Dreaded Heater core job

Topic: Dreaded Heater core job (Read 2858 times) previous topic - next topic

Dreaded Heater core job

March 14, 2005, 11:45:24 AM

Well tonight I'm planning on starting on getting my new heater core installed

. Any suggestions or advice from anyone?

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #1 – March 14, 2005, 12:11:38 PM

Make sure you have plenty of space and label/bag everything you can. It's not that bad of a job as far as difficulty. It's the time it takes that will get under your skin. Good luck and when you get frustrated take a break. Better to stop for 10 minutes and have a clear head then plod through and make a mistake that will cost you even more time.

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #2 – March 14, 2005, 12:16:31 PM

I figured it was just more time consuming that anything. I just hate to take the dash totally out (or partially if I get lucky).

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #3 – March 14, 2005, 12:55:37 PM

Well its not that bad a job.
If your car has AC and u dont use it be lazy and cut the ends and hook up to that for a wile. It works LOL.

Other wise its a good day job taking your time.
last time i changed mine it took me 4 hours but i had to remove all my Auto Meter gauges to get to were i needed to go.

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #4 – March 14, 2005, 02:01:00 PM

I just got through doin' mine on my '84 5.0 work in progress. It's not a fun job but, like Pauly said, take your time and bag/label Everything ! Take lots of mental health breaks, and most of all....save the beer for later. Don't take what appears to be a short cut.....it's not worth it. Make sure everything is attatched back to wire hangers etc. otherwise you'll be chasing that elusive Rattle that'll drive you insane. One other thing to point out. If your beast has seen alot of storage in direct sun or heat, the underlying dash structure ( mostly plastic ) is very Brittle !! make sure you have access to some Devcon Epoxy for plastic and some fiberglass screen mesh. The previous owner of my critter tried to do the job before he got rid of it and I found lots of broken/cracked plastic that needed to be repaired.
Good Luck !
Chris

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #5 – March 14, 2005, 02:41:37 PM

Sounds like this isn't going to be much fun but hey...I've got all week to work on it I guess. We still don't have nice enough weather to drive the car yet and the roads are still salty. Thanks for the help guys.

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #6 – March 14, 2005, 04:27:00 PM

allso make sure you have extra band aids.. :D
and like everyone else said don't get pissed off!!!

windshields and dashboards cost money to replace and you never know where that tool you threw will land lol what it hits might have to be replaced to;)

all in all if you take your time for the first time doing one it should take about 4-6 hours to complete..

the last one i did was in 30 degree weather :rolleyes:i froze my NUT$ off.. and took me about 2 hours to do but i cheat.. :raspberry which most people don't like to do.. and no i don't cut the firewall ;) thinking of heater cores i still have to do mine lol.. but!! i still have heat i guess i'm just lazy..

Nick

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #7 – March 14, 2005, 10:11:25 PM

bring a 40 of jack with you... youll need it lol. but seriously, iv done 2 in my cars and its not realy that hard, its just tedious. stick with it and it will all work out. just be prepaired to cut the shiznit out of your hands every time you slip off a wrench or screw driver and come across a rusty metal bracket that ford put behind our dashes to cut us... jerks:p

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #8 – March 15, 2005, 08:30:51 AM

Oh man don't remind me guys, I've still got one to do lol, but yeah like everybody said, walk away from it instead of getting ticked off, good dashes are almost impossible to find.

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #9 – March 15, 2005, 08:39:49 AM

Look through the pics in my sig (i know they are old ones) but theres some heater core install pics. If you are doing it alone, try the seat-belt trick (see pic) it was like having a third hand. Also read eric's write-up on it, it shows where alot of the bolts are.

Oh yeah and clean the box out real good

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #10 – March 15, 2005, 10:05:39 AM

Quote

cut the shiznit out of your hands every time you slip off a wrench or screw driver and come across a rusty metal bracket that ford put behind our dashes to cut us... jerks

I just got a mental image of some evil looking guy on an assembly line 20 years ago. He's laughing maniacally as he reaches into the box labeled "Rusty Metal Brackets"

Perhaps some mechanic's gloves would be a good investment to prevent such hardships?

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #11 – March 15, 2005, 10:16:50 AM

Quote

He's laughing maniacally as he reaches into the box labeled "Rusty Metal Brackets"

And now he's laughing even more that he's probably collecting his pension!
Thunder306, I was going through your pics and noticed your strut tower brace. Any info on it? I'm in need of one and yours looks like a nice solid piece.
Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Gloves are a great suggestion. Will you be doing this inside a garage I hope? With this neverending winter it would be a good idea. This time of year it's normally about 50 degrees where I am. Right now I see a frozen puddle in front of my driveway. I've had it :mad:

Re: Dreaded Heater core job

Reply #12 – March 15, 2005, 02:48:03 PM

Yeah that is the FMS for 79-93 stang. I had to relocate the washer solvant hose cause the cutout for the hose was off like an inch. I have to update my pics cause now I have MM c/c plates and I had to modify the passenger side of the brace in order for it to clear the caster camber plates.