Waah.

1972 demon non AC car

Lucky for me rockauto has a new heater core for less than $40. I'm thinking I can just pull some nuts on the engine side of the firewall, pull the box, split it, put in the new core, and put it back in?

Is there anything I might be missing? Do I need to find gaskets for the box/motor etc? Do I have to pull the box or can I just pull the front of the box off with some clips and get it that way?

I've been in my '73 heater box a little but not my '72. Are there any surprises waiting for me? Anything I should do while I'm in there?

Thanks

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madam im adam

I did this job recently in my '67 Valiant. Had to pull the heater box. Have fun!

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Joshua

I did it in my 71 a few years ago. Just took the front of the heater box off. The heater core would not slip back through the firewall because the two heater hose connections were flanged out on the outside and wouldn't pull back through the firewall. I cut them off with a hack saw and pulled it out. Figured if I had to cut the first one, the new heater core wouldn't go back through because of the flanged ends. But it went through the firewall just fine. The only real tough part of the job is getting the clip back on thats between the heater box and the passenger side kick panel.

Now I feel a little better about doing it. I ended up ordering the detroit muscle gasket/foam kit, so I might end up doing a soap and water job on the whole box. Maybe even a repaint...

Good thing my swinger is back running- it is about to get cold in Philly

radar

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madam im adam

There may be a small plate on the firewall where the heater core pipes pass thru. May be avantageous to remove it as I think the holes are a bit larger in the firewall (makes it easier to guide the pipes thru?) Also I think there may be a "J" bolt that holds the heater box up and the vent end. Open the little vent door and you should see what I mean.

-James

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james longhurst:

[quote]There may be a small plate on the firewall where the heater core pipes pass thru. May be avantageous to remove it as I think the holes are a bit larger in the firewall (makes it easier to guide the pipes thru?) Also I think there may be a "J" bolt that holds the heater box up and the vent end. Open the little vent door and you should see what I mean.[/quote]

James is correct. There will be a new gasket to fit under that exterior metal plate holding the heater core tubes on the engine side of the firewall. Be careful removing the long “Jâ€￾ rod holding up the kick panel end of the box. Back off the nut as far as you can, than reach in the trap door lifting from under the box, and grasping the rod at the same time raise the rod and turn it 180 degrees. All that rod dose is hang over the lip of the crawl opening, but the problem can be braking the fiberglass box housing while extracting the heater box.

The heater control cables will need to be disconnected. When replacing the little clips holding the cable in position I found that they would not stay clipped, so I fastened each of clips with a little # 4 screw.

Removal of the glove box housing my be helpful, no that would be very helpful, and if your liner is in poor shape now is a good time to replace it, as it will come out in chunks.

If you did not order the heavy black cardboard backing for the blower out-let end of the box, you may want to order one from Detroit Muscle. Once the blower motor, heater core, and cardboard backer is removed, give that thing a good scrub with brush and a strong water based degreaser cleaner.

I found clear epoxy glue to work very well repairing the boxes fiber glass carcass. When it is set up in 24 hours you can shape it with a file, and spray paint for a nice clean looking repair.

After I rebuilt my box, it gave off a new car smell for a short time.

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67' Dart GT Convertible; the old Chrysler Corp.
82' LeBaron Convertible; the new Chrysler Corp
07' 300 C AWD; Now by Fiat, the old new Chrysler LLC

piece of cake. compared to a newer car at least.

My foam kit came in the mail today and I'm off tomorrow. I am going to put my new holley 1945 on my d150 and try to r&r my heater in the demon.

Thanks again.

Kevin
in filthadelphia

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madam im adam

There is am M shaped bracket that has one screw in the middle that holds the heater core pipes in place you will need a stubby phillips head to get that screw.

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Thanks '70. I ended up pulling the box and disassembling on the bench. Uh I mean on my girlfriend's glass dining room table..

So far I got the sucker out and split it. I pulled the cardboard backing piece and its in good shape, considering. I stalled when the time came to drill all the rivets to remove the metal backing plate/ hamster wheel housing and to split the back section from the front.

I think someone was in there before. Aren't there supposed to be metal sleeves (spacers?) on all four studs on the back, secured with push nuts (right name? those little concave sheetmetal things that push on a stud)?

I only found one (rotten and brittle) push nut and only one metal tube on that stud. Also I'm missing the 'j' bolt holding the box tight to the fresh air. My buddy has a parts car 72 a-body, but its an AC car. I'll go look up its skirt soon...

There were a few stems from old leaves but no rodent homes, '70s half smoked joints, or KISS ticket stubs in there, so I think I'm just gonna be happy with the soap and water job I did. The front half of the box got really scrubbed, but the part with the fan motor still attached only got a soapy rag and paper towels. It looks decently clean though.

I got some spray adhesive today, so tonite I can glue on all the foam and go back together.

My cable clips already had small screws in them. Thanks for the tip- they're going back on.

I am going to make another post because my control cable setup is screwy and I want to fix it. Thanks everybody for the support with this fairly simple job.

Kevin

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madam im adam