Days 21-22

Worked on cleaning up some small parts.  I decided to start with something non-critical, relatively big and uncomplicated.  My first victim:  the heater fan and enclosure.  There is definately some permanent rust pitting happening here, but it will all be out of site eventually, so although it is nice to pretty it up, the main objective is to remove as much of the rust as possible so I can effectively treat that which is left.  So far I am happy with the results.

The plastic parts and wires came clean with a little mineral spirits and elbow grease.  I also cleaned up some of the sheet metal enclosure pieces.

Based on my success with the heater, I decided to tackle the heater temperature control mechanism which goes with it.  Believe it or not, after a lot of WD 40, scraping, wire brushing, and sanding it does work!

The copper "wire" is actually a tube which acts as some sort of thermostat, overriding the manual controls.  There apparently is a seal on that part of the device that needs replacing, and will need a little more investigation.  Presumably there is supposed to be some sort of liquid inside the tube - but what, and how to get it in there again is a mystery.  To my current thinking, it is not a critical component.  This is what it looks like cleaned up.

(If you look closely, you can make out some of the manufacturer's information.  This piece of the car is British!)