360-degree AC/Heater vent renewal

[RockinRiviDad]

My AC/heater vents never stayed in place. They always flopped around & rattled. I was planning to take this project on if/when I got around to installing a modern AC system. This probably won’t happen anytime soon.

 

 I recently attacked the renewal of my gauge & glove box plastic surrounds. So it only made sense to address the vents now. 

 

I was kinda excited that I figured out a fix on my own without thinking to look on the forum for direction & counldn’t wait to share my journey haha. Just as I went to start this thread the voices in my head said “try the search function”…haha

 

Of course, someone already address this. Additionally, I just went to a junkyard for a fuel gauge yesterday & noticed felt falling out from all the Rivi vents. That, plus the thread I found made me happy to know I did it right. So here are the steps I took & pix to go with it. 

 

My original felt was long gone. I had no idea what was used to keep the vents from moving freely. I thought felt was a good option & went to my local fabric store for some. I planned on cutting strips & spraying them with contact cement. Then I found they had these felt sticker sheets & literally laughed to myself about how cool this find was haha.

 

 

These vents can be broken down into 3 separate parts by loosening a set screw & removing the wire from the vent closure. We’ll call these parts the front half which holds the vent closure knob, the chrome ball vent & the back half where the actual air duct attaches. Once apart u can see where felt would fit nicely on the inside edges of both the front half & the back half.  I simply cut strips of felt & applied them to the two halves. Sorry. Forgot to snap a pic of front half process

 

 

I cleaned, masked & rattle canned everything visible before applying the felt.

 

 

 The two halves sandwich the chrome ball vent sooooo nicely now. The set screw allows for adjustment if u want a tighter or looser fit. This was one of those stupid simple but rewarding projects. I really like the outcome…maybe someday I will actually be able to use these vents haha

 

 

Herw is the link to the other thread

 

 

Edited February 21, 2019 by RockinRiviDad (see edit history)

[bodayguy]

Wow!!

[Zimm63]

Thanks for showing me the way.  Need to do mine.

 

[TheOldMan]

I need to do the same to mine. Always wondered how this could be done.

Thanks.

[KongaMan]

You could always do what I did: when I replaced the felt way back when, the only suitable fabric in the house was bright purple.

[RockinRiviDad]

Nice…bet she looks purdy with her purple accents haha

 

I can see the black felt I used when sitting on either front seats. Being black felt, it’s hard to make out cuz it blends in. But in the right light (sunlight, flashlight, etc) its definitely not hidden. So your purple felt must stand out huh? Maybe?