The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Suggestions removing heater motor from case

I've removed the squirl cage fan and the two motor mounting nuts but can't budge the motor...it seems to be fused to the seal. I'm afraid of bunging up the motor or case if I use something to pry on it. Any suggestions or tricks to try?

Might try a little heat from a heat gun Allan and just put a steady side pressure on the motor.
DG

Thanks Denny...that worked! A little heat and I was able to peel it off. Now I can start sand blasting the parts.

Allan,

Before you blast, look at the paint under the gasket between the motor and the case. It will probably be the original paint. Use it to match the color and texture of the new paint.

I used Hammerite Bronze rattle can HAM-41185 Hammerite Rust Cap Bronze. Pretty good color match, but the hammer-texture is much more intense than the original. My spraying techique may be partially to blame. Other forum members have used Rustolium. Denny has a good photo of a number of paints relative to the original paint.

Check to see if your heater still has a rubber bumper on the defroster door and on the case. Protect them - replacements not available.

Good luck,

- Lonnie

Do you have a picture of that rubber bumper you mentioned Lonnie??? I’ve given up on restoring my trucks, I’m to busy trying to reproduce some of the parts. I’ll pile them all in the back of the pickup for the next guy that gets it. I’m working on a rubber plug for that keyhole under the seat of the ‘54s. No one has a replacement and I’m sure there was one in there when it came from the factory although I‘ve never seen one.

It taint your painting technique, the canned hammer tone that we buy from Hammerite and Rustoleum both use something to keep the paint from forming in those areas. I was told that it had silicone in it but that goes against everything that I've ever heard regarding silicone and paint. I've got WAY to many irons in the fire right now but one day I would like to try and thin out the hammer tone paints and see if it can be sprayed thinner in order to eliminate the lumps and bumps. I’m not real sure that “hammertone” is the correct description for the paint pattern on the heaters. I colleted and restored antique tube radios for a while and they came up with some really wild paint effects. And no one has any idea how they got it to do what it did. They wrinkled paint so heavy that it almost looked like it was wrinkled paper and like the GM heater paint, some of the variegated paints were really unique.

DG

Denny -

There are two identical rubber bumpers. The head is flat, less than 1/4" diam. The "tail" is pointed to stick through an approx 1/8" hole. There is a detent between the head and the tail that holds it in the hole. The entire bumper is less than 3/8" long.

One is located in the center of the edge of the defroster door. You can barely see the tail in this picture. (About 10:00 o'clock behind the motor) I can load the pic in higher resolution onto PhotoBucket if you want.

The other bumper is on a tab inside the heater case. The tab limits the travel of the defroster door. You can see it in this pic from Deve Krehbiel's site.

This is his description:
"In this picture and inside the main housing is a small rubber bumper. This picture shows the direction that bumper needs to be reinstalled in. You want to take great care and use unusual finesse in removing this bumper. It is not available through any of our vendors. It will need to be removed for the re-painting process."

FYI, I removed one of the bumpers, and masked off the other one because I was afraid that I would break the old rubber. They aren't really needed, however a dab of silicone or hot-melt glue could substitute for a missing bumper if you feel the door will rattle against the case.

Re: paint. Deve's Hammerite paint job was a lot smoother than mine. Pics near the end of his description of his heater rebuild.

Can't help you re: rubber plug for the keyhole under the seat. Mine doesn't have one. Didn't see one in the Assembly Manual. I've been following your radio knob saga. I know that your knobs and plug will turn out perfect!

Unfortunately, you and I both suffer from the incurable "picky detail" gene!

Good luck.

Denny -

There are some more photos of the bumpers on Deve's site ...

http://speedprint.com/deves50/img/deveshowto/heaterrestore/heater10lg.jpg

http://speedprint.com/deves50/img/deveshowto/heaterrestore/heater11lg.jpg

Thanks Lonnie. I have the Hammerite Bronze on order. I checked the Rustoleum Hammered Dark Bronze and compared the cap to an unmolested spot on my heater case and it was too dark. I will take extra care with the rubber bumpers.

Thanks Lonnie, boy those look amazingly similar to the glovebox bumpers, except those are bullet shaped, which could be trimmed down with a good sharp razor.

DG

I repainted my heater with Hammerite Rust Cap Bronze two weeks ago. The paint job turned out great with a nice smooth finish. I very lightly sanded the primer with 600 grit sand paper and applied the first coat of Hammerite very thin, so that I could still see the color of the primer through the paint. After about 12 minutes I applied the second coat maybe a bit heavier. 12 minutes later I applied the third and final coat. I was going to use four coats but was so pleased with the results I stopped at three. I think it is important to allow 10 to 15 minutes between coats and put your coats on nice and thin. Also practice a little before you paint your heater to see how the fan spray effects the paint texture.

