It would be nice to have the option though. After talking with Darrin a couple times and hearing things that were not true, I just can’t trust the guy. I offered a bunch of cores in trade towards his reman units, but I’m afraid I’d send them and never get anything in return. Perhaps I’m a bit overly cautious, but I’ve never been burned from being too careful.
You mean from over 50 years ago? That tooling steel has probably been recycled 5 times by now.
No not the original tooling. It’s being reproduced now.
Maybe we are talking about different things… When you pay for a tool, you own it. No one can use that tool without your permission. In some cases you pull the tool (take it back into your possession) when you are not running it. Some factories require you to do so due to liability. In the case of the internal parts for these vacuum motors, Critter Creek invested in the tooling, bought the required minimums and developed the re-manufacturing process including the specialized tools for opening and resealing the cans. John reseals the top side, Critter Creek is the sole source for fully rebuilt units, whether they are sold by NPD or WCCC or anybody else.
I have about 35 Cougar and Ford related tools that I own and there would be blood on the floor if the factory ever ran one for some one else. I also own tooling for many electronic items. It works this way in pretty much every contract manufacturing sector. There are OPEN tools that a factory may own that anyone can use (for a fee) for typically generic items. Nothing we are talking about here is open tooling.
Several years ago I looked into developing a stock appearing can that would use an electric motor inside. I was going to run the power wire inside what looked like a vacuum hose so it would be very hard to tell the difference. This was a very ambitious project and I had a lot more money back then. Even so when the quotes came in for tooling the project never go off the ground. The cost of the tooling couldn’t be amortized over enough units to ever make it worth while. For any one interested the incredibly hard part is that a vacuum motor can develop a stroke length equal to its inside height, minus the thickness of the diaphragm. So a three inch tall motor can have an almost three inch stroke. Linear actuators typically have a stroke length of less than half their length. We had to develop a new way to drive the rod up and down and also a slip clutch to keep it from crushing things like fingers. All of that engineering is done. I also looked at just doing the vacuum version and even at that you just couldn’t beat starting out with a good core. But that is my story… Maybe others will have different resources and better ideas and better luck.
…my understanding is that the original finish on the vacuum actuators was Olive Drab.
True? False? Inquiring minds want to know.
I posted that picture of a bolt in Olive Drab as that was just an example pic I had, to show what the finish would look like. That being said, I’ve seen quite a few variations on what is considered “Olive Drab”. Many of them look plain old olive green to me, and some have an appearance closer to zinc dichromate (but not quite the same).
This is (IMO) a good comparison of the two finishes, from the DNO website, along with a description of the difference between the two.
Darren from Critter Creek contacted me directly and is willing to work with me to get as many rebuilt ones as I need at a reasonable price. Thanks Darren! I am willing to try the rebuild kits offered by WCCC as well, but it is good to know that for those restorations needed a high end like new part that option is still available. 
The forum is a great place for us all to ask questions and share information. The knowledge that is housed in the threads is incredible and the history documented is beyond valuable.
It seems like the various threads go off track quickly at times. Personally I have purchased from Darren @ https://crittercreekcougar.com and the parts received have always been extremely high quality. The only concern would be timing as Darren is a perfectionist and wants to ensure the pieces he touches go out the door as close to perfect as possible.
As a frequent customer of all of the parts suppliers I am thankful that we have companies working hard to restore source and even develop parts for our cars.
I am very proud of the people that contribute to the forum to help us all strive to have our cars as we want them either factory correct (as far as we can with the information available) resto-mod or somewhere in between.
Thank you for everyone that contributes to our hobby and community.
Doing some fall parts re-org and came across this 69 vac can that is original untouched. I would say the color is “olive drab”.
The vacuum motor on my 69 holds vacuum in the closed position for about 3 days. In open position I can hear the air through the switch , and the vacuum tank depletes in about 30 seconds. I can remove the top hose and plug it and the hissing stops.
From what I’ve read I’m thinking I need the rod bellows and seal. Can one of the vacuum motor experts tell me if that is correct?
Can I get sufficient access to switch those out with the actuator still in the car?
Thanks for all your expertise.
Sounds like the same symptoms as mine. If so, you need a new seal. The bellows over the seal is just a dust cover; it does not hold vacuum.
I took my vacuum motor out to do the repair. Quick and easy, and cleaned it up, and surrounding parts, at the same time. It probably can be done in place, but easier to do on a bench.
Use spray white lithium grease on the motor shaft when done.
Just a note, the vac unit are avail rebuilt by CCC and sold thru NPD for much less than you stated
https://www.npdlink.com/product/vacuum-actuator-headlight-cover-control-rebuilt-each-note/198476/212887?year=1970
For those of you that have a good inner diaphragm (your core holds vacuum when applying vacuum to the bottom nipple) replacing the upper seal and dust cover bellows is not that hard. We have them in stock now.
I’m thinking that I should just grab a pair of these vacuum motors as backup parts.
They also have the voltage regulator for the instrument cluster as well, another hard to find part.