I have been working on my heater controls, since my control panel arrived today, that I bought from Fred!! Thanks again Fred!!!
I am having a problem with it. I took the box apart and cleaned up any rust I could. I also put wd40 on everything. I put it all back together and I can get the control to move from the heat position to about mid way to the cool position. I have to use a pair of pliers to get the door unstuck to go all the way to cool. Then I can go back toward the heat, half way, and have to use the pliers again to get all the way to the heat. Once it is past that half way point, it will move freely, untill I get back to the half way point! Since it is winter now, I left it on the heat half. So I can have full heat or half heat!! LOL
When I had the box apart, I didn't see anything that the door would hang up on. My box doesn't look warped. The door only has one washer that sits on top of the box when it is all back together. I'm wondering if it is missing any other washers? As far as the slot that the door sits between when the box is together, it looks decent, doesn't look like it would cause a hang up. I wonder if I should have put a dab of grease on the slot to help movement? I read a post that Reed made a while ago, and someone suggested shaving the door down a bit. I wonder if I should have done that? I will leave things alone for now, and later on I will pull it apart again. I am a bit tired of trying to be in that position!! LOL I am happy to report that the heater does work!! The defrost and floor switch also works!!!
Ok, a warning for the other girls on this site that work on your own Pinto! When putting the clips back on the heater core box, don't pull them toward you if you value your finger nails (LOL), push the away from you!! Don't ask me how I know this!!! Ouch, LOL!!!
Oh, and does anyone know where one can get replacement heater ducting? The passenger side duct desenigrated when I tried to move it out of the way!!! I don't even think duct tape will help this poor duct!!! LOL
Yup. Pull the door out and shave a bit off the top and bottom.
Try home depot or Lowe's for new hose (dryer hose) and foam.
Kim do what Reed suggested otherwise give me year you're working on and I will check the pony pile for a duct. Fred :)
Quote from: Fred Morgan on November 14, 2008, 05:46:25 PM
Kim do what Reed suggested otherwise give me year you're working on and I will check the pony pile for a duct. Fred :)
Thanks Fred,
I am working on 71's!! In fact, all three of my cars are 71's!! LOL
Hubby and I have heard of a Pinto in a wrecking yard here in town, so we are going there tomorrow to check it out. If that doesn't pan out, I will contact you to see if you have one or 2 or ......... LOL!!!
Kim
Quote from: pintogirl on November 14, 2008, 05:24:47 PM
The door only has one washer that sits on top of the box when it is all back together. I'm wondering if it is missing any other washers?
I forgot to mention- on both my 71 and the parts 72 Pintos I have worked on, there is only that one little washer on the top of the door. On my 71 the washer came loose and I let it fall into the interior f the box when i put it back together. This gave me enough clearance to allow the door to move freely back and forth without hanging up in the mddle. I think the fiberglass in these heater boxes dries out, warps, and shrinks after 30+ years. I know the 72 box from the parts Pinto was very brittle.
I would recommend using the closed cell appearing foam that often comes on the back side of packaged Motherboards. It is thin, spoungy and seemingly more durable than regular foam. I did this with my car and it worked well. This type of foam is much less likely to absorb moisture.
Basically I spray glued it to both sides, slightly overlapping the edge. Then I fired up the grinder and ground the edge of the overlap to a taper. I didn't take any metal off in doing this. It is just that experience has shown me that many plastic/rubber items grind better than they can be cut.
Tom