Hi Guys, I have another new project.Has anyone replaced their heater core? I understand that the passenger side dash has to come out. Does it? Does all the vent seals need to be replaced if you take them apart?

I have a chilton's manual, and it has a pretty good explanation of how to do the heater core. Do you have A/C?
Without A/C...
1Disconnect battery ground strap.
2. Drain cooling system, plug heater hose connections.
3. Remove air distributer duct nuts on the firewall.
4. Remove right instrument panel pad, right hand dashboard braces, center dash console duct, and the floor outlet duct.
5. Remove the radio, and center dashboard console.
6. Pull the distributer duct from the firewall and remove the resister wires when clearance is sufficient.
7. Remove heater core retaining springs and remove the core.
8. Installation is reverse of removal. If core to case sealer was damaged during removal, replace with new sealer.

It is a little different with A/C. Write back if needed.

|UPDATED|6/6/2002 2:37:04 AM|/UPDATED|

Yes, I do have AC. It isnt working either. I dont know if my control panel in the console is working properly or not. If you have the info on replacing the heater core with AC I would appreciate them.

Rick,
I would think that as long as you are in there with everything torn appart, you might as well replace as much of the heater/air conditioning insullation as you can get to. That way you know it is all new and making a good seal for when you tackle your air conditioning. While you are in there, I read an article in one of the magazines ( Vette or Corvette Fever ) that you can replace the squirl cage fan with one from a C4 that is much more efficient. I will try to find the article for you but it may take some time, the next week or so is pretty well scheduled.

Also, don't forget to replace all of the seals on the heater box plenum. It will stop the hot air from the engine compartment being sucked in and fighting against the cold air.

Rick,

Sorry i took so long to get back with you. Here we go.


1. disconnect battery ground cable.

2. Drain cooling system. Do not evacuate the A/C. system.

3.Disconnect heater hoses at the firewall, and plug the pipes.

4. Remove the nuts from the distributor protruding through the firewall.

5. Remove the right side dash pad and center dash cluster.

6. Disconnect the right dash outlet from the center duct.

7. Remove the center duct from the selector duct.

8. Remove the selector duct to the dash panel and pull it to the right and to the rear.

9. remove the cables and wireing connectors from the selector, and remove it from the car.

10. remove the temperature door cam plate from the selector duct.

11. remove the heater core and housing from the selector

12. reverse the proceedure to install.

Good luck! It is a heck of a job. I don't envy you...


If you run into trouble, e-mail me. I'll scan the book, and send the pages to you.

Thanks a ton for the info. Sounds like another long weekend job or a winter project. I just tried to print the info, but it got half cut off. When you get a chance, would you scan and email it to me? Thanks again.

I have done mine. It is a job, just go slowly and walk away for a while if you get fustrated.
All the above posta are very good info. The only thing i would add is this.

Remove the passenger seat and roll the carpet up toward the console. This will give you more room and assure that you do not get any anti freeze on your carpeting. Ii will destroy it.
Dutch

Thanks for the tip Dutch. I was planning on taking the passenger seat out. Old fat guys dont fit well in small places. I was planning on taking the console cover off as well. Thanks again everyone.

I just got through replacing my heater core. I am restoring the whole a/c / heater system so I thought I'd better replace the core while I'm at it.

You do have to remove the passenger dash. I also removed the console and instrument bezel. You will also have to remove the evaporator housing. I suggest disconnecting the heater hoses and blowing out the antifreeze in the heater core.

I bought the heater seal kit. It has ever seal you'll need plus some. I took out all of the ducting and detailed it all.

Since I had it all out, I also replaced the vacuum hoses, a/c control panel, and a/c wiring. The original wiring was a real mess. Got mine from Lectrid Ltd. The hoses were ok, but didn't look good with all the other new parts. The complete hose kit was not that much.

It is a real pain to do but well worth the effort.