Reached under the dash while driving to cut down some of the incoming airflow from the drivers side hurricane vent today....

And it was got really floppy after starting to move it.

After I stopped, I took a look. Bottom hinge broke off.


The hinges are only sheet metal, crimped somehow to make a hinge.


HOW CHEESY.


So now I have to figure out how to make a repair bracket.

and

LUBE THE PASSENGER SIDE so it doesn't break too.

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Uh…have a little perspective, willya? The car is most of half a century old! When you drive a car so far past the right edge of the bell curve of vehicle life expectancy, you're going to wear out or break stuff most car owners never have to think about. You're going to wear out the chrome plating on your dashboard plastic. You're going to wear out your ignition key. You're going to break the vent door hinge.
There was an article on using a cabinet hinge to repair the vent box doors, in one of the old Slant-6 News magazines. Don't recall which one, and even if I did, my collection's thousands of miles and an international border away.
Very good idea.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Could it be, THIS ONE?

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

The car has only 20,000 miles on it.

Hinges shouldn't wear out in 20,000 miles.....

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

Well, at best, that vent was built 25 years ago. How about 25 years of exposure to humidity?

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

Reed:

1. Yes, that's the one. Good find!

2. How d'you reckon it could be as young as 25 years old?

Ed: It's a hinge. Its state of health is measured not just in miles but in years. Hinges have to be lubed no matter how few miles they have on 'em.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Last American a-body rolled off assembly line in 75, so yeah, I guess you are right, it would be 35 years old. My bad math again...

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

...76.

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一期一会
Too many people who were born on third base actually believe they've hit a triple.

Picky, picky. Yeah, EARLY 76.

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Casually looking for a Clifford hyperpak intake for cheap.

My Feather Duster is Date coded March 30th,1976...I thought at one time Mopar Action had done an article on the "last" A-body a long time back,
and I thought it had rolled off the line in late April/early May...I think the end of the model year is typically around June/July, but each line ends earlier or later depending on popularity/sales/design changes/etc...

Maybe Dan might know where to dig up the final run dates for the 1976 model year?

Cool Trivia!

-D.Idiot

My 64 valiant's hinges are busted. I leave em open all the time. I never drive it in winter and if I do the heater is so hot it overpowers the cold. my 64 dart however they work perfect! factory fresh. I do like that repair though. may have to do that.

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64' Valiant Signet 5.9, 64' Dart 170 moredoor 3.7, 67' A100 3.7, 00' Dakota SLT 4.7

Good thing your an Atty?????
Frank

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Scrapple: Because a mind is a terrible thing to waste.
73 Duster - Race Car
66 Dart Wagon - DD
178" FED
82 D150
All Slant powered

One will find that as the cowl air plenum fills with debris, and its drains become blocked, as well as leaking wiper seals, moisture will migrate directly to the lower kick panel air vent door hinge causing corrosion. If that door is not used regularly it will seize, at which point one of two destructive events will take place on the next opening event: the hinge will be ripped apart; or the plastic housing point of attachment will fail from bending.

The second event is easily repaired with epoxy, ripped hinge is not so easy to fix. So far every nut & bolt, and pivoting device on my 67 Dart has come apart rust free excepting both lower [url=http://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?p=221488&highlight=heater+box#221488]
air box hinges [/url]which were rusted rock solid tight**. After careful removal of driver’s side vertical air plenum, and the hinges from the passenger’s side heater box, I soaked the hinges in PB Blaster for several days and gently started to work each hinge until both became freely moving.

Both hinges were bent and partially ripped with only one or two cycles left to go until failure. For a fix I cut a three eighths inch length of #12 solid copper wire, and soldered it 90 degrees to the hinge to reinforce the rip’s location. If handy and have the tools, you may be able to solder a sheet metal patch, re-drill and install a new pin, small rivet, or nut & bolt to keep a stock look. It is a bit more work than the “Early American Lookâ€￾ hinge retrofit. But hey, if you like the Early A Look using an “Hâ€￾ hinge right out of a 50's vintage House beautiful magazine…

I looked for a phtograph of this fix, but have none.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

Looks like the plastic airbox is riveted to the steel plenum........

No screws holding it on....



But I can get to the hinge rivets with a dremel from the inside........

Then once the kickpanel is removed, the hinge should come right off...



(I hope)

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Ed
64 Valiant 225 / 904 / 42:1 manual steering / 9" drum brakes

emsvitil
[quote]Looks like the plastic airbox is riveted to the steel plenum........

No screws holding it on....[/quote]

Which side of the car are you referring to?

I have a 67 Dart, perhaps your 64 air passageways are different. I know there were a lot of structure changes in 67, so take what I’m saying with a grain of salt.

Driver’s side plenum is held in place by three nuts on studs protruding down from the cowl, and one is hard to see & reach. Remove the three nuts using a long socket extension, and the whole assembly drops down to the floor.

Passenger’s side:

The heater box & fresh air plenum are all one big assembly held up to the cowl by a long “Jâ€￾ rod, hooked, and hanging down from the round air inlet rim in the cowl and passing through the bottom of the air chamber behind the metal fresh air door, all held in place by a single nut. If you remove the kick panel, and can access the nuts inside behind the air door with pliers, you should be able to back off the external screws holding the hinge to the box with a stubby or offset screw driver.

I hope you have the flexibility of a wiry supple teenager as this task will put excessive demands an old well worn carcass, at least it did mine, and I had the front seats out when repairing my heater box, and hinges.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC