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Bob,
Producing exact duplicates of obsolete parts is
very expensive in small quantities. When this part was originally produced the
anticipated sales were significantly more than the volumes that Andy uses
when he does his costing. Tooling costs are usually the biggest deterrent
from fabricating parts exactly. If Andy decided to fab these particular parts
"exactly" as original very few, if any of us would be able to afford to buy one,
and he would eventually go out of business. You're right, these vent openers are
not perfect replicas however they do work as delivered and look good and at $54
each well worth it. With a bit of ingenuity the original handles could be
made to work on these lifters however from what I've heard the original handles
are as rare as hens teeth as well.
As far as freeing up old "frozen operators" is
concerned, I too have the same problem. I
have always found that applying a reasonable amount of heat to "frozen"
metal assemblies works the best. Finding the right amount is the tough part. I
will typically heat all over with a torch and try working the mechanism back and
forth until it starts to move. Then keep heating & working it until its
loose enough then apply some oil when it cools off sufficiently. Another
approach is to heat the assembly then rapidly quench it in water several times.
This will break the corrosion that is holding them together and the mechanism
usually will start to move. I think a propane torch should be hot enough for a
job like this.
Hope this helps you out,
Colin Hyde
57 Sovereign of the Road
59 Ambassador International
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