heater control repair non ac

[1969burb]

I pulled my control apart to see why the levers were loose, and found all four rivets? that hold the main support body for the cables were pulled away from the face plate. I did not have a support on the rear of the control, but i am assuming there was something there from the factory. Does anyone know of a way to resecure this without drilling holes through the faceplate for new rivets or nuts/bolts? I don't know if this type of metal would take welding of any kind. I found a couple of these controls in trucks at a local wrecking yard and they all had the nut/bolt repair already done to them. I'm sure it works just fine, just ugly to look at. So i'm obviously not the first one to have this problem. any suggestions would be appreciated. thanks, steve

[Robert1970C20rstbukt]

I've tried almost everything I could think of, but I ended up drilling holes and using small machine bolts and nuts on the one in my truck. It works good and doesn't look too bad and it's a lot cheaper than having to buy a new assembly. Just my .02.

[krue]

You can't really do anything with the pot metal the originals are made of in my experience. I may be wrong tho, I hope so cuz I got the same problem ya'll do.

[jhow66]

Get some small "button" head bolts in stainless. Polish and they will blend right in-will look nice as they use a allen wrech.

[tnblazerk5]

isnt there a repair kit for that ? i seen sum kinda repair kit a Tims Christians shop but i dont remember what all was in it ? i know there was arms and a new face plate but cant remmeber what else was in there

[1969burb]

all of the kits i have seen have levers and new sticker/trim for the front of the panel, nothing to make the repair i need. I might try to use rivets through the face since the heads would be fairly shallow, then use something to space up and apply the new trim from one of these kits.

[jhwkns]

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=179952

I drilled,and tapped mine from the back side. I cut the screws flush. The new face sticker covered everything.

[krue]

Cool.

[Tx Firefighter]

Countersunk rivets, then the new face plate over them.

Use an AN426AD4 rivet

[muddpile]

So, are those repair kits mentioned in the other thread worth getting? I have one broken lever, and the background is dirty, but the bezel is fine and everything seems tight.

[pebbleboy]

Mine did that same thing right before the first snowfall

I just drilled holes in mine and pop rivited it back together. It looks ok
But works great

[jhwkns]

Originally Posted by muddpile

So, are those repair kits mentioned in the other thread worth getting? I have one broken lever, and the background is dirty, but the bezel is fine and everything seems tight.

I thought the kit was overpriced, but the results are nice..

[Solver]

I have had the same problem a couple of times.
Most of the time the back of the original rivet is still there just the flange is gone. I use a really large drop of JB Weld on the back side of the rivet and alittle extra around the area. it"s kind of like rebuilding the back of the original rivet. So far It has worked well for me and I have done 2 or 3 like this.
Might give that a try before drilling the face!!

[1969burb]

this is why this board is so great! ideas abound! thanks for all the replies. was there some kind of factory support for the rear of the control?

[CG]

ive gone the jb weld route also and it worked fine. while you have it all apart its a good time to lube those cables and pivots.

[soundspecilist]

I have been through this several times also. I just bought a whole new unit from Early Classic (GREAT resource for everything!). What I found is the cable that goes to the center lever is under so much tension that it is constantly pulling on the unit, eventually causing the rivets to pull loose. What I did on this new unit is I left the center cable disconnected and it hasn't given me a problem. The other end of the cable is right below the heater unit, easily accessible. So I use the top lever for Defroster/Heater vent split, and the bottom one to control the amount of heat. The center one is just for the fan speed. When the 2 working levers are closed (to the left), there is little or no heat that comes out of it. Once summer arrives, just reach down and flip the door closed that the center one controls to shut off 100% of the heat. Sounds Mickey Moused, but it beats tearing up a $120 heater unit.