game rules. He died in 1769, so that tells you how long that phrase has been going around. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edmond_Hoyle Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonaldSmith Posted March 3, 2023 Report Share Posted March 3, 2023 Hoyle "wrote the book" - another phrase from the past. I suppose today one writes the algorithm. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
greg g Posted March 3, 2023 Report Share Posted March 3, 2023 One of my paternal grandmother's favorite figure of speech. She enjoyed card games, pitch, rummy, cribbage, and others, There was a six person game table in her parlor, Hoyle's book in the drawer. She and I and many cousins spent many hours at that table. She also loved Chinese checkers, regular checkers, back gammon, parchesi, scrabble, and Monopoly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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