sweetpotato Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Hi Y'all, Haven't posted for a while but I've enjoyed lurking. My 53 Special is still more apart than together but I hope to live long enough to see it finished. I decided to rebuild my heater control valve which was leaking water from the diaphragm into the passenger side. I got the new diaphragm from NAPA and installed it with no trouble. As I was bending the tabs to reinstall the copper bellows I accidentally punctured it. The stinking gas inside about knocked me over. As it is not fixable does anyone happen to have a spare control valve I could buy from which I can remove the bellows to put in mine? Thanks, Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted November 25, 2013 Share Posted November 25, 2013 Hope you enjoyed that gas, since you can't put it back . I have repaired a few to function substituting a spring in place of the bellows...details on request.Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpotato Posted November 25, 2013 Author Share Posted November 25, 2013 Hope you enjoyed that gas, since you can't put it back . I have repaired a few to function substituting a spring in place of the bellows...details on request. Willie I sure would appreciate details Willie. I'm not dead set on having it function exactly like Buick intended, I just need heat a few times a year. I thought about just trying to use it without the bellows but didn't know whether it would work without something in that space. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
old-tank Posted November 26, 2013 Share Posted November 26, 2013 BobYou need to duplicate the resistance supplied by the bellows to make it turn on and off. I used an old brake shoe hold down spring, cut in half in the middle of the coils. On mine the part that goes over the old bellows has a hole --- here I put a small washer and machine screw to stabilize and center the spring. It turns on and off and the flow can still be sorta regulated, but will not hold a constant temperature like the bellows equipped one did ( how many of those things actually did that? ).Most rebuilders will junk it or send it back as un-rebuildable. It is good to see someone buy a $9 seal and repair their own...keep it up!Willie Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpotato Posted November 26, 2013 Author Share Posted November 26, 2013 Thanks Willie, I'll get into my spring drawer tomorrow and see if I can come up with something that works. If I knew whether all those Ranco valves used about the same size bellows it might be worth my while to see if I could find one in one of the nearby junk yards. I have searched the net, ebay, etc. with no luck, or at least no luck at a reasonable price. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sweetpotato Posted December 4, 2013 Author Share Posted December 4, 2013 Well, in case anyone runs into this problem in the future here is what worked for me. I found the perfect spring at Ace Hardware in the spring drawer. It was number 92 , I believe, and is a cone shaped compression spring. The screw to center the spring as described by Willie worked well. I also unsoldered the base of the old bellows so I could use the tabbed part as a base for the other end of the spring which sits on the frame of the control valve. You can tweak the tension on the setup with the phillips screw at the end of the two large tension springs. So, for a total of about $12 I have a functioning and non-leaking valve. Bob Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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