My heater now looks so nice that I'm looking for an old crappy one to put in my truck so I can hang this one on the wall in the living room.

Sounds great twoton, you may be on to something.
But where are those pictures in your photobucket to back it up???? How bout a couple of close ups of the texture?
I've sprayed a lot of things with the hammertone paints over the years. I've used Rustoleum and Hammerite and I've yet to see any of them come out smooth.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

I love it!

Great advice and I'm looking forward to seeing the photos as well...

OK, I've added four new pictures to my photobucket. Keep in mind that I am not a painter and if I'd expected to be showing photos of my paint job I would have done a better job. Anyway, the first picture shows the original motor housing which now hides a 12V motor I got from Napa for under $30.00 with tax. Second pic shows some pitting in my new paint caused by not cleaning the dust off before painting. Third and fourth will give you some idea how smooth the paint turned out. Not perfect, but have you seen the REST of my truck?

Nash -

Wow! You have a right to be proud. That is WAY smoother than mine. I think you have cracked the Hammerite code.

You did a good job with the new 12v motor inside the 6v housing.

Congrats on a good job.

Hey, Thanks man. So do you think I should put it in the truck or go ahead and hang it on the wall?

I imagine the Iowa cold north wind will help you decide next winter!

Summer's here, why bother! Nah, that's not right. You ask, should you put it in your truck? Sure, ya got the heater finished now and that's like the first brick in the wall. I see new wheels also in one of your pictures, next maybe the grill or more of the interior, maybe clean up the engine bay. Working on these trucks has a domino effect, one thing leads to another and in a few years you've got a restored truck in you stable and you have to make room for it in the garage cuz it's to nice to leave out in the rain.
I've tried to do all the small week or two jobs so I can keep driving my truck and the result is that the final finish and body work is the last thing on the list. That's the reason everyone that looks at my truck thinks it looks like a rat. But I know underneath the dings, dents and three coats of odd rattle can paint that there is a solid body and mechanically new truck.
Oh, and thanks a bunch for posting those pictures of the heater. That truly did turn out great. I've got several fresh air and a recirculating heater here that need repaint and I'm gonna have to give your method a try. Hope my results are half as good as yours. Seems like I’ve tried a lot at a time and a bunch of little before but my end product always ended up looking line it was “hammered”.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Well I've been wasting a LOT of time trying to make reproductions that are truely reproductions rather than just replacement parts that don't fit.
I added those little bumpers to the list since ya'll say that no one is making them. I would think that if I put a whole bunch of time into restoring a deluxe heater I'd want to replace those two bumpers also.
So I started on a mold to make them, just got part of it so far and am waiting for more material and tooling: http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/134828788/large
Don't know if I will be able to make them cheap enough to offer.

So far every thing that I've made over the past six months for the '54-'55 trucks is WAY to labor intensive and would be to costly to offer for sale, unless I was willing to work for fifty cents an hour.
DG

Denny,

I think if you made it and offered it for sale, people would quickly learn your reputation and know that what you sold was top notch and right, not just close and beat to fit.

I think most who are in it for the love of the restoration would not think twice about paying more, if they didn't have to wring their hands wondering if the part they ordered was going to be right.

Okey dokey Lonnie gonna make a lar out of ya:
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/134930871/large
I’ve got several Deluxe heaters waiting to be restored and after going thru all the trouble of restoring one, I taint one to let the little details slip buy.
These are exact reproductions of the original defroster door bumpers that were still in a couple of my heaters.
Denny Graham
Sandwich, IL

Denny -

Doncha hate it when the little things bug you until get them just right!! Betcha looked over your shoulder at the finished bumpers again and smiled, right before you left the shop and turned out the light. Feels good when you do a good job.

Congrats. I stand corrected.

- Lonnie

Yeah, a couple of full days at the cad to reverse engineer them, three more full days in front of the Bridgeport mill and lathe and a few hours loading and cooking the mold and I satisfied that "incurable "picky detail" gene" itch.

This might be the one thing that I can make and at least break even on. To bad there isn't a market for a 1,000 AD Deluxe Heater Defroster Door Bumpers!!!!!! Guess I'd have to find 500 others with the "incurable "picky detail" gene".

Now maybe I can find the time to check out twotone's hammertone application method.
DG