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.