Passenger Side Heater/Vent Door Question

-
gerahead

gerahead

Glutton for Punishment
Joined
Aug 19, 2009
Messages
893
Reaction score
261
Location
Maple Grove, MN
I hope this is the correct forum for this question. I am rebuilding the non-A/C heater box in my 71 Dart project. The passenger side door in the box won't move and it broke out the lower corner of the fiberglass in the box. I have repaired the broken out rivet hole, but still have to deal with freeing up the hinge point. I believe that it has rusted tight, although there is no visible rust, but the rivets used in the hinge point are really tight. So tight that the little lip around the perimeter of the door tore near the hinge. What have you guys done to successfully loosen up or modify this hinge point to return the door to usability? I have thought about removing the rivets and replacing them with small machine screws, but there is not a lot of room there for that. Any suggestions are appreciated! Thanks in advance!

Jim
 
you could try soaking in evaporust overnight to see if that loosens it up.


When I refurbished my DS fresh air door, I cut some strips of steel, drilled and painted them and used them to reinforce the hinge attachment point. should work on the PS box too?

IMG_2849.JPG

IMG_2851.JPG
 

j_anderson​

I did soak the door in Evaporust overnight when I de-rusted all the internal doors and clips. It didn't seem to help much. I have also tried to squirt in some PTFE dry lube to see if that helps (still working on that). When I repaired the corner, I cut a piece of steel to fit into the broken out corner and bonded it into the corner with JB Weld on the inside and used the JB to reform the outer corner. That should be fully cured later today. My plan was to do similar to your fix when I reattach the door.
 
gerahead said:

j_anderson​

I did soak the door in Evaporust overnight when I de-rusted all the internal doors and clips. It didn't seem to help much. I have also tried to squirt in some PTFE dry lube to see if that helps (still working on that). When I repaired the corner, I cut a piece of steel to fit into the broken out corner and bonded it into the corner with JB Weld on the inside and used the JB to reform the outer corner. That should be fully cured later today. My plan was to do similar to your fix when I reattach the door.
Click to expand...
Might need some heat. If you can't get it to break free with heat, maybe drill the hinge rivets if you can find replacements that are that small? It might just be too far gone.
 
I didn't use evaporust, but I did use molasses and water. Probably sat in the solution for a month. Hinge is now free, but still haven't reattached it to the box.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
-

Back
Top