I'm elbow deep into my heater box restoration (60 Electra) and just realized my vacuum actuator is shot I was going to pry it open but its stubborn. Looking on the web I only find real expensive vacuum actuators :rant: It had to be a pretty cheap gizmo to start with. Anyone know where to find "economical" source for these ?
I finally opened the actuator... there is a hole in the rubber. I will try top fix it. I was surprised not to find a spring to bring back the actuator to its initial position once the vacuum is cut off. How does the vent door come back if there is no spring in the actuator ? (I dismantled the heater last year so I am a little lost !)
Yeah, I would expect to see some sort of return spring in there. I don't see anything to indicate an external spring, either. Hmm uzzled: Maybe airflow "pushed" it back to it's at-rest position? You might be able to patch the diaphragm (piece of inner tube and windshield urethane comes to mind), but how would you crimp it back together and get it to seal reliably? I KNOW I've seen that actuator before, with 2 studs to mount a bracket to, many times! I just don't recall any particular application. Look around for a suitable actuator from a late 60s-early 80s car that can be modified externally to work. Back then, most were the "pancake" style like yours. As a side note: I've always admired the tail end of a 60 Buick. It's very cool and "futuristic". However, the front end, or face, has always given me the willies. When I was about 3-4 years old, a neighbor had a '60. The "face" of that car scared me to the point that I had nightmares of it coming through the window to "get me". I'm 50 now, and 59-60 Buicks STILL make me look back over my shoulder and shudder a bit when I pass them at car shows. :eek2:
