Heater/vent slider install

[Russellrh72]

Hello all! I am stuck on getting the sliders for the heater and vents into my car. The car did not have a heater box or anything associated with the heat when I bought it (a previous owner had installed an aftermarket heating and air unit that I immediately removed). I found a decent heater box, rebuilt it, and installed it. Heat, fan, etc work great, but I cannot figure out how to get the sliders back in and secured. 

 

To note, my car is a 71 and the heater box I installed was from a 76. I was aware of the differences in the sliders and figured I'd work around it. I moved the fan wiring from the later slider to the switch in the dash as designed in the early car. But then I discovered that the screw holes in the later slider brackets are slight closer together than the ones in the earlier cars like mine. So they did not line up with the holes in the metal brace behind the dash. To fix this I found a trashed heater box from an early car and swapped the slider brackets. Sorry if this is too much info but better to be safe than sorry when asking for help I guess.

 

So now the holes in the slider bracket do in fact match up with the holes in the metal brace behind the dash. Easy right? Well how in the world do you screw them in when there is the plastic frame for the sliders riveted in there. I assume that you have to screw the slider bracket in from in front of the dash because the holes in the metal brace behind the dash are much much larger than the holes in the slider brackets. They seem to be simply for making sure the head of the screw doesn't pass through from the front. In other words, if I screw the sliders in from behind the dash (which looks nearly impossible to reach by the way) then the screw will thread through the slider bracket first, and then won't grab in the dash because the holes there are much too large. So you go through the front right? Well then there is the plastic frame in the way. It doesn't look like something I should be taking out of the car. It seems to be riveted or something. Again sorry for being so wordy but wanted to make sure I described it well for anyone that can help. Thanks in advance

 

Rob

[Mike Self]

You're in a sticky situation; a '71 uses an entirely different method of fastening those heater control panels to the dashboard than the panels you got with your '76 heater.  Not only that, but the fastening locations in the dashboard itself is different, as are the control panels themselves.  And the '76 panels have four levers, while your 71 has three.  The 4th lever is the blower switch on 73 and later cars, while your 71 has a pull switch on the instrument binnacle.

 

The least painful method to make things work properly is to get the two control panels--levers, trim pieces etc. from a 3 lever heater, and then connect your cables to those panels.  Trying to make the two 4 lever controls play nicely with a 3 lever heater is a ticket to frustration....I'll bet someone on the board has a derelict heater with the parts you need.

 

mike

 

 

[Russellrh72]

@Mike Self.....thanks for the response! Let me just make sure that I'm on the same page as you. I have swapped the controls over from a three lever system. So while I have a later heater box in the car, I have early sliders. I took the wiring that was on the later slider for the blower and ran them up to my switch. Swapping the sliders mean that I now have an early dash in my car (I assume anyway) and early controls. The screw holes in the controls match up to the holes in the metal behind the dash. So I THINK I'm good up until here. My issue is actually getting behind the plastic frame in the picture below to actually get a screw and screwdriver in there. This picture is not my dash but one I just took a screen shot of from here on the forum. The screw holes are behind this frame. The one pictured is broken but mine are not. It doesn't appear that you can attach them from behind the dash. So other than breaking my plastic frames like the one pictured I don't know how to get it done. 

[Mike Self]

The trim panels on the 3 lever controls differ from those on the 4 lever controls in that they don't have a snap off cover (the cover being removable on the 4 lever controls for access to those little illumination bulbs. 

 

IIRC the 3 lever panels (the correct ones for your '71) have studs fastened to the back side of the panels.  Those studs fit through the little holes in the dash (per your picture) and are held in place by tiny nuts.  Unfortunately for us, the studs were long, and when the factory installed the panels, the studs were clipped off once the nuts were run up.  Then when someone tried to remove 'em some time later, they snapped off the studs trying to force the nut over the deformed threads.  Look carefully at your panels and I'll bet you find the remains of the studs.  

 

My only suggestion is to silver solder small flat head machine screws to the back side of the panels (use a flat head screw to provide more soldering surface vs a stud) to provide a firm mount for the panels.  They support the brackets that hold the levers and cables, so must be firmly attached to the dash in order for the levers and cables to function.  Otherwise, you could just Velcro 'em in place.  

 

If you can't do the silver soldering yourself, I'll wager you can find someone who does jewelry to do it for you.  

 

mike

[Russellrh72]

@Mike Self....thanks again for helping. I think my newbie verbiage might have not been up to par because I still think I'm talking about something different. I believe you are referring to the trim panel pictured first here (if the pictures come through in order after I post). All these pictures are from my car. The trim panel actually has the studs in tact. I have no issue here. They fit right into the holes in the second picture. While the nuts that you speak of are no where to be found, those panels were actually pretty snug in there and shouldn't be a problem. I am referring to how I attached the actual slider in the third picture. The screw holes in those sliders or cable brackets or whatever the term is match up perfectly with the holes in the metal brace/frame behind the dash. The holes I'm referring to can be seen in the last picture, behind the riveted in plastic frame. There are two holes, one on each side, that align perfectly with the holes in the sliders or cables. I assume that I have to screw the sliders in from the front of the dash. But I can't get to those holes at the red arrow I've drawn because of the plastic frame in front of it. It doesn't appear that there is anyway to screw it in from behind the dash, as those red arrow holes are three times bigger than the holes in the slider brackets and not really meant for threading the screw into. It seems you have to put the sliders up behind the dash and in place, and thread the screw in from the front and into the slider bracket. But you can't do anything from the front because of the plastic frame. When I say plastic frame I'm referring to the second picture. Hope this makes sense. In short, I'm trying to install the cables/sliders. As I mentioned in my first post, there were none in the car when I bought it, so I didn't have to benefit of taking them out for reference. 

 

Rob

 

[Mike Self]

It's been a looooooong time since I had my '69's heater out of the car, and I remember it taking a lot of time to  reassemble the controls, because IIRC I had to remove the cable brackets along with the heater, but again, that was sometime around 1996!  

 

Looking at your pictures, it appears the purpose of the plastic piece that's under the finishing panel is to (1) provide an anchor point for the trim panel (the two small holes) and to provide a guide of sorts for the levers that control the heater.  Seems to me that if you were to file a slightly larger hole in that plastic piece, you could then slip the sheet metal screw through the enlarged hole and attach the lever bracket to the dash.  I felt up under the dash in my '69 (same setup), and could feel the pointed ends of those screw that retain the lever bracket, so the screws do go in from the front.  Once you have the screws in place, install the finish panel with its two little studs (IIRC those are either 3 or 4 mm nuts--your local hardware store will have 'em, just take one of the finish panels with you). 

 

It's a bitch of a job, as it's difficult to see what you're doing from the back side--although much easier with the console out and the steering wheel off--and especially to get the little nuts threaded onto the studs.  Make sure the threads on the ends of the studs will allow the nuts to thread on with no resistance, or you'll really get frustrated with those cut off and deformed threads on the studs (ask me how I know!)

 

cheers

mike

[Russellrh72]

@Mike Self.....thank you so much!!! This is exactly what I needed to hear from someone with your knowledge my friend. I have thought several times about doing something to the plastic frame but was hesitant. I still would love to have seen how this was assembled at the factory. Those plastic frames seem to be riveted in so I have no clue how those slider brackets get screwed in after the fact. But I will slightly and gently modify that plastic frame and get it done. Thanks again!

 

Rob

Edited January 29, 2022 by Russellrh72