Felt replacement for heater fresh air valve

[Dean R.]

I had no luck searching the TDB archives or past Restorer articles on the C1 CD-ROM re replacing the felt on the perimeter of the flapper valve in the heater assembly's fresh air-intake opening.
Has anyone successfully disassembled/reassembled the valve for felt replacement? Is there a non-destructive way to remove the metal plates (forming the valve and sandwiching the felt) from the control-crank's shaft, thus allowing valve/crank removal from the housing?
The plates appear to have been spot-welded to the shaft in multiple locations after the shaft's insertion into the housing; is this correct?
Note that in the attached photo I've removed the felt --by the insertion of a putty-knife blade between the plates such as to slightly pry them apart.

[Steven B.]

Re: Felt replacement for heater fresh air valve

Dean, you can cut felt with an ID smaller than the OD of the "flapper" and try to insert it with a thin putty knife, "tighten" the plates with a hammer tapping a block of wood on the "flapper" then cut the OD of the felt to fit.