Build Thread '83 T-top Coupe - Welding Holes in My Rear

Hey @95BlueStallion . Got them, thanks again Nick.

Those are my "new" t-top trim pieces. Way better than the old ones.

I tore down the blower motor this morning. Notice the new foam seal laying next to the old one. This kit I got for them from Classic Auto Air is really complete.

Here's the two flapper doors that have foam on them. They're very yucky. I should say they were yucky. I scraped off the old foam and cleaned them up. One is metal and was heavily rusted. I sanded it all off and put some rust converter over the whole thing just to be sure it's gone.
Here's a picture with their new foam seals. The seals are an exact fit. I'm pleased.
The rods holding them in the box were pretty skanky too. I treated them the same as the metal door. They're fine now.
I have two more sections of the box to wash tonight, then I can start reassembling them. I have to get a new fan for it. I was going to use the one from Doby, but '86-'93 use a different fan than the '79-'85 models. Oh well, they're about $45. Not too much.

Something new. It's not bad. I won't rush out to find it again, but I wouldn't refuse one if given to me.

JMGlasgow said:

Is that beer from WY?

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I think that's what the can said.

I know! How did it turn out Allen?

Ok, small victory time. I started cleaning the fan tonight. Mind you, just the fan. After the initial scrubbing the water was so dirty you couldn't see the fan anymore. I'm not kidding. Yuck!

The problem i was having was getting the blades completely clean. I started with a rag, then I tried an old toothbrush (I'll put it back before she needs it). A big scrub brush. All of my little ones that would fit between those blades are at work. Tried a cue tip, it fell apart and didn't really get much.

So I go out to the garage to see if i had any out there. I thought about the little ones that i use for my beer making equipment, then slapped myself for thinking something so horrendous.

That's when I spotted a 2.5" paintbrush...what the hell, I'll give it a try.

The lesson is, when cleaning this style of fan blade, don't use any of those other things I tried. The paint brush is perfect for this. It got every nook and cranny.

I was so pleased with how well it did I will show a before and after picture.


That concludes this evenings lecture on the proper cleaning of your fox body heater fan. Thank you, thank you very much.

Ok, I know your aren't going to believe this, but I'm not showing you everything that I'm doing to the cabin's HVAC.

There's a lot of tedious stuff with this part, and craploads of plastic ducting that needs to be stripped down and washed and bleached (I stopped with the dishwasher because some of the thinner plastic I don't think would handle the heat). What i do with each section is to simply wash it with hot water and dawn, i dump the dirty water and refill with a cup of bleach and dawn to go after the details. Then rinse, check for any remaining slime and dry.

The last pictures I'll show you will be of the upper plenum and the defrost ducting. Ford used staples to hold several of the plastic parts together. They're a little bit of a pita to take out. I didn't take the ones out of the ducting that lead to the vents on the far right and left of the dash. My arm fit into those without too much scraping of skin from my hands and arms. They just got a thorough scrubbing and bleaching to disinfect them.
Upper Plenum assembled.
Starting the tear down.
Blend door out with foam removed. I'll get rid of the glue with laquer thinner.
Defrost vent tore down. I had to tear this down since the inner ducting is so complex.
All clean.
This is the stuff I cleaned this weekend.
LMR doesn't have any heater fans in stock, so I went to Oreilly's. They had to order one out of OKC, it'll be here on tuesday. I'm not sure if it'll fit so I'll take the section the holds the fan down there tuesday evening to see if it fits. Hopefully it does, it's only $33 from Oreilly's instead of $45 from LMR (and LMR is the cheapest I found on the web, though I haven't checked Rockauto yet).

So what this all adds up to is that the entire box and ducting is super clean and disinfected now. I'll start to reassemble it tomorrow. I do have a new heater core, a/c condenser, fan resistor, seal kit and will have a new fan soon. That fan is at the rear of the box, I wouldn't care if the old one worked (it doesn't), I would replace it anyhow. The box has to come out to replace it. I don't want to take it out again......

The parts look new, and with the important stuff for the inside, it essentially will be new. I do need to take my little vacuum pump with me to work tomorrow just to check the various actuators. What should be the effective vacuum be? I need to look that up in my service manuals.

Boosted92LX said:

That's great, Dave! Really good work, man. I do have to confess, I'm still dying to see the body in color though..





Oh, and...

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Lol.

Fake news Allen, fake news......