Heater Core Removal, with photos...

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66_Charly
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Heater Core Removal, with photos...

Post by 66_Charly »

My 66 Town Landau with factory AC blew the heater core 2 weeks ago. I bypassed it so I could drive around a little before winter, but it is just too cold in the mornings without a heater. Since I need to repair/replace my heater core, I thought I would post some photos to help out anybody else needing to do this.

I have all my seats removed, so lots of room inside the car. If you follow the shop manual, you will end up removing the lower right dash panel. I am starting with section 16-4, part 6

6) Disconnect the resistor plug... (view looking up from passenger floor):
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The plug is tough to reach, and you have to pull it apart using just one hand.

6) continued: Remove seven retaining screws and the recirculating air grill:
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Note: Once the grill is removed, you can see the heater core (right), and the recirculation door (left), covering up the squirrel cage.

7) Remove two screws from the front of the heater core case. (yellow circles):
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Obviously, I am not the first to do this on my car, only these two screws were installed.

You can even see where my core is leaking, bottom center (where it is green):
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8) Loosen seven nuts from the engine side of the dash securing the heater assembly.. Note: I am not sure this applies to all cars. I only found 2 nuts, one directly above and one directly below the heater hose holes, you can see the small holes for the threaded studs for them here:
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9) Pull the heater assembly away from the dash.
NOTE: This won't work because of the four nuts holding the heater case to the blower squirrel cage! You must remove them from inside the car:
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Then you can pull the heater case down.

9) continued: Remove four screws (I guess they mean the squirrel cage screws here) disconnect a cable (to the fresh air vent) and position the fresh air vent out of the way to gain access to the core rear screws.
Note: Here is the case without the core, because I only had the two easy screws to remove, not the nasty ones at the back. Oh yeah, you need to pull the vacuum hose off the recirc door actuator.
Image

10) Remove two rear screws from the rear side of the core and remove the core.
Note: here is the heater case on my workbench, with the fresh air duct removed. Circled in yellow on the left are the two "easy" core retaining screws, and on the right (near the firewall) the two rear ones.
Image

Once you repair or replace the core, just put it all back together in reverse order. I am continuing to take more stuff apart, like the AC box and instrument panel, so I will add more photos later. For now my heater case is spread all over my workbench. This makes it easy to see the two studs and holes for four nuts which are all that held it to the firewall:
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The vacuum actuator works perfectly, but all of the door seals are rotted away.


Interesting to see that the rubber hose to the fresh air vent was shredded, no wonder it was always breezy around the feet...
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David

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redstangbob
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Post by redstangbob »

Excellent David! Thanks for run down. I think you should cut and paste it into the tbird tech section as well. When you get more of the dash out you can add to it. I found my fresh air rubber boot virtually gone except for the spring clamp. I made up a sleeve from metal duct work and used a big worm drive clamp and some HVAC tape to keep it in place (don't tell JW) ;-)
It's gonna be cool when it's done
And now it's really cool !!



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Post by Jim Wulf »

Excellent David! Thanks for run down. I think you should cut and paste it into the tbird tech section as well. When you get more of the dash out you can add to it. I found my fresh air rubber boot virtually gone except for the spring clamp. I made up a sleeve from metal duct work and used a big worm drive clamp and some HVAC tape to keep it in place (don't tell JW) ;-)
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Post by jidi »

Many thanks for the pix and the info!
I'm planning that project for next spring on my 63 along with a/c servicing while it's all apart.

Jim
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Post by Mich 66 Bird »

Just excellent! I just got the vacuum lines for my heater connected properly last month...I still don't have the "HEAT-BOTH-DEF" control working yet.
Your photos really helped...I am gonna get mine working for winter!
thanks
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Post by john6t6 »

Thanks for sharing this information & photos to illustrate, very valuable.
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SBird
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Post by SBird »

Thanks for taking the time to share this. Great photos.
I'll get er done with patience and a lot of help. Thanks Forum guys.
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Post by TsNStangs »

Excellent, David! I moved a copy to the T--Bird Tech area for everyone's future reference - thanks a lot for posting this.
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Post by benelliman »

this is totally awesome.

THANKS MAN!
I'll save some huge dough doing this myself :D
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Completely confused.

Post by michaelbenner »

Hello all! I've been lurking for awhile....and finally have hit a wall. I have recently acquired a 66 Q Code convertible, and came to discover that the heater core is diconnected from the system...best guess is a bad heater core.

Using the Shop Manual and this posting (great pics, by the way!) I tried to do some investigating.

My heater box looks just like the one in 16-2 of the shop manual, Fig. 4. But, the removal instructions, and the pictures in this post, show a front-panel with seven screws to remove. I have no such thing...or maybe I am completely blind.

Where is this front panel in figure 4 with the recirculating air grille? My 66 does not have AC...does that matter?
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michaelbenner
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Post by michaelbenner »

Here's what I see when I remove the lower section of the passenger's side dashboard:

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redstangbob
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Post by redstangbob »

Where is this front panel in figure 4 with the recirculating air grille? My 66 does not have AC...does that matter?
Yes it matters. A car without A/C won't have a recirculate door, so David's pictures might confuse you. I don't have a 66 shop manual (yet) but the 65 book shows the non A/C heater box, your 66 book should get you through. Someone else here might post pictures of their car or the manual. Good luck, Bob C
It's gonna be cool when it's done
And now it's really cool !!



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michaelbenner
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Post by michaelbenner »

Well, that's what is confusing the heck out of me. The shop manual lists the instructions for heater core removal "with or without air conditioning" and doesn't have a separate set of steps for "without."
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Post by benelliman »

michaelbenner wrote:Well, that's what is confusing the heck out of me. The shop manual lists the instructions for heater core removal "with or without air conditioning" and doesn't have a separate set of steps for "without."
i hate my shop manual. i find it a lot less complicating having someone from the threads decipher what it's saying into plain American for me.
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Post by Desert bird »

Today I noticed a small green puddle on the passenger floormat -dang!

Thank You very much for taking the time to post images and notes on removing the heater core from an A/C car. I found the thread doing a search for heater core.

I'd like to replace it with a new core if they're available, otherwise I'll take my chances with a repair. I didn't have good luck when sending the expansion tank to a local shop for repair; it began leaking at the seam a couple weeks after the tube flange was resoldered.

Regards, jeff
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