By: Brian (bigdog76)
http://forums.nicoclub.com/zerothread?id=156041
1.Fixing the Heater was not all fun I will admit.
2.However it is possible and it’s not to hard to do. It took me much longer than I wanted but can be done in 2-4 hours, for under $10 if you have the tools to do it.
3.First start by removing the radio/Acc Controls.And later the glove box area. You will have to unplug all of the plugs.
4. Once you get back there leave the ACC control plugged in so you can see how things operate.
5.You will see the Air Mix door post broken. What you will see is the Air Mix door linkage hanging from a spring you will need to remove that linkage and take off the spring with pliers. Take it out for now. ACC will still work fine at this point.
6. In the Pics you will notice I also removing the control unit that operates the linkages you will need to remove that to have room to work on the broken post.There is 3 screws one on top and bottom and side.
7. Once things are clear you will need a DREMEL tool with a grinding wheel to clean the broken plastic that came off the Air Mix door post. The post is now metal under the plastic that broke.
8. Once that is all cleaned up nice. You can begin to fabricate the part that will link to it and get it operational.
9. I used an Aluminum Dowel 3/8″ in diameter. I do not recommend the Aluminum it is too hard of a material to work with.But it’s up to you.Plastic/Nylon rod is all you really need and some epoxy later on. Use a Plastic dowel 3/8″ in diameter. You can buy it from a hobby shop or go to this link copy and paste it.
http://www.usplastic.com/catal…age=1.Otherwise go to http://www.usplastic.com
10.I used a bench grinder to shape the dowel into the half circle to fit into the linkage piece that was remove you can see what I mean in the pictures and when you get back in there in the job. But you can use the dremel if you are using plastic.
11. Make sure it is a good fit.Also make sure that it fits flush with the outside of the linkage piece.I screwed in a small screw and grinded down washer on mine. You can do the same or just epoxy it well when installing back in.
12. Once you have fabricated that side you will need to cut it down to about 3/4″ or small give or take. Any longer that that it will not work it will bind and be to long and tight once it is in place.
13.Once you cut it down.You will need to cut a half shaped circle shape just like the heater door rod.This will be internal and small this will take the most time.I put it in a vice and used a drill to shape it the best I could. You can do the same or use a small file and a drill. Start out small so you can test the size as you go to the air mix post metal rod.
14. Don’t cut it to big you want to cut and shape it the best you can to match up to the air mix door rod as best you can so it fits like a glove.
The epoxy will make up the difference and hold it into place.
15. Make sure that both of the flat side of the half shaped circle that you fabricated out are on the same side mirroring each other. This is very important.
16. Once that is all done re install the control unit and make sure the A/C is on the coldest side 65 degrees that is where you want it to be when you reinstall everything.
17.I used 90 second epoxy which dries very fast you might choose to pic a slower acting epoxy but that is up to you.Read the directions of the epoxy and put some on the end on the metal air mix door post and on the inside on the fabricated piece and quickly install linkage into place.It will hold it into place pretty good so no worries.
18. If you choose to just epoxy in the fabricated piece first that is find or you can epoxy the linkage to the fabricated piece first and then epoxy the air mix door rod to the whole piece and set it in place.
19. Next once everything was in place I let it dry about 2-3 hours.
Then I removed the glove box to get to the spring area to reinstall the spring back in place. You can see in the pics.
20. Make sure it is working.After that leave it alone for 24 hours so the epoxy can cure and be at its strongest.
21. If you have any questions feel free to post on the above thread.
