Heater Core Replacement

[ew1usnr]

The kit you buy with gaskets will supply all the correct foam sheets, so you may yet consider removing the shag carpet.

Those nuts are called speed nuts - though if you Google speed nuts you see J-nuts and all kinds of other nuts. A good hardware store should carry them and you can pack then with strip caulk to imitate the rubber seal. Or use 1/4-20 nuts. I'd probably use NyLocks and washers, wrapping a bit of strip caulk around the stud before tightening it to seal it.

Hello, Roger.

I decided that I liked the carpet and will leave it in place. It is part of the history of the car. It works, and a previous owner spent a lot of time cutting it to fit and gluing it in place. He was probably proud of himself for what he had done. I vacuumed the carpet with a vacuum cleaner attachment to get the dust out of the carpet.

On Monday I bought eight feet of Part No. 1726 Thermoid 5/8” Heater Hose dated 09/30/14 for $11.12 at Advance Auto Parts See: http://www.hbdthermoid.com/images/au...ack_heater.pdf “A replacement for hose on most cars and light trucks. This standard grade hose is similar to SAE20R3 for normal duty service. Withstands the abuse of corrosive solutions and additives. Resists weathering to provide a long, trouble-free service life. Application: Heater, Style: Black, Grade: Black Standard, Specification: TH-STD-HH, Branding: Thermoid (Size) Heater Hose, Made In USA, Cover Color: Black, Tube: EPDM, Reinforcement: Two Spiral Polyester, Cover: EPDM, Temperature Resistance: -40°F to +212°F (Not for Steam Use).”

I also bought four general purpose #12 Autocraft Made in China ½” – 1 ¼” hose clamps for 2 x $2.49. “These versatile corrosion resistant clamps are comprised of high quality stainless steel and are designed to install easily.”
Question: The heater had its two original tower clamps in place when I took it apart.
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Would you guys replace them with the new stainless steel hose clamps, or put the original tower clamps back in? They did not seem to be leaking, and they have been there for 52 years so it is a shame to remove them because they are part of the history of the car. But, ... it will pain in the backside if I have to go back in and replace them if they leak.

Yesterday, I carried the forward half of the heater box into Lowes to find nuts to fit the mounting studs. A ¼” - 20 nut seemed to fit, but the threads on all four of the studs are damaged and will not accept a conventional nut. The self-cutting speed nuts may have been installed because of the damaged stud threads, or the stud threads may have been damaged by the installation of the self-cutting speed nuts. These emblem nuts look like what was screwed onto to the blower motor mounting studs:
Emblem Nuts.jpg


I was not sure what replacement nuts I would need so I bought a pack of four new ¼” speed nuts, four ¼” rubber washers, four flat washers, four nuts, four nylon lock nuts, and two small disposable paint brushes for when I paint the blower motor and vent door with semi-gloss black paint.

This afternoon, I bought a 40 piece carbon steel SAE tap and die set, Item #61410, at Harbor Freight Tools for the sale price of $15.99 (down from $34.99) + $1.12 tax = $17.11 and re-cut the stud threads. The studs cleaned up nicely and the nuts thread on easily now.

Cutting the threads.jpg


I used ½" thick x ¾" wide self-adhesive door & window PVC foam weather stripping ($3 from Lowes) to replace the original old and hard rubber gasket. PVC is a thermoplastic with a relatively low melting point, about 212°, but I doubt that my heater core would ever get that hot. I have a 180 degree thermostat and my radiator temperature runs about 160 - 180 degrees.

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I glued the weather stripping in place with rubber and felt adhesive and rubbed its outer surface with silicone grease so that it will not stick to the heater core.
Two halves.jpg

Close up.jpg

I received the replacement heater box clips from Summit Racing today. I can put this all back together this weekend if I receive the new heater core from Advance Auto before Saturday.

[Luva65wagon]

Dennis - I like tower clamps from a tightening perspective, but not as much from a loosening perspective. But have them on my car. Just last week suggested using them to Gene's son when we were putting his heater hoses on.

You can get them new if you want to maintain some originality. But in this case I think if they're good, there's no reason not to reuse them. Though they are not the prettiest, I can't see from the pic any reason to think they won't survive another x-number of years.

The rest looks real good.

[dhbfaster]

All this heater talk made me hot to go ahead and finally open mine up. What did I find?? More leaves and pine needles! Otherwise...not too bad. I think I'll clean up and paint the metal parts so they hopefully last another 50. The heater core looked pretty good on the outside and has the ford logo on it. On the inside it had some pretty big chunks of crud looking in the tubes and it seemed really heavy (loaded with junk?) so I decided to replace it. It's 2.5 inches thick. However when I go to the websites out there they seem to indicate that 2" thick is the perfect fit, and, Dennis it says that your 2.5 version will not fit my 61...so I never would have found the 2.5" version unless you posted the part number for me! So, ordered it...hopefully I'm not missing something! Fortunately...we don't have those stores here so...no tax, and 15% discount.

[ew1usnr]

The heater core was delivered today, but one of the hose nipples had been soldered in place at an angle that prevents it from passing through its hole in the heater box.

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I called Advance Auto. They said to take the part to an Advance Auto store for a refund. Then they took my credit card number and ordered another of the part number 399007 heater cores for me. They said that there would not be a charge for shipping for the re-order and gave me an additional discount that made the total $39.37.

Oh, well. Stuff happens.

[Luva65wagon]

If it were me I'd straighten it. I'm probably 99.9% sure it was when soldered. The brass tank it's soldered to is pretty flexible. It would move that little bit. And probably has flexed to put it where it's are now.

But if you're nervous to do it - replace it.

[ew1usnr]

I turned in the defective heater core at an Advance Auto store and they refunded the purchase price to my credit card. The re-ordered heater core was delivered yesterday. The outlet tubes were straight on this one and it fit ito the heater box with no problem:
Second Core.jpg

But, the weather stripping that I added inside the box was maybe 1/4" too thick and it prevented the two halves of the box from coming together. So I borrowed some big paper clamps from the office where I work and clamped them around the perimeter of the box:
Clamps.jpg

Here is a close-up. I cleaned the fiberglass of the box and like the way it looks. It has sort of a grain to it. If this were a new car the box would be made of plastic, ... and probably have "Made in China" stamped on it.
Close-up of clamps.jpg

The clamps worked and they squished the weather strips and brought the box halves together. The weather strips inside will increase the efficiency of the heater by only letting air flow through the heater core and not let any air flow around it. I should be able to get the heater box re-installed this weekend.

I never had a clear idea of how the vent, heater, and temperature controls worked until I took this thing apart and looked at it. The pull knobs and control cables are rudimentary, but they work just fine. When I push the heater buttons on my 2009 Honda CRV, I can hear little servo motors doing the same things as the pull knobs do on my Falcon. The controls on the Honda function fine, but if they ever quit working I suspect that they will be a lot more difficult to correct that was the case with this fifty year old Ford.

[redfalken]

Looks great Dennis. When I rebuilt mine I was amazed at how much better it worked. As you said, if you can get all of the air to flow through the core instead of the dozens of leaky spots, it really does a good job. I put in a new foam seal set, heater core, and plenum. This project gets you pretty good bang for your buck!

And I've had to use it a few times to cool the engine going over a mountain pass in Northern Cali. Nothing like driving in 105 degree heat with your windows down and the heater going full blast!!