Has Anyone Replaced The Plain Black Side Vent Control Knobs?

[Satz]

I wish the RX 330/350 had chrome knobs on the control lever for the side AC vents! Jsut like the centre vents have.

Such a tiny ommission makes the whole vent look a bit cheap as it's just plain black plastic.

I noticed that the new Corolla has chrome knobs on the side vents...which got me wondering whether anyone has changed their RX's side vent knob to a chrome type?

If so, how did you get the original knob off?

btw, I'm referring to the knob in the centre of the vent that is used to adjust the direction of the vanes.

cheers

S

[cduluk]

Yepp. <_<

It was bothering me on my Rx400h, so i decided to upgrade them to chrome to match the two center ones. My first idea was just painting them with silver paint, but it wouldn't suffice...

I remembered i had a pair of 01-03 Rx300 center vents (from my old rx300) and would you know it, the little chrome slits pop out, and so do the ones on the new Rx's, and they're the same size! A little super glue, and they fit right in.

And here's what it looks like now :)

The slits can be removed carefully with a really tiny flat-head screwdriver or a razorblade.

[Satz]

hi cduluk!

Fantastic writeup and great photos...

That's exactly what I'd like to do.

When you say the chrome slit pops out...do you mean literally just the thin piece of chrome? How much force does it need to get it off?

And then you just glue that on top of the existing black plastic knobs?

thank you

Satz

[cduluk]

Yupp, just the chrome strips pop out. If you look closely on the newer RX black knobs, that "slit" comes out. Same size 100% as the chrome one from the older RX300 chrome slits. <_<

I don't remember how much force it took to get out, i'm pretty sure i had to destroy the black ones to get them out, and i had to gain access to the back of the chrome ones from the donor vehicle...

[Satz]

Hi again

Had a close look at my side vents today. I never realised that there was a black strip through the centre.

So I guess I need to lever that off without damaging the knob itself.

Looks like I'll need to prise it off at each end of the black strip?

Btw, what did you mean by : "I had to gain access to the back of the chrome ones from the donor vehicle?"

Did you pry the chrome strips off the same way as the black ones?

cheers

Satz

[cduluk]

When i got the donor chrome strip vents, i had to gain access to the back of the knobs to push the chrome strips out. The strips don't come out willingly. I couldn't pry the strips out from the front without damaging them. You'll see when you get the donor chrome vents...

[Satz]

ahh...

Do you know if the knobs themselves come off the louvres without breaking them?

I'm thinking of transferring the chrome strips from a new Corolla, so would prefer to be able to replace the knobs once I've removed the chrome...

:whistles:

many thanks again

S

[cduluk]

Not sure if the knobs come off easily... When i did this i removed the slits when they were attacked to the vents, i don't remember taking the knobs off of the vent. Either that, or i just ripped the knobs off of the vent...

If i remember correctly, the "slits" are made from plastic. There are 2 plastic pegs coming from the back of the slits that go through 2 holes in the vent knob, so the pegs stick out the back of the vent knob. The peg ends are then melted flat, securing the slits to the vent knob... The only way to remove the slits without damaging them is to gain access to the area behind the vent knobs, and dremel away the melted peg ends. Then, the slits can be pulled off of the vent knobs.

Here's a rough sketch of what i'm talking about. <_<

Are you even sure the chrome slits from the knobs of the Corolla are the same size as those from the the RX's? I just google'd a pic from a new Corolla, and they seem a bit longer...