Greg, I think that the diaphram you are describing is the front seal
because the tearing away from the rod's retaining washers sounds like
the seal (unless I am missing something). Also, since the doors come
down properly I don't think that it can be the diaphram. Perhaps I have
a misunderstanding about how these are made (I haven't taken one apart),
but I think that it is a metal can with inlets at either end. In the
center of the can there is a diaphram connected to a rod that goes out
of the "front" of the can and hooks to the headlight mechanixm. At the
backside of the can there is nothing but the inlet so when vacuum is
present, the diaphram and, hence the rod moves back. When vacuum is
present in the front of the can, the reverse happens unless, of course,
there is a leak in the seal around the rod because then there would be
no vacuum. Is that your understanding? Did you get a chance to look at
the directions on the website I listed. They have pictures of the seal
and I was wondering if that is what you meant. Kim
>The actuator diaphragm failed on both of mine. Before you buy the
>seals, plug both vacuum hoses and try to raise the door. If you can,
>then the diaphragm is damaged in some way and the unit must be
>replaced. From what I know about Vettes, this is more often then not
>the problem. The rod attachment point at the diaphragm is poorly
>designed and executed causing the diaphragm to tear away from the
>rod's crimped on retaining washers.
>
>BTW, according to Terry Tanner only the earliest cars have 'vette
>actuators. The rest have a Bricklin specific design (no, I don't
>know when the changeover occurred). Once a Vette unit fails it
>should be replaced with the later design. It seems the Vette unit
>applies too much force to the mechanism assembly causing a much
>higher failure rate of the diaphragm than the Bricklin version.
>
>Please don't tell the Vette owners about the Bricklin units. Once
>the inventory is gone, that's it as I understand it. If Terry is
>selling them that cheap, he's doing us a big favor.
>
>GM
>
>-----Original Message-----
>
>I found some interesting info on the Net after I sent the message
>below.
>First, the vette actuators are very expensive, about 104 per side.
>Tanner and all seem to average around 50 -- perhaps we should let
>the
>Vette owners know. The more interesting thing that I found is that
>they
>sell a rebuild kit for 10.00 per unit. It seems that the same part
>is
>>always failing, the front seal. The parts and instructions are at
>>http://www.zip-corvette.com/index.html. I intend on buying two of
>these
>>seals and doing the deed -- I will let everyone know whether they
>work.
>>Kim
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