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!!

[ew1usnr]

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!!

Hello, Kenny.

You can tell your passengers that you turned on the afterburners.
Afterburners.jpg

That made me wonder how much the heater core core would add if used as a supplemental radiator.

The finned volume of my radiator measures 17" x 18" x 3" = 918 cubic inches.
The heater core measures 6” x 8” x 2 ½” = 120 cubic inches.
And 120/918 = 13%, which is significant.

Last night I removed the paper clamps to see how the weather stripping had compressed. I didn't paint the metal in the box because it still retained small patches of shiny galvanized metal that I wanted to save.
Compressed weather strip.jpg

I reattached the clips that hold the box halves together. One of the original clips went flying during the process and became lost and I used all three of the new replacement clips that I bought from Summit Racing (I'm glad that I bought one extra). I now have three clips on top, two on each side, and two on the bottom. The bottom is supposed to have four clips, but the fiberglass was broken by a previous owner at two of the attachment points. I reattached the hoses with the original tower clamps. I will re-check the tightness before installing it in case the rubber hose compresses.
Reassembled box.jpg

And it turns out that the speed nuts that I took off are evidently the original nuts:
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Falcon Parts sells these heater parts nuts as "1960 - 1970 Heater Mounting Nuts, $3.50".
370546-S 1960 - 1970 Heater Motor Mounting Nuts .50.jpg

Nylock nuts would be better, but I will leave the original speed nuts in place since they have obviously worked fine for the past fifty years.

As a point of trivia, the heater box with the hoses attached weighs 15.4 pounds.

[ew1usnr]

Yesterday, I attached the new plastic plenum to the heater core, drained the radiator, glued three pieces of duct tape to the lower inside edge of the rubber vent duct to repair three tears. I have heard that these cars are prone to rusting under the cowl when the drains get plugged with leaves. While the heater box was out, I examined the underside of the cowl around the vent inlet. The metal is unpainted and has a patina of surface rust, but it was smooth and without rust holes and showed no evidence of water leakage. I knocked on it and it seemed solid. I reached my hand up through the cowl vent and felt around on top of the cowl under the fender for leaves and did not feel anything. I seem to be lucky and have a solid cowl.
Underside of cowl.jpg

I inserted the heater box through the firewall and a bigger than hand-sized piece of black fire wall insulation outer cover fell off. I used emery paper and sanded the corrosion off the manifold water inlet elbow to make it smooth. Then it became dark and I called it a day.

This afternoon, I attached the antenna lead, heater, temperature, and defroster control wires, plugged on the lower ends of the defroster ducts and reattached the upper ends after they had pulled loose, reattached the piece of firewall liner with folded over duct tape, and reattached the glove box liner. I attached the top hose from the heater core to the water pump and the lower hose to the manifold water inlet elbow and tightened both hose ends down with new stainless steel hose clamps. I sealed where the heater hoses pass through the firewall by squirting some black silicone caulk on top of the hoses and smoothing it with my finger to the underside of the hoses. I started the car and let it warm to operating temperature and added more coolant when it started to circulate in the radiator. Then I screwed on the radiator cap and let the system pressurize. None of the hose fittings appeared to be leaking, so I appear to be good to go. I now have a new heater core, new internal seals, new hoses, and a new plenum. Yay!

I will leave the newspaper in place for for a little longer until I am I sure that the hose fittings do not leak.
Installed Heater Box.jpg

I will drive my Falcon to work tomorrow morning and see if everything holds together. Tomorrow will be beautiful with a 65 degree morning temperature and a high of 77. Wednesday through Friday will be colder, though, with 40 degrees in the morning and highs in the upper 50's. Yay! That will allow me to try out my new heater.

[SmithKid]

Good job, Dennis. I always like to see your progress reports. They're always interesting. Keep it up.

[Luva65wagon]

Dennis, Here's a picture you asked for of the hose straps on my wagon. Hope they help.

[ew1usnr]

Good job, Dennis. I always like to see your progress reports. They're always interesting. Keep it up.

Thanks, Gene. I try to take pictures and then write notes right after I finish doing something. They are a big help if I have to re-visit the problem later.

"Dennis, Here's a picture you asked for of the hose straps on my wagon. Hope they help."

Thanks, Roger. That is an extremely clean engine. What is the thing on the left fender that is forward of the windshield washer bag and behind the voltage regulator? I tried to use the strap but it evidently works better with a six than an eight. To use it I would have had to lift the hoses above the automatic choke tube and then one the hoses would have had to make an S-shaped bend around the generator bracket and oil filler tube to reach the water pump. The geometry worked better without the strap when I just ran the hoses straight from the fire wall.

When I backed the car out of the garage on Monday morning, there was not any leaked coolant on the newspapers that were spread under the car. I drove it to work and did not see any leakage on the newspapers under the heater. I drove the car about 60 miles and saw no leaks.

I didn't drive the car on Tuesday or Wednesday because of rain, but I am driving it today and tomorrow. It is 44 degrees this morning, but it will be 32 degrees tomorrow morning. Wow! That is as cold as it ever gets here. That will be a good test of the new heater.

As a point of trivia, I saw this aftermarket item on e-bay:
Defroster.jpg

It is interesting that cars used to have heaters but not defrosters.

[dhbfaster]

Roger I love that pic of your engine compartment. I think it could become my new screensaver for a while.
Love that defroster Dennis.
My heater is all apart and I hope to have it put back together next week.

[ew1usnr]

... it will be 32 degrees tomorrow morning. Wow! That is as cold as it ever gets here. That will be a good test of the new heater.

It was 33 degrees when I drove to work this past Friday morning. The cast iron block took a while to warm up and the car was sluggish for the first two miles. After that, the heater blew warm air and it kept the interior at a comfortable temperature. The engine temperature gauge did not rise above 1/4.

I initially ran the heater with the fan on high and turned the fan off when the car became warm. The car maintained a comfortable temperature with the heater on and without the fan.

I am running a 180-degree thermostat in my car and the car came new with a 190-degree thermostat. The air coming through the heater would be little warmer if the car had the correct thermostat. But, ... it was plenty good enough to off-set 32 degrees and that makes it more than sufficient for any cold weather that I will ever see in Florida. And if I ever do drive my Falcon through South Dakota, I will not do it during the winter time anyway.
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The temperature here re-bounded quickly after our short blast of "polar vortex" cold air. It was in the low 70's and sunny today. I took my shirt off while I was raking leaves.

[SmithKid]

Glad your heater is working satisfactorily, Dennis.
We have temps a bit different here. One day last week we (Seattle) broke the old record high temp by 3 degrees, getting all the way to 61 degrees!