[Greg Reid]

Don't seal the tops of the seals or boots. The shaft needs to be able to slide without pulling the seal up off the the retaining lip on the can.. B146A is the actual seal and B146AK is the dust boot.
Make sure the shafts are clean and very smooth. A touch of grease to help it seal and at the same time, slide without pulling the seal up, won't hurt.
That's what happens...the shaft pulls the seal up and out of the lip it fits into on the can. I glue mine to that lip with trim adhesive or similar..The dust boot goes over all of that.
Again, the shaft needs to slide up and down without pulling the seal or boot up with it.

[dataway]

I thought the top of the seal fit into a small groove in the shaft ... and so moved with the shaft instead of sliding. The original seals look like they have enough room to move all the way up and down without pulling out of the can. I could be wrong... things were pretty rusty on the set I just pulled apart.

[Greg Reid]

I could be wrong about that part... In fact, l think you are right about that...Been a few years ago since I had the problem myself. The main point is that you have to secure it where it meets the can and doesn't pull loose when the rod moves up.

[Greg Reid]

Just to clarify, l know that the dust boot follows the rod, hence the accordion pleats but l think the seal stays put with the rod sliding through.

[slowride66]

Greg Reid.

But if the seal does not seal it will loose vacuum & not work properly.

I (experimenting ) used clear silicone at the top of the decent one left then sucked it down with the mighty vac , it seemed to work fine that way & held the headlamp door up for over a hour until I released it.

MAYBE a "O" ring on the top of the inner will keep it sealed up?

I think I will order 2 sets in case I screw it up LOL!

I also plan to use some kind of rubber protectant on it to prolong the rubbers life.

I will Give Mike Phillips from Auto Geek a call & see if the Detailing Gods have come up with a Rubber coating yet maybe something comparable to Ceramic Nano Coating.

Mike has always got a gaggle of new products up his sleeve.

SR66

[dataway]

Gotta remember that leakage was somewhat acceptable in one position .. I forget open or closed, because the engine was usually in operation supplying constant vacuum. Obviously not a LOT or it would effect the way the engine ran .. but a small amount of leakage being constantly replaced by the engine vacuum was probably normal.

[68ragtop]

I had my orignal actuators & on those, the upper/inside seals did not slide at all. They had a extruded lip that fit into the grove on the shaft. the basically turn themselves inside out when going up & down like pulling off a a sock form the top.

The aftermarket seals slip & slide. Not because they are supposed to but rather because they are cheap stretchy rubber that won't sty put. I had troubles with my repop actuators & fought with them for a while. Finally took the orignal seals from the old units & now they work perfect. Amazing that 51 year old rubber is better than the new (China) stuff.

Im Just kidding.... It's not surprising at all... lol

[68ragtop]

I also never realized until working on mine that the headlight switch is the dump valve for the opposing side. lets atmospheric pressure into the opposite side that is under vacuum.

Makes perfect sense, I just never thought about that until I was assembling them.

[dataway]

Yep, never thought about that myself, but something has to vent that other side ... is it my imagination that I remember a slight hissing sound when turn the lights on and off back in the day?

Could a person just clamp the top of the seal in place on the rod? Like a typical pinch clamp (the type you cinch down with a plier type tool). Or even a few wraps with lock wire.

[68ragtop]

Originally Posted by dataway

Yep, never thought about that myself, but something has to vent that other side ... is it my imagination that I remember a slight hissing sound when turn the lights on and off back in the day?

Could a person just clamp the top of the seal in place on the rod? Like a typical pinch clamp (the type you cinch down with a plier type tool). Or even a few wraps with lock wire.

I tried a few things. the problem was there isn't much room in the can as it passes back in so it can rub & create more problems. The closest thing I had to almost working was some shrink wrap around the end. except the heat need to shrink the wrap, effectively finished off the boot & thats when I pulled out the originals & was pleasantly surprised at how well they fit & worked. I might have pictures of all of that.

