The poor state of the chromed plastic knobs on my eyeball vents keeps drawing my attention. Has anybody ever been able to successfully refurbish these items? If so how did you do it?

Also if there is a scrappy looking vent available I would consider paying a small sum for it. This would allow me to take it apart, not worrying if I destroy it in the process and perhaps learn how to replace the knob with a machined item.

Regards

Andy

Andy

I had the same concern recently as I was prepping my +2 for a concours.

The solution I found was 'chrome' Humbrol paint used for models. It's not as good as proper plating but looks great in the car and has a proper metallic finish.

Cheers

Hello Andy,
So, the knob in the middle that you twiddle to shut the airflow on/off was once silver? Mine look to be made of fossilized cheese.
I don't have an extra vent to send across the waves, but I did refurbish mine last year. Living in a land of extremes (including climate) - then Virginia, now Indiana - one needs the vents fully open in the summer and fully closed when it is cold (snowing today). Mine were gummed solid. Disassembly was easy after popping the vents out of the dash and pulling the hose off the back. Three small screws release the front and back halves of the retaining assembly. In my case the felt strips on the two halves was in surprisingly good condition. The center plastic section that resembles a ball with slices off each end had several pieces of the plastic gearing broken. I very carefully cleaned this up with paint thinner and a cotton swab, dried thoroughly and then disassembled via the two small Phillips on the sides of the ball. To my amazement, I was able to glue the broken bits back together, reassemble and lube with some WD40, and the whole thing works. The flaps open an close securely.
However, I have to say I feel that I am running on borrowed time. One good twist by a ham-handed passenger would reduce the mechanism to plastic crumbs. It seems possible that some of the available (at least in the USA, for example in the Vintage Air catalog - no affiliation) eyeball A/C vents might fit. The light aircraft folks have lots of well-made eyeball vents for sale, but these all seem to be smaller that what is in the +2. If the vent mechanism were to fail entirely I guess it could be on-offed with a tennis ball or a rag in the hole: providing an opportunity to tell the concourse judge to put a sock in it.
Cheers, John

The eyeball vents were from the Hillman Hunter 1966-1979 which had an extended life in Iran as the Paykan until 2005 and is now going to be made in the Sudan

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rootes_Arrow

IF the vents have stayed the same then it may be possible to still buy new spares