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Solution for Leaking Air Grabber Switch With Clippard Toggle Valve

SixBarrelBill

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I've almost finished converting my 70 Roadrunner to an Air Grabber setup. Every part is a new after market component. I have 2 major issues trying to get it to function properly, one is the new actuator which won't hold vacuum and the other is the new toggle valve or more commonly referred to as the switch. The new switch was replaced by the vendor with another new one and it leaks as well. I have taken them a part, added grease and they still leak. I decided I would ditch those crappy plastic valves and replace with a modern solution. From the outside it appears factory but it's modern behind the scenes.

Now, I saw this some where and I can't remember where. I have searched this site for the information and have not come up with it. I should have book marked it when I saw it. So, I did not come up with this solution on my own but I wanted it out there and searchable for others. I'm sure there are other ways to accomplish this and improve on it but I hope it helps.

I started by buying a Clippard MJTV-5 4 way valve with 1/8" NPT off of Amazon for $31.88. This is the type of valve you want because it has 2 outputs on the bottom and one always pulls air. The center hole you see in the pic is the inlet and the other two are exhausts.
Clippard1.jpg


Next I shaved the handle on the valve to press fit the plastic handle like the original.
Clippard2.jpg


Note: Not pictured here, I shaved a little plastic off of the top and bottom of the red handle so I could fit it further onto the toggle.
Clippard3.jpg

I then added brass hose fittings that I also got off of Amazon for $5.09 each. They are 1/8" Male NPT x 1/8" Barb.
Clippard4.jpg


I had already cut the hole for the switch in the original location as well as the plastic dash cover. Naturally this won't work with the new valve so I cut 2"x2" piece of metal I had laying around to cover the round hole. Drilled a hole in the center to fit the new valve through, attached the valve, put the plastic dash back on and test fitted several times before I locked it down.
NewPlateValve.jpg


Attach the hoses behind the dash (the top hose was a little tricky).
ValveBehindDash.jpg


Then, assemble for the final time and test. In my car I have 12in vacuum at the manifold and when I tested each hose at the actuator (scoop open and closed) I still have 12in vacuum. No more leaky switch!
NewFinal.jpg
 
Perfect example of thinking outside the box when these Imported repop defective out of the box junk parts can’t do the job

A plus bill !!!
 
It does suck buying new parts and not having them function as they're supposed to. The crappy part is I basically have a $200 red handle that I could use.

Next is dealing with the actuator. I've got a replacement on the way and it better work.
 
Nice job. You could add these on the open ports to prevent dust and anything else from being sucked into the valve.

vent filter.jpg
 
It does suck buying new parts and not having them function as they're supposed to. The crappy part is I basically have a $200 red handle that I could use.

Next is dealing with the actuator. I've got a replacement on the way and it better work.
Trust me I know the feeling I just bought some trim for the pedals and I had to mod some of it to fit it took almost an hour between test fitting on and off then cleaning again etc

But to top it off was the e brake trim wouldn’t fit over the rubber pad so I just got it over and decided to live with that. No way I was going to get rid of a few mms so I just live with now
 
Love it, well done and thanks for sharing the process. I'm going to get started on this one. That's a big bonus for us 1970 n96 folks who lost their OEM switch.
 
Love it, well done and thanks for sharing the process. I'm going to get started on this one. That's a big bonus for us 1970 n96 folks who lost their OEM switch.

Thank you and that's great! That was my whole intention was to hopefully help those with a similar situation.
 
Last time I "looked" at competing my Air Grabber parts I need for it to fully function, I checked with Herb's.
Out of ALL the sources for AG parts, they seem to have the best combination of price and availability.
https://www.herbsparts.com/products.php?cat=586

I believe that Herbs Parts was purchased by AMS OBSOLUTE PARTS.
www.amsnos.com. AMS is the old Frank Mitchell's parts fmmparts.com. and very difficult to get information about anything plus very high prices.
Allen Wilson at. www.n96airgrabber.com/products.asp?cat=10. Is s good source for air grabber actuator and under dash solenoid valve and the dash mounted control valve, aka switch.
BOB RENTON
 
good source for air grabber actuator
I tried everything I could on my smartphone to find the "vacuum operated" actuator for Air Grabber and I only see one page of Air Grabber parts! And it’s not there, neither are a lot of AG stuff.
 
What about 3D printing your $200 red handle? Could make a few bucks.
 
I tried everything I could on my smartphone to find the "vacuum operated" actuator for Air Grabber and I only see one page of Air Grabber parts! And it’s not there, neither are a lot of AG stuff.


Wilson's will rebuilt your actuator... He's been doing them for many years & the ones I had done back in the 90's are still working....
 
Wilson's will rebuilt your actuator... He's been doing them for many years & the ones I had done back in the 90's are still working....
Actually it was in decent condition, until it got flooded in one of "those" weather events. I had it in a 5 gal bucket on the floor of my ground level garage, and when sea level became higher than that during a flood, the bucket tipped over and when I compressed the actuator, water shot out.
 
Nice job:thumbsup:

When I was putting my Charger together I didn't want all of those hoses going through the firewall so I used solenoid actuated vacuum valves. Ford used them to actuate their 4WD, readily available just about anywhere.
 
Nice job:thumbsup:

When I was putting my Charger together I didn't want all of those hoses going through the firewall so I used solenoid actuated vacuum valves. Ford used them to actuate their 4WD, readily available just about anywhere.
Interesting concept, sounds like a worthwhile thing to do. If, possible, please provide a list of the solenoid valves you used, a possible source for them, and a schematic diagram of how the valves are connected, both vacuum snd electrically. I may want to connect my N96 this way.
BOB RENTON
 
Interesting concept, sounds like a worthwhile thing to do. If, possible, please provide a list of the solenoid valves you used, a possible source for them, and a schematic diagram of how the valves are connected, both vacuum snd electrically. I may want to connect my N96 this way.
BOB RENTON
My application may differ because in my case it was for opening the headlight doors. In my case the high and low beam wires were used to trigger relays both for the headlight relays and the solenoids, since both high and low beam activate the solenoids I had to use diodes to prevent backfeeding one to the other. Since they require vacuum to open and to close I used two vacuum solenoids, one wired to the normally open contacts and the other to the normally closed contacts on the relay which are only powered with the key on.

I'm pretty sure I did a thread on it or put it in my build thread, I'll look for it later.


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