[slowride66]

it is no surprise to me about the quality of rubber. I was working for a collector years back & every other month I would do my "service station routine" check oil & tires bla bla bla on up to 20 cars THE ONLY TIRES THAT NEVER NEEDED AIR WERE THE STOCK SPARES.

it would make sense to me that when the actuator does its flip flop one side has to exhaust. & something has to be a valve.

To me any vacuum leak is not a good one. ( I can just imagine when they had Vacuum powered door locks how much fun that was)

I like the Idea of a shrink tube on the end ,maybe the manufactures can upgrade the design to make the shrink tube part of the boot.

I'm still thinking A "O" ring or 2 would hold it the problem there is how long with the crappy "O" ring rubber last?

Next time i'm in a bone yard & see a corvette i'm gunna pay more attention to those pop up lights.

What a innovative group of engineers Pontiac had in the 50's 60's & 70's.

Pretty sneeky sis.

SR66

[gtohunter]

My plan to modify my system is to change up the vacuum configuration a little. I have enough vacuum to make the actuators work as oem, but the switch leaks a little, and it's stiff anyway, so my plan is to mount a dcv up on the rad support somewhere, and tap the headlight circuit to feed the 12vdc valve actuator. This allows me to run one vacuum source to the valve, and it'll be defaulted to the closed position, and when headlights are turned on, it'll shift the valve and apply opening vacuum to the actuators. About a $10 valve,with 100% duty cycle, and nothing that can't be changed back later.
This requires no modifications to the mechanism but might work a little better?

[Greg Reid]

Well, looks like my memory is wrong again. My excuse is that I haven't had to mess with them much at all. I suspect that they are repops but the only problem l've ever had was what l mentioned above and l've had it since 2004 or so. Maybe I have older repops.

[dataway]

Did some looking and I see various low temp heat shrink tubing ... even one NO heat shrink tubing ... the no-heat stuff ... doesn't appear they make it small enough for this application.

This thread might create an ebay rush for clapped out old vacuum cans

I don't have any working actuators .... do I buy used "working" cans off ebay? Or do I go with re-pops?

Have we hyjacked the original thread?

[slowride66]

I had a Thought that if the rod was screwed up might be able to put shrink wrap on the rod to create a viable surface.

Yea we sort of got off the main subject of going from Vac to electric. But I started it so. . . . .

Ya know they make a Marine shrink tube that has Adhesives on the inside .Its very thick thou.

Im gunna talk to my Friend Crabby Jack & see what comes out of his head (he's a mopar guy & a old skewl machinist)

One never knows what he can think up.

SR66

BTW thanks for all the replies & input.

[Greg Reid]

Well, I think I've already proven that I don't know what I'm talking about but, what's wrong with a ty-wrap?

[dataway]

Clearance might be tight when it's pulled back into the can.

I know with lock wire you could make a couple of wraps, twist it up, bend over the twist and it shouldn't add anything at all to get hung up.

Shrink tubing would be excellent if you could go real easy on the heat (use a heat gun) or find some source of low heat stuff that kicks in at like 300 degrees .... I don't see any on my usual sources.

What do you guys think my odds of finding used originals that have a few more years left in them? I see good used examples out there for way less than the re-pops cost.

[slowride66]

Originally Posted by Greg Reid

Well, I think I've already proven that I don't know what I'm talking about but, what's wrong with a ty-wrap?

Its too big to let the boot do its flip flop. Only lets the door come down 5/6 of the way.

SR66

[indymanjoe]

projectfolly did the electric conversion and I know he was happy. I seen his car and it worked perfect. Pretty sure it was a diy scenario but it works well. Not sure if he did a write up but that's the way I would go.

[Greg Reid]

Originally Posted by slowride66

Its too big to let the boot do its flip flop. Only lets the door come down 5/6 of the way.

SR66

I guess I need to look at this again... I must have completely forgotten how they work as don't seem to even be talking about the same things you guys are.
Where I'm talking about using a ty-wrap would be nowhere near the door???
Carry on.