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Infernal A body fresh air floor vent doors
https://slantsix.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=33227		 Page 1 of 1
Author:  phogroian [ Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:45 pm ]
Post subject:  Infernal A body fresh air floor vent doors
I hate to rant, but the hinges on those doors simply freeze up, and the rivets end up popping out of the fiberglass door body (passenger side)- - or the metal fatigues from the hinge bending instead of the moving on the pivot and the door comes off, still attached to the broken tab from the hinge plate (driver's side).
This has happened on nearly every A body I've seen, 60s and 70s. Couldn't they have put a little poly washer in there to keep it from seizing? I'm about to re-hinge the vent doors on all my cars, and fashion a removable internal leaf screen while I'm at it. How many of us are driving around with broken, or half-broken doors?
Author:  SlantSixDan [ Thu Jan 08, 2009 1:59 pm ]
Post subject: 
When you drive around in 33- to 46-year-old cars, you wear out weird stuff, like vent box hinges. Photos and reports of the re-hinge process, plee-uz!
Author:  Slanted Opinion [ Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:04 pm ]
Post subject: 
My drivers side vent door seized the first time I opened it, popped the hinges out of the fiberglass quite easily.

A couple of nuts, bolts and washers fixed the problem nicely.

I sprayed lubricant on the other side before I even tried to open it!

-Mac
Author:  polara pat [ Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:05 pm ]
Post subject: 
I've had this problem on lots of my cars too. Even to the point where the hinge will break off of the air box, that's a fun one. It does give you a chance to service the hinge out of car though, then pop rivet it back into place. I'm pretty sure that the problem didn't really pop up until long after warranties had expired, so manufacturers felt no need to address it.
Author:  63pushy [ Thu Jan 08, 2009 2:22 pm ]
Post subject:  damn leaves!
One of my first a-bodies was a 64 Barracuda. Driving with my dad one day on the interstate (30 years ago!), he said "did you know these have have fresh air vents down here?" as he opened the door on the passenger side, which promptly came off in his hand. The cab immediately filled up with old dry itchy leaves. I was still vacuuming leaves out of that car when I sold it. So annoying as these problems are, they still bring a smile to my face.
Author:  wjajr [ Thu Jan 08, 2009 4:41 pm ]
Post subject: 
Ahhh yes, the hinge that will make one become unhinged. My hinges were no different, might as well have been welded. What I did, was to remove the driver's side air chamber, and detach the hinge & door from the black housing. The passenger's side I removed the heater box, as it needed to be totally restored, and cracks repaired. After removing the doors I dosed the hinges with Blaster for about a week, and started to gently work them in a vice with an adjustable wrench so as not to deform the thin metal.

After a while the hinges freed up, however each hinge had a stress crack on the door side of the mechanism that needed to be addressed before reassembly. To fix that weak point, I cut a 3/8 th inch section of # 12 copper electrical wire and soldered it onto the door 90 degrees to the crack. This afforded enough rigidity to allow the hinge to swing without deforming the door, and allowed the door to fully close when mounted with out binding.

Than I cleaned, sanded, primed, painted both sides to the door satin black, and installed new foam from the heater box rebuild kit I purchased form Detroit Muscle. I used epoxy to repair the cracks in the heater box body. Than sanded the repaired area & painted it satin black.

So far the hinges are still working.
Author:  dusterguy225 [ Fri Jan 09, 2009 9:45 pm ]
Post subject: 
Mine were hanging off by one hinge, and wouldn't stay closed! So I duct taped them shut, and rolled down the windows. Plenty of air for me. 8)
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