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I have successfully fixed this on 2 cars, one this past weekend while swapping out a heater core for a friend. Minus the prep work to R&R the heater core, Repairing the flap door took less than an hour.
I saw this method online years ago and it works well. While the heater core is out, you can clearly see the flap door and all the foam bits just waiting to blow through your vents, easily removed by hand or with a shop vac.
If you follow the heater flap door to it’s top pivot point you will a circular area that houses a plastic bushing connector the flap door. Carefully cut the top off as close to the top as you can. I used a short hacksaw blade and a strong utility knife. Be careful! You can then pull the bushing from the top releasing said flap door after the next step.
Move into the cabin and pull the foam cover down from under the dash on the passengers side. Towards the center console you will see the actuator that opens and closes the flap. It’s easy to see as it has a pink actuator arm. Now there are a couple of ways to handle this. You can remove the actuator or separated the joints and arms. You’ll understand when you see it. At the of the arm is where the lower pivot bushing is. No need to remove the small bolt, just wiggle it down and it will come out.
Go back to the top by the heater core and pull out the top bushing. The flap door can then be pulled through the area where the heater core sits.
I wrapped the flap door on each side in thin but strong aluminum duct tape with a continuous piece trimming as necessary.
Reassembly is the reverse. This is where it can get a little tedious. You have to align the flap and the bushings. An extra set of hands is helpful, but I managed on my own. Put the top one in first then the bottom. Button everything back up.
The heater is nice and toasty. Made a huge difference.
I don’t have too many pics as I just didn’t think of it, but it’s not too difficult.
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