510 Interior air intake box

[iceman510]

hey all- has anyone ever taken one of these apart, as in removing the flapper etc? I can't figure out how to get it apart and an hugely concerned it will break the little tabs holding the rod in at the bottom in I apply any force. I have tried sliding the rod to one side, but can't seem to get enough leverage down in there to accomplish release,

You can't see the lower rod clearly here, but if you have seen one you get the idea.

510 intake 1.jpg (29.22 KiB) Viewed 1679 times

510 intake 2.jpg (204.64 KiB) Viewed 1679 times

Thanks.

[yenpit]

I believe those were assembled with the moving parts in place & heat/plastic welded closed as a unit. Why do you need to take apart?

[iceman510]

Just being meticulous, and wanting to clean the rust off the shaft (moisture in there at some point). I did remove the spring and clean and repaint it.

Your analysis of the assembly matches mine. I devised ways to clean it up best I could. Not perfect but certainly functional.

The rubber coating on the foam pad that seals the opening is cracked. Have not figured out how to handle that yet, or if I need to.

[loungin112]

I just cleaned mine up as best I could...dishsoap and water. The foam on mine is pretty brittle too. I couldn't think of anything to do with it though, so just let it dry and left it. Rattle can paint on the outside. Good as is.

[tycot1]

I think if you unhook the spring and slide it to the left it will come out. What does the end of the shaft look like where it pokes out of the box? Is it round or has it been crimped? is that first tab on the left broken?

[yenpit]

Just being meticulous, and wanting to clean the rust off the shaft (moisture in there at some point). I did remove the spring and clean and repaint it.

Your analysis of the assembly matches mine. I devised ways to clean it up best I could. Not perfect but certainly functional.

The rubber coating on the foam pad that seals the opening is cracked. Have not figured out how to handle that yet, or if I need to.

I have cut plain old black vinyl (you could also use a chunk of tire inner tube rubber), glued 1/4in foam to the bottom & glued in place!

[iceman510]

The spring I removed and cleaned/painted. The issue is the rod that runs through the hinge or rotating portion. You can't remove it without most likely damaging the tabs.

The tab you can see in the picture that I think you are referring to is not used. The box looks to be made to be adopted for rh or lh side lever operation. So the rod seen entering from the rh side would come in and through that tab from the left.

I have since thought about using some non-woven fabric glued to the existing rubber/foam that is still there. I am looking at a piece of fabric softener sheet right now that I think would work. Flexible yet strong. Not black, but not visible in-car anyway. I am also going to check for some landscape fabric that might work.

[iceman510]

I ended up gluing some non-woven type landscape fabric material to the vinyl and foam. It looks good and seals up well, and should keep the original material from deteriorating further. I will post some pictures when I get them resized.

[iceman510]

Finally remembered to post the after pictures.

Cleaned the inside best I could without being able to separate. Painted the spring.

vent box cleaned.jpg (223.83 KiB) Viewed 1309 times

New landscape fabric glued over the old disintegrating foam.

vent box fabric.jpg (303.94 KiB) Viewed 1309 times