How to finish breaking the blend door?

[kturner]

97 Ranger, finally tired of not being able to use heat/ac correctly due to blend door issue. I ordered the dorman kit where you cut an opening in the bottom of the plenum to extract the old blend door and install the new part. I have the access hole cut in the plenum, but my original blend door still has probably half the "axle" seated in the hole in the top of the plenum. Does anyone have any tricks for (breaking?) removing the old blend door without breaking anything else?

So many threads and videos on blend door issues, but I haven't been able to find one that addresses this.

Thanks
Keith

 

[kturner]

I grabbed the bottom corner of the old door with a pair of vice grips, crossed my fingers and started putting pressure on it. The old blend door finished breaking.

Anyone trying this job, one tip is make sure the pieces all fit together smoothly before putting them in the plenum - the new door, the metal insert and the actuator. I put them in and had to take them out as they weren't quite fitting right the first time.