Heater Core Replacement

[bhazard]

I was young and dumb, so first way took me over a week! Just started getting into cars and the Tbird was a luxo bardge with tons of wires and screws.

Had the exploder a4ld tranny go and took it to a shop to get it repaired. While they were working on it they somehow managed to lean on the heater core hoses and when I got it back it puked antifreeze all over me the first block away. The owner denied any wrongdoing (long story) so being winter and working with no time I said screw it. One hour later the new core was in. Used some thick rubber matting to try and seal the carnage I did to the heater box and pop rivets and some sheet metal fixed the rest. Not the best fix, but it did work.

Auto trans absolutely killed those cars. Early a4ld was terrible. Mine was a 5 speed thankfully.

[harpon]

I've done one once through the firewall... Used the new heater core as a template and then dremeled the firewall metal out of the way. Was a tad frustrated after it went again after doing it 2 years before. This was on an 88 Tbird turbocoupe. Was a much bigger PITA on that one!

One reason I run Straight coolant all the time- and NEVER had a problem with it- water mix just causes rust, and "they" want that.

As an older person- it IS a big job- CAN'T do it now, even though I worked on bicycles for years.

I was thinking of ways I could just set a core in the cabin somewhere, run some hoses in somewhere, and have valves to turn it on and off, but the trouble then is lacking a heated defrost fan. The same way, I'd like to have a big ICE BIN on the car- I could refill and run a fan across like a swamp cooler if I didn't have functioning A/C. The ice would melt and drip out the bottom- you could fill it at will- maybe have some drinks in there!

[bravekozak]

Don't forget to remove the hidden screw. The blower housing will open up easily after it is out.