Toronado.org

Anyone know who rebuilds these? I would like to keep the stock system if I can. I took one of my actuators apart and everything looks OK except the rubber piston has shrunk and hardened. I might try some tricks myself, but I would rather have them rebuilt and be done with it.Thanks, Mark

This comes up every now and then but I've never seen a recommendation for a professional rebuilding service. Search this site for threads by DIYers and one where electric actuators were found that were essentially a bolt it R&R.

There was a member of the TOA rebuilding these, but I think he may have stopped a couple of years ago as parts were becoming difficult to get. There is another potential source that you could contact -- they do hard to repair parts. I'll try to find the name and give it to you -- located in CA. He repaired the vacuum actuators on my 67 air cleaner. Those cost $100 each and they were the type that were crimped together. They are smaller of course. Took apart my 67 headlight door actuators, and they are large, but they were fine. THey were also the crimped type and had to put them back together. 66 is different.

If the guy Doc is talking about is Ken something or other, he passed away a couple years ago.

Call Atwater Kent and see if they can help you. They rebuild and manufacture lots of antique car parts including vacuum canisters, etc. They seem open to taking on jobs that aren't specifically listed in their portfolio.

Atwater Kent
12 Jacques Street Worcester,
MA, 01603
(508)792-9500
http://www.mykmlifestyle.com

Ken Hitchcock was the man's name who rebuilt the actuators. He died in 2015.

viewtopic.php?f=38&t=629&p=6168&hilit=headlight+actuators#p6168

I'm working on my actuators.I think my plan may work. I will post my results when I'm done. Thanks for the tips.

Update. I took my canisters apart by grinding off the original rivets. You have to be a little carefull, the spring inside has some strength to it. My piston looked good, but was hard and didn't make a good seal. I soaked it in brake fluid for a week, It got alot better but the seal wasn't good enough. I soaked it again and used a piece of plastic to expand the piston when soaking. I have used this trick many times to assemble old rubber parts, carb boots to air boxes on old snowmobiles, motorcycles, cars, etc. I had no idea if this soaking trick would keep the rubber soft for any amount of time. After the second soaking I had a good seal and I reassembled the canister with screws and nuts instead of rivets. The canister cover only clocks on one way, one screw hole is different. I put the cannister back in the car. It worked great for a week, after that I had to help the headlight to open. I took the canister apart again to give it another try. I ordered a cup seal from oringsandmore 1/4csx4x3/8ht sku 250-04.000-375b. This seal has a 4 inch ID and a 4.5 inch OD. With the 4 inch ID the spring in the canister rides against the old piston so the stroke stays the same. I carefully epoxied the new seal to the old one. I reassembled and It works great. The only way the repair could fail is if the glued joint between the seals breaks. I don't think it will. The seal for this repair cost me about 10 bucks. I also ordered a 4.5 inch cup piston from the same place, about 60 bucks, for a repair if necessary. A repair with the new cup piston would work for sure, but would require a new shaft with some minor machine work. If this is a car you use alot or if the cannister is damaged and you don't care about originality the electric acuator is probality is the way to go. Just for info the cannister has the trico stamp on the top, just like the wiper logo. Have fun with your Toro, Mark

Did you take any pictures of your work? Photos of the disassembled cannister and the o-ring seals would be helpful. I've never seen the inside of mine because they still work but I figure I'll end up having to fix them one day.

Sorry, no pictures. I get asked that a lot. I'm not a smartphone guy so I would have to use my camera. Cell phones don't work very well where I live.