Re: 88 5K HVAC Recirc. Door

[Wallace White <wallace@remdesign.com>]

> The correct part number for the metal bracket which the TSB specifies to
> hold the vacuum servo is 200 271 200.  List price is $10.92.  It is a
> substantial sucker.  I can't see how it goes in to mount the servo.  The
> plastic one in my old one is OK, so I am going to leave it alone for now. 

Wow, so they don't always break! I don't even know what the complete
plastic bracket looks like, since mine had broken long ago. 

The new bracket sits over the two large sections of the plastic part, so
that its hole is in the same place where the plastic bracket's hole was.
There are two holes in the metal bracket, for attaching it to the
existing parts. I intended to drill some holes and screw it into the
plastic, but you have to do this all in place, and there's not a lot of
room, so I took a different course. I bent some heavy steel wire into a

             +--------------+
             |              |
             |              |
             +--          --+

	(very roughly at 1:1 scale, display-dependent)

shaped-clip. The two points go into the holes on the new bracket, and
the clip is on the other side of the plastic part from the metal
bracket. The assembly looks a little like this, in cross-section

             +--------------+   <- homemade clip
             | |          | |
             | |          | |   <- (inside) existing plastic part
             +||          ||+
              ||          ||
              ||          ||
              +============+  <- new metal bracket
                     ^
                     |
                 vacuum piston attaches through hole here


Make sense, I hope? Screws would be better, but the clip seems to be
holding fine, and you need no tiny right-angle drill or the like.

By the way, I think you have to mount the vacuum piston into the metal
bracket _first_, before doing this assembly. The vacuum piston can't
rotate 90 deg while the other end's attached to the fresh air door.

> I can see that this is going to be a difficult job.  Door seal is on order.
>  Old door is out, awaiting seal.

Nah, didn't even take _me_ all that long. :)

> I assume that the fix goes as follows.  Hook spring onto the plastic bar
> that goes across the servo mount.  Remove plastic plug/bracket from door. 
> Dangle plug/bracket from spring.  Place door in area and juggle door and
> plug to get the plug/bracket back into door.  Reinstall door onto the hinge
> arms with the 2 Phillips head screws.  I see difficulty in stretching
> spring once it is on the plug/bracket to get it back onto the door. 
> Stretching the spring also will stress the plastic bar on the other end. 
> Any suggestions?

I just screwed the door back on, took the plug out of the door, attached
the spring to the plastic bracket's rod and to the plug, and put the
plug into the door. Not too tough. The plastic rod is pretty tough, at
least compared to the section that holds the vacuum piston!

- Wallace
  '87 5kcstq 151k