Task Force - DIY Vent Door Rebuild

[Dan in Pasadena]

It appears there is no source for replacement air vent doors or the rubber for them.

I intended to reinstall mine but I’ve since bought the vent delete panel. But since I have the doors and the rubber was shot I decided to rebuild them myself. I will install them but not attach the cables - better than losing track of them. I can always do that later if I change my mind.

You have to drill out the rivets that hold the two sides together.

I wire wheeled the surface rust off the sheet metal parts and re-sprayed them in satin Rustoleum black.

Home Depot sells 6”x6” rubber sheets in their plumbing department. That’s too small for the larger of the two doors and if I lived in a cold climate I’d buy larger rubber from eBay. But since I won’t be relying on these and live in SoCal I’m not worried about using two pieces to rebuild the larger door.

I traced my old rubber onto the rubber and cut using ordinary scissors. THIS WAS A MISTAKE! The old rubber is all bent and dried out. As you can see from the old rubber, the seal portion was uneven. Plus you can’t get an accurate trace. If I had it to do over again I’d clamp the full piece of rubber, pop rivet the two sides together and trim to fit in the vent opening.

Home Depot rubber comes two sheets to a pack. One red and one black. Not a big deal (to me) but if it bothers you you’ll have to buy more packages. I hope this helps someone.

[Rude Dude]

Dan
ClassicParts.com has the vent seals part number 34-303 price $4.00 The instructions say gently pry the two pieces and remove old rubber without removing rivets with screwdriver then install new rubber in reverse order

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Rude Dude

Dan
ClassicParts.com has the vent seals part number 34-303 price $4.00 The instructions say gently pry the two pieces and remove old rubber without removing rivets with screwdriver then install new rubber in reverse order

NOW you tell me! Oh well.

[Daze57]

dan

i was able to get the seal pieces and what i found was the ones i got were way to thin --tore up in no time -went thru 2 sets --and that is with prying the vents apart .
your iidea seemed to work well -- looks great with the rubber sheets .
i used a old truck tire inner tube and worked it all out .
came out pretty good -- and have alot left over in case somehow it gets torn.

[ChuckDriver]

Great job Dan! I think the way you did it is much better than prying it apart to slip in the seal. Plus I used the replacements on mine and they didn't last a year!

[Dan in Pasadena]

Well, i’m glad the effort I went to wasn’t completely in vain.

Man, replacements last a year when originals lasted 60+ years? Geez. Maybe someone will be looking for info about these doors and seals in the future and can use the photos. Thanks for the input guys!

[Russell Ashley]

This is how I did mine. I didn't want to break the spot welds when I pried the edges open so I put vice grips on the spot welds. It worked well. I have rubber pads for my vice and that's how I closed them back. This was six years ago and the seals are still in good shape.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

This is how I did mine. I didn't want to break the spot welds....

Are you “mis-remembering”? Mine were riveted not spot welded.

[dsraven]

if you need some of that rubber sheet you could also try a plumbing store and ask for the rubber gasket material used on pipe flanges. comes on a roll I think, in case you need some rubber for another project.

[Russell Ashley]

Originally Posted by Dan in Pasadena

Are you “mis-remembering”? Mine were riveted not spot welded.

Dan, It wouldn't be the first thing I have "mis-remembered", but in this case I was right. I went out and shined a light through the vent covers and my doors are definitely spot welded. My seals still look good from what I could see but my truck stays in the garage and with a/c I don't open and close them very often, which might help keep them in good condition. I probably got the seals at Bowtie Bits but don't remember for sure.

[Dan in Pasadena]

Interesting that some were spot welded and some were riveted. Mine appeared to be totally original, not like the cheapo pop rivets I used to replace them.

Oh well, I suppose it’s just another example of the slight differences among these trucks! Thanks for checking!

[ChuckDriver]

Mine are spot welded.

[Dan in Pasadena]

JJ - I wonder if the riveted vent doors were holdovers from the ‘54’s and earlier. Mine’s a ‘55.2’s. Mybe GM switched to spot welds later since yours is a ‘57 and Russ’ is a ‘56? Probably saved them $.0004 per truck! Lol

[Russell Ashley]

Mine is a 57 made in Atlanta. Parts like this were probably farmed out to local shops so that could be the difference. I have read that 57 cars made in California had some differences to cars made farther east so I guess maybe the plants had some flexibility as long as the parts met spec and function properly.