Danny G Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 I do not drill out these rivets! instead, I only remove the rivets at the blend door itself. the folding plastic "hinge" seam is what breaks leaving the mount. this mount strip has a metal support on the inside. Soooo...... I drilled out the rivets. A sharp, lubed cobalt 3/16 bit on the tail side made quick work with no spinning. Reason behind it. 1) Replacing them with bolts or plastic trim fasteners means easy repairs in the futureif needed 2) I can now replace the degraded foam 3) I can replace the degraded butyl seal 4) easier access to the damaged door so I can fix it and so I can put new foam on it as well. 5) it's been really hard to clean the inside of this duct 😂 would have been much faster if I did that first. Also those fender washer nut things, WD40 and a pair of needle nose and twist back and forth with upwards pressure and they come off pretty quick. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 Not 100% sure what Ford made these out of. Plastic welding rods come in all types. PP, PE, TPE, PU, ABS, PC and Nylon. Well the door panels and kicks are ABS almost certainly Acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate and polyester are definitely out PE & PP can be a little challenging to distinguish from each other. Usually TG is the easiest way, though technology is getting better every day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny G Posted July 23 Author Share Posted July 23 Well the door panels and kicks are ABS almost certainly Acrylic, nylon, polycarbonate and polyester are definitely out PE & PP can be a little challenging to distinguish from each other. Usually TG is the easiest way, though technology is getting better every day. I have a cracked pillar on the other truck I kept the pieces to and I am thinking I can hot stapler that from the back then the seam should be clean or small enough that a coat of paint hides it. Worse case prime and texture then paint. I tried ages ago to fix a dash mount with abs and epoxy. The hard plastic trim and dash is probably ABS. Can check with acetone. This is most likely why they crack.The black plastic ducts and the door panels are most likely some form of PVC. You don't want to use ABS where there is fire/heat, fuel, oil or where it needs to flex. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 23 Share Posted July 23 I have a cracked pillar on the other truck I kept the pieces to and I am thinking I can hot stapler that from the back then the seam should be clean or small enough that a coat of paint hides it. Worse case prime and texture then paint. I tried ages ago to fix a dash mount with abs and epoxy. The hard plastic trim and dash is probably ABS. Can check with acetone. This is most likely why they crack.The black plastic ducts and the door panels are most likely some form of PVC. You don't want to use ABS where there is fire/heat, fuel, oil or where it needs to flex. Seemed too 'waxy' for PVC. A drop of 2 of methylene chloride would definitely tell you. Maybe my '87 is completely different from a an '86 AC truck? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny G Posted July 24 Author Share Posted July 24 I do not drill out these rivets! instead, I only remove the rivets at the blend door itself. the folding plastic "hinge" seam is what breaks leaving the mount. this mount strip has a metal support on the inside. Soooo...... I drilled out the rivets. A sharp, lubed cobalt 3/16 bit on the tail side made quick work with no spinning. Reason behind it. 1) Replacing them with bolts or plastic trim fasteners means easy repairs in the futureif needed 2) I can now replace the degraded foam 3) I can replace the degraded butyl seal 4) easier access to the damaged door so I can fix it and so I can put new foam on it as well. 5) it's been really hard to clean the inside of this duct 😂 would have been much faster if I did that first. Also those fender washer nut things, WD40 and a pair of needle nose and twist back and forth with upwards pressure and they come off pretty quick. I've been pondering this door yesterday. Firstly obviously this was covered in foam that was heat embossed to the plastic. The notch on the edge makes me feel like it was actually a sleeve. Secondly is the hinge repair. This hinge fails because of plastic fatigue, temp swings plus constantly flexing is bad. But there are no physical hinges like Ford used on literally every other door. I don't want to use a piano hinge. So after much thought I decided I wanted to use a fiber reinforced rubber product. Silicone or neoprene rubber(not foam) fits the bill. I went with the latter. It remains flexible in extreme temperatures, is resistant to automotive fluids and is durable enough to be used in motor belts etc. The plan will be to bond it to the plastic with both adhesive and physical retention to form a hinge. Then cover the entire door in a new layer of foam. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ArdWrknTrk Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 I've been pondering this door yesterday. Firstly obviously this was covered in foam that was heat embossed to the plastic. The notch on the edge makes me feel like it was actually a sleeve. Secondly is the hinge repair. This hinge fails because of plastic fatigue, temp swings plus constantly flexing is bad. But there are no physical hinges like Ford used on literally every other door. I don't want to use a piano hinge. So after much thought I decided I wanted to use a fiber reinforced rubber product. Silicone or neoprene rubber(not foam) fits the bill. I went with the latter. It remains flexible in extreme temperatures, is resistant to automotive fluids and is durable enough to be used in motor belts etc. The plan will be to bond it to the plastic with both adhesive and physical retention to form a hinge. Then cover the entire door in a new layer of foam. Chris Huske 3D prints a repair hinge for these. He & his partner took the time to make sure the geometry is correct. You can see it in the marketplace. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted July 24 Share Posted July 24 I've been pondering this door yesterday. Firstly obviously this was covered in foam that was heat embossed to the plastic. The notch on the edge makes me feel like it was actually a sleeve. Secondly is the hinge repair. This hinge fails because of plastic fatigue, temp swings plus constantly flexing is bad. But there are no physical hinges like Ford used on literally every other door. I don't want to use a piano hinge. So after much thought I decided I wanted to use a fiber reinforced rubber product. Silicone or neoprene rubber(not foam) fits the bill. I went with the latter. It remains flexible in extreme temperatures, is resistant to automotive fluids and is durable enough to be used in motor belts etc. The plan will be to bond it to the plastic with both adhesive and physical retention to form a hinge. Then cover the entire door in a new layer of foam. I cheated on Darth, he has a 1996 inside duct which has a more normal pivoting door. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny G Posted July 25 Author Share Posted July 25 I cheated on Darth, he has a 1996 inside duct which has a more normal pivoting door. There is a thought. Does it have the metal bar through the middle like the others? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Danny G Posted July 30 Author Share Posted July 30 There is a thought. Does it have the metal bar through the middle like the others? Lat night delivery. I got my resistors today. They are 100W wire wound resistors with aluminum heat sinks. I think this is a fair compromise for the resistance wires in the design and safer IE it can get hot but not going to have a wire catch on fire and shut the system down. I was unable to find a single resistor that met the 720 to 810 mOhm range so I figure I will pin and solder these then most likely mount them directly to the fender near the future fuse box. That gives it a bit more heat sink as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
85lebaront2 Posted July 30 Share Posted July 30 Lat night delivery. I got my resistors today. They are 100W wire wound resistors with aluminum heat sinks. I think this is a fair compromise for the resistance wires in the design and safer IE it can get hot but not going to have a wire catch on fire and shut the system down. I was unable to find a single resistor that met the 720 to 810 mOhm range so I figure I will pin and solder these then most likely mount them directly to the fender near the future fuse box. That gives it a bit more heat sink as well. Ok, what are the resistors for? You need to be careful mounting anything that gets hot to the inner fenders, they are plastic. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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