kansas123

On my 72 air conditioned car, it must be pretty clear to someone out there, I hope, how the bottom of that door is attached? The top has a spring loaded pivot point, so I'm guessing the bottom, which has no spring, pivots freely in a hole? AIM is not clear on this, but I don't wanna pry on it and break anything; the top is free, do I then push the top out and pry up on the bottom to free it? Thanks. Am wanting to remove the door so that I can apply new seals....before someone says "why dont you just permanently seal it shut" I'll answer that I don't want to.

mrvette

The inner door comes out super easy....that's all I remember on my '72 a/c vert.....been only 20 years since I removed it.....and it's not sealed shut, the one that IS sealed shut is the outside air one, buried up in the fender, gotten to with max effort, and removal of blower motor....I cut/patched the fender liner years ago for access, just unscrew the patch...been that way for 20 years now....permanent recirculation....FLORIDA is the prime reason....YMMV.....

Alan 71

Hi K,
On a non a/c car the upper pivot-pin is spring loaded.
Pull it down and TIP the top of the door toward the side of car.
This will allow the bottom pin to leave it's hole and the door can be pulled into the car bottom first.
The procedure to install it is just the oposite.
Maybe this will work on an a/c car too?
Regards,
Alan

kansas123

Thanks, I'll try to pry it out. Yay!

7T1vette

It'll work. You don't have to "pry"; just pull the upper (spring-loaded) pin down, tip out the top portion of the door, then lift and remove the bottom pin from it's pivot hole.

P.S. If you need to replace the seal on that door, you can drill out the rivets, cut a new seal (larger than the old worn-out seal) from an 8"x10" sheet of "craft foam" you can buy at Michael's Craft Store (or other craft store), install the seal, reassemble the door parts, and pop-rivet it back together. That whole job will take you a couple of hours...after you make a run for the craft foam.

P.S. When I pulled that door the first time and had to "find" seal material, I walked into my wife's craft room and asked her if she had seen any material like that seal stuff. She immediately turned and went to a drawer and said, "What color do you want?" A sheet of black craft foam is EXACTLY like the original stuff!

kansas123

Thanks....for whatever reason, my door is being somewhat stubborn. But today is another day...I shall try again this afternoon.

Alan 71

Hi K,
The original 'seal' material can become quite 'stiff' from age making it difficult to move the door around in the plenum opening.
I found it helps to push the top of the door toward the outside of the car and then tip the door so it comes out of the plenum bottom first.
When you get the door out you'll see there is a 'ramp' on the top surface of the plenum that compresses the top pin automatically as the top of the door is pulled back into position.
Regards,
Alan

kansas123

Well I did manage to get the door out; by the way, while the bottom pin is fixed and just sits in that hole, when I removed the door, that bottom pin had a groove around it about 1/4" up from the end, almost like it wanted a c-clip on it; was uniform all the way around. However, after I installed new gasket membrane, I merely dropped the door back in the way it was. Thanks to the new/used vacuum actuator, the door works perfectly! Was able to fix my courtesy light switch while I was in there also.

By the way, earlier in this thread I think someone mentioned a door that some owners seal that is in that area; I presumed it was the door I just fixed and reinstalled. Is that it or is there another door down there that people seal?

Thanks

'75

The one that some people seal is at the right end of the wiper tray.

kansas123

Thanks, I'll look for it. I presume that if that door is sealed, then the position of the inner door makes no difference?

7T1vette

The outer door is the 'fresh air inlet'; it can be open or closed during vehicle operation, depending on the HVAC system's settings. The inner door can allow fresh air in or keep fresh air out; but it can pass conditioned air, as well (also depending on system settings).

The outer door is supposed to be closed whenever the vehicle is parked (ignition OFF).

'75

The blower motor will get air from the fresh air, the one in the wiper tray or the recirc air, the one in the right kick panel. If you seal the fresh one, then you should probably block the kick panel one open. On max AC, the kick panel vent should be open and the fresh air door closed. On later model C3's the temperature cable hits a vacuum valve to actuate the doors.