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Hi, I have 3 questions (all 1955, but this was the same before and after that year too):

What's the best way to lubricate the heat/air control cables? Just drip endless amounts of oil thru them?

Any good ways to repair the main air valves so that they seal better? I assume remove, then replace the rubber? When I have my front fan on, a ton of air blows past the valve into the cabin, instead of all thru the heater core.

One of my control cables is broken on the end, does anyone know what the internal wire is called, and if it's feasible to replace?

I have had good luck removing the cables and coiling them up as tightly as possible taking care not to bend or put a kink in them. Coiling will tend to spread the outer coils wrapping the inner wire apart a tiny bit letting the oil or penetrating fluid go thru the gaps and reach the inside. If the wire still moves but is just dry then I would suggest a light oiling could be enough but if rusty then a good soak in a shallow pan using your favorite penetrating fluid followed by a good lube with oil.

The flapper valves will remove. Just remove the push on keeper at the end of the actuating rod and pull rod thru. The rod is wavy so you will need to kind of zig and zag as you pull it out. The two metal halves are held together by staples. Pull those out and separate the metal to pull out the rubber. Steele has die cut replacements or you can use flat sheet rubber and cut your own. You might be able to reuse the staples but if not, small sheetmetal screws or screws and nuts or pop rivets work just as well.

The wire is just called Bowden cable inner wire. Do a search with that term and find there are several vendors who carry it but it does come in different diameters. Modern cables tend to use stranded inner wire but the old solid wire is still around. Getting a nice factory like coil on the ends will be a challenge without special equipment but a serviceable single loop or two can usually be made with hand tools.

Thanks Howard.

I don't want to have my car smell like 3in1 oil from all the excess, so I'm going to try using dishwashing soap for the lube. I've actually used it in the past for various things and it works decently. I'll let you know how it goes...

I actually don't see that on Steele but I wouldn't buy it anyway, I have some flat rubber... I'll remove them tomorrow and see what I can do.

I found this wire at home depot, I'll pick it up tomorrow. If it's not strong enough (which may well be) I'll have to change it out again.

https://www.homedepot.com/p/OOK-25-ft-55-lb-16-Gauge-Galvanized-Steel-Wire-50130/100242844

I don't have extensive experience lubricating Bowden cables but for the few I've done over the years I've used graphite dispersions like LockEase. Penetrates the outer wrap easily, long-lasting, essentially odorless.

Steele may have discontinued the vent seals as it is so easy to make a usable substitute for much less money so maybe not much demand.

I wonder if ordinary galvanized or hobby wire would be a good substitute. The original is a hardened wire very similar to music or piano wire. That might be a better option and it comes in many diameters although it is more expensive. A suitable length of stainless steel spring wire could also be available and that would not be as prone to rusting.

Do you have an idea on how to get the staples off the flap? I've tried:
- needle nose pliers
- vise grips
- dikes
- trim picks
- screwdriver
And they are too stiff to pry up. May have to use a Dremel and cutoff wheel... anyway...

Experimenting with lube:
So I tried using Dawn dish soap and I actually think it works just as well as grease. I would have bought graphite but it's kinda pricy for what you get, hence why I never use it. I applied the dish soap to the broken cable, then tested putting in the new cable dry (soap residue in the cable) vs. with grease (Super-Lube). Seemed the same either way.

For the new wire I used OOK 50# Smooth High Carbon Steel Wire 534279. Aside from not being stainless, it seems a great fit. The old wire is 0.055" dia. and the new wire is 0.052" dia. As long as you coat it with some grease (as anyone would do anyway) before it goes in, I doubt rust will be an issue for many many years.

Here is the "new" heater control cable along with the broken piece that was in it. I was able to fashion some cute triangles simply with needle nose pliers.

I made new heater control cables from Bowden Cable I bought from Aircraft Spruce and Supply:

Here is the link for the discussion:

https://packardinfo.com/xoops/html/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=23113&post_id=238210#forumpost238210

I lubricated them with motorcycle cable/chain lube, spraying that through the "bends" after taking the cable off and bending it so the outer housing coils separate. The chain/cable lube is designed to not fly off chains, so it doesn't drip. Something like this:

https://www.liquidwrench.com/product/chain-cable-lube/

For motorcycle control cables there is this handy tool to make lubing them easy without taking them all the way off, I have never used it, and wonder how well it would work for one of these Bowden Cables where the outer housing is coiled and can separate, but here is the idea for reference:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aQnMdOL09uY

There is no need to take the staples out of the flaps. Just pull out the old rubber around the edge. Cut a new rubber flap that consists of two concentric ellipses--never mind the center details in the old ones. Shove the rubber in the flapper and done.

You could use a cad program to draw a 45 degree ellipse with a 5" minor axis for a really nice fit

Through a significant degree of frustrating trial and error due to the awkward location of the heater lever, I got the new cable attached. Seems the best (read: only feasible) method is to attach the bowden wire to the lever end, then the cable to that assembly, then connect it to the flap and adjust it on that side. Seems to work great, though.

After removing the old flap it was obvious why I was getting a nice breeze thru the floor vent even with the heat on!



I pried up around all the edge slightly to help free up all the old rubber, then put in a new cutout made of some vinyl I had, then pressed the edge back down with pliers around. Curiously, it's not the shape of an ellipse fitting in a 5 inch pipe at 45° (5" by 7.1"), it's actually 8 inches long (matching the original), though when installed it seems it could probably be trimmed down a bit... hard to say.



I removed the driver side one too but decided to just leave it as is. Originality and whatnot

The extra length will contour to the duct and lay flat. It would provide reinforcement helping push the flapper down on one side and yet provide a bit of extra seal on the other side when flowing air would want to push over the flapper and be trying to force between the duct wall and rubber.