Question for those who have rebuilt non-AC heater box.

[AR67GTX]

Rebuild is fairly straight forward except I'm kind of stumped on the heater/defrost diverter door seal. For some reason the Detroit Muscle instructions completely skip over this one door and I'm not missing any pages in the instructions. The door is of sandwich construction - two metal plates sandwiched around a foam seal and riveted together. Mine has been bead blasted so the exposed foam around the edges is gone.

It looks like the procedure to do this would be to drill the heads of the rivets off and separate the two plates, replace the foam and rivet the whole thing back together in some fashion. A lot of work to be totally omitted from the instruction guide.

Or, I guess the foam seal could just be glued to the exterior surface of the door.

Those who have rebuilt these - what did you do with this door. Picture of door below.

Thanks for any help on this

 

[gkent]

Here's are some shots of mine from a '69 B-body. This is a shot of the original - before resto. I didn't take any "after" shots but I suspect mine had enough material to reuse. I don't think that particular gasket is part of the kit. Maybe call one of the heater restorers and ask if they'll sell you a decent plate.

 

[dan juhasz]

I did exactly what you suggest. I separated the door ,replaced the foam and don't remember if I riveted or used small machine screws and nuts but it worked out fine.

 

[zyzzyx]

I have a 68 GTX and my door does not have the two piece design with the rivets!
Got my kit from Detroit Muscle too.

 

[AR67GTX]

Here's are some shots of mine from a '69 B-body. This is a shot of the original - before resto. I didn't take any "after" shots but I suspect mine had enough material to reuse. I don't think that particular gasket is part of the kit. Maybe call one of the heater restorers and ask if they'll sell you a decent plate.

View attachment 1150126 View attachment 1150127 View attachment 1150128 View attachment 1150129

I found a seal in the kit that appears to be correct so I believe they do provide it. There is also a vague description in parts “Heat/defrost door charcoal foams. These are 2 different size foams. Different years used different sized doors.”

But that’s the last mention in the instructions.

 

[gkent]

Post a photo of that gasket ... maybe it will refresh my memory.

 

[AR67GTX]

I’ve already installed it. It was just a rectangular piece of sheet foam about 3/8” larger than the metal door.

I used a large bit to grind off the mushroom part of the rivets and allow separating the two door halves. I installed the gasket, put a dab on Gorilla gel super glue around the rivets and used a punch and nail set to try to re-anchor the rivet shanks. Then to be sure it doesn’t ever come apart I found two small, short screws and drilled pilot holes near the ends to run them into to ensure it doesn’t ever pop apart.

 

[Wietse]

This is a pic of my '69 Coronet heaterbox during rebuild.