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Sat Apr 23, 2005 8:21 pm

Driver side wing vent repair: The latch fell off the vent frame. A hole is now in the frame. Can it be repaired? I would like to know how to remove the vent window in the event I have to repace the entire unit. Any advise is to be appreciated. Thanks

Sat Mar 29, 2008 11:34 am

do you know how to remove the latch that needs replacement?

Sat Mar 29, 2008 7:49 pm

Retired wrote: Driver side wing vent repair: The latch fell off the vent frame. A hole is now in the frame. Can it be repaired? I would like to know how to remove the vent window in the event I have to repace the entire unit. Any advise is to be appreciated. Thanks
I believe that the latches are held on by rivets. So, yes, it can be repaired without replacing the entire assembly.

Sun Mar 30, 2008 10:35 am

Yes you can replace the vent wing latch but it entails taking out the wind wing from the door, removing the wing from the frame, removing the glass and then drilling out the rivets from the bottom of the latch and putting the new one in. Not a difficult job but time consuming. If you have access to a junk yard that has a few bugs, it might be easier and faster to find one that has a good latch and just replace the entire assembly.

John

Sun Mar 30, 2008 4:56 pm

Open the vent wing all the way out, and look underneath. There are 2 rivets.
Drill out these rivets, and the complete latch assemble will come out from under the glass.
Get a new latch assembly from a parts supplier, and slide it back under the glass, and put it back into place with 2 - 1/8" pop rivets.
You are done. You do not have to pull the vent wing assembly out to replace the latch.

Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:41 pm

Russ, I have never heard of it being done that way! What an incredible time saver. I have a latch to do and I'll give that a try. Learn something new everyday! Thanks.

John

Sun Mar 30, 2008 5:47 pm

I actually replaced the vent wing latch on my convertible using the same technique, although I did remove the glass (was easy due to the design of the wing). I pulled the rivet from above, and had to file down the top of the crushed portion a bit so everything would go back together, but it's nice and tight.