blower fan box-78 280Z

[One Way]

Continuing to rebuild the smaller components on the 78 resurrection project.  There are a few small pin holes that can be easily repaired in the fan housing.  Fan motor bench tests very nicely.  Will be needing new foam seals throughout the assembly.  My main concern is the housing section with the door that opens and closes.  It is badly rusted and seized.  I am soaking it in BLASTER over the weekend and hope to tackle this project on Monday.  It is so badly rusted it is difficult to determine how the door is attached to the pivot shaft.  My plan was to remove the shaft and fabricate a new door and seal material.  It is very strange as we dig into this car and find so many pieces beautifully preserved at 40 years old and other parts right next to them are so badly deteriorated.  So many of the other components in this heater system look like brand new with just a quick cleaning.  Thanks for any helpful ideas, John-Lugoff, SC.

[Patcon]

You might want to try one of the rust dissolver products from Eastwood or maybe even CLR to clean the hinge

[One Way]

EVAPO-RUST has been a great product in this project.  In fact I just purchased a new gallon the other day as my old jug of magic seemed to be losing it's potency a bit after about 3 years of use.  The gel dissolver seems to work well on bigger pieces that will not fit my varied size containers used to soak parts with the liquid EVAPO-RUST.  Still trying to figure out how the door is attached to the hinge pin.  I am sensing a tedious fabrication project or a search for a good used part for that section of the blower housing.  Keep the helpful tips coming.  Wish I had a whole tank load of EVAPO-RUST to fit the whole car into.  Thanks, John-Lugoff, SC.

[grannyknot]

John, there are two C clips on the hinge shaft for that door right up against the housing, pop those off and there should be enough room to slip off the short end of the shaft and hopefully get a look of how that door is attached to the hinge shaft. Pretty tight in there.

Edited July 29, 2018 by grannyknot

[One Way]

Thanks for the info.  Tomorrow  is my day off from work-the paycheck kind-and am planning on tackling some yard work, blower fan housing, and whatever work-the no paycheck kind-that may come my way.  I will keep you updated on any progress.  Thanks, John.

[One Way]

As usual, BLASTER did it's job.  Very slight persuasion with the pliers got the hinge and door moving freely.  After rotating I was able to see 2 small Phillips head screws, or better stated, what was left of 2 Phillips head screws, attaching the door to the hinge pin.  Some heat and patience got the screws removed and the shaft came out easily after removing the small E clips as suggested in the previous post.  Unfortunately a new door will have to be fabricated and will have to source some type of foam covered with a vinyl material that was on both sides of a badly rusted door.  The more difficult part may be the hinge pin.  One section of it is 30-40% rotted away.  That will be a project for another day.  Keep the helpful tips coming, especially for what would be an available material suitable for covering the door.  Thanks, John-Lugoff, SC.

[One Way]

The strange thing is that much of the blower fan housing looks almost as nice as the pictures from grannyknot but rusted out in a few areas.  Hard to figure, but I will be spraying it with some rust converter followed by some primer and chassis epoxy paint.