Ball Bearing Ashtray Disassembly

[cericd]

Is there a "best" way to remove the ball bearing slider section of this ashtray without damaging anything? Also, anyone know the part number for the little rubber bumper at the back of the tray? I'm wanting to disassemble this one and have it refinished. Were the trays clear zinc from the factory?

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by cericd

Is there a "best" way to remove the ball bearing slider section of this ashtray without damaging anything? Also, anyone know the part number for the little rubber bumper at the back of the tray? I'm wanting to disassemble this one and have it refinished. Were the trays clear zinc from the factory?

I don't know the number for the bumpers, but they should be somewhat easy to find. LMC, Classic Heartbeat, Classic industries, etc.

My 71 has rails instead of ball bearings, it slides into a plastic mounted to the housing. Up or down and out, something like, but I can't speak for yours. I know it's zinc at least in places, though perhaps the bowl is stainless? I wouldn't run and sand it without knowing it's stainless, I polished mine for a restoration using just a metal polish.

Mine was painted along with the rest of the dash, factory. Looks like they just pulled it out from the dash some, and sprayed away.

[68 C10 Driver]

I just pried the mechanism off of the ashtray being careful not to lose the ball bearings. I cleaned everything and re-lubed it. Works great!

[cericd]

Thanks for the info guys. I think I may have removed the ball bearing rail from my original astray about 12 years ago, to clean and lube it up. Thought I remembered carefully prying it off but my memory is a little hazy. Lol.