The previous article was a side trip on Garage Journal Strikes Again
The heater control switch mentioned in a previous article has two functions: electrical switching and switching vacuum actuators used to control the air doors in the heater.
Testing the vacuum actuators requires running the car – which I’ve been reluctant to do in the middle of winter. Yesterday hit 50 degrees, so time to open the workshop door and start the engine. Unfortunately I couldn’t drive the car anywhere – there is still over a foot of snow in front of the workshop.
The engine started easily. After letting it warm up a bit I tried the heater. Success! Or at least partial success. Some of the vacuum actuators worked fine. Others were stiff; hopefully this is just due to lack of use.
The actuator that controls the outside air door doesn’t seem to be working; I need to troubleshoot this one further.
But the good news is that I have working heat and defrost with proper control of the air doors, fan, and temperature control. And there was much rejoicing!
The air doors for the air conditioner also seem to be working. The next steps for AC are to rebuild the AC compressor, get new hoses, and charge the system. With any luck I will have working AC by the time I need it.
Next: whining about restoration setbacks in Not a Great Day