On Mar 9, 6:14 pm, N8N <njna...@[EMAIL PROTECTED]
> wrote:
> I bet someone's already figured this out, but I figured I'd post in
> case a couple of you might not have... I've got a '93 F-150, actually
> pretty good shape overall although both bumpers need attention. But
> inside, those crappy vent assemblies made it look very ghetto, because
> of course like all Fords "of a certain age" all the vanes in any given
> assembly point every which way. Well I figured I'd see if I could fix
> them myself rather than pay the $25 apiece for new ones from LMC.
> turns out all of the vanes were busted in the same place - a little
> molded plastic pin that fits into a sliding piece to keep all the
> vanes pointed in the same direction. You can remove the vanes simply
> by bending them slightly in the middle. So I pulled 'em all out, used
> an unbusted one as a template, and inserted a piece of wire in the
> busted ones. I just drilled a hole in the end where the little
> plastic nib was broken off - I think I used a #52 or #51 drill bit, I
> forget, and a pin vise - and inserted a piece of 14AWG copper wire.
> Then I snipped the piece of copper off just a little longer than it
> needed to be and finished with a flat bastard file. Reassembled et
> voila, un-ghettofied vent assemblies, all for the cost of some scrap
> wire that I was going to throw out anyway.
>
> I'd keep them lubed up well with silicone or other non-greasy lube,
> because I can't remember the last time I saw a truck that didn't have
> at least one broken vane...
>
> nate
Well now I can... about five minutes ago! It's a beautiful sight.
just had to wait for the epoxy to dry on one vane (used a #50 drill
bit on the first one I tried, and that was too big for 14AWG wire
without glue.)
kinda proud of myself at the moment...
nate
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