self-opening Hehr vent?

[gwchitty]

Hi Guys,

Ever since I cleaned and lubricated my Hehr vent lifters on my 65 Caravel, the darn vent wants to slowly open while I am towing. I put a heavy-duty rubber band between the two lifter knobs but that didn't work as well as I had hoped. It simply acted as a belt and the cover opened evenly.

Is there a good vintage solution for this?

Cosmos

[Inland RV Center, In]

Originally Posted by cosmos

Hi Guys,

Ever since I cleaned and lubricated my Hehr vent lifters on my 65 Caravel, the darn vent wants to slowly open while I am towing. I put a heavy-duty rubber band between the two lifter knobs but that didn't work as well as I had hoped. It simply acted as a belt and the cover opened evenly.

Is there a good vintage solution for this?

Cosmos

That has always been the problem with the old operators, especially when you lube them..

Once they open, they most llikely will fly off when on the road.

A good bunge cord may help.

Andy

[RickDavis]

I had to use a bungee cord on mine between the operators for months after I used wd 40 on them. Just the nature of the beast

[gwchitty]

Thanks guys, I guess I'll go with the bungee solution. If I can come up with anything else I'll pass the idea on. I plan to maintain my lifters in good lubricated condition, so this problem isn't going to go away.

[memgrove2000]

I dont have one of theese vents but I think I get what is happening. I picture theese vents having a Knob on both ends (one to open each end?) When they are closed can the handles be lined up? If so why couldent you gat a piece of pipe (metal conduit or PVC comes to mind) and cut a slot in each end (one end longer that the other) so the pipe would slide over one end then the other. Then if needed you could put a removable pin of some sort (think the same pin that holds the drawbar in the hitch reciever) to hold it from falling out while towing. The idea is just to keep the handles from turnning so there would not need to be any pressure on this setup.

Just a thought... a pice of flexible tubing might work as well... same concept no retainer pin?... Just a thought...

[gwchitty]

You are on the right track Memgrove2000. The fan motor hangs down in between the knobs so using pipe or better yet aluminum tube is complicated. I think I can use many of your ideas if I trace the shape of the knob on a small square of 1/4 inch plywood. I could mill a slot out in that shape, attach another block of wood in an angle fashion, and slip this over the knob. Then if the knob turns, the angle block hits the vent opening and stops the knob. If I make one for each knob I could hang these on the knobs and use the pin retainer idea. Its a bit like a Chinese wood puzzle so I may just resort to the heavy bungee cord idea. If I make some of these wooden things I'll post a picture.

[samb]

Put your heavy duty rubber band on the knobs in a figure eight fashion. That way it will be trying to close one lifter (which is already closed) as it tries to open the other. If the band does not slip it cannot open. Just a thought??????? Pretty easy if it works. I am going to try it on mine.
Sam

[gwchitty]

Ok, here's what I came up with. I used 3/8 plywood for the main part and 1/4 plywood for the sliding part. It looks like it'll work ok but I also like the simple "figure 8" rubber band idea.