Hey guys. I'm getting ready to replace my heater core in my 69. What is the process?

Car with factory a/c ? or, factory car no a/c.

Two totally different systems.

no a/c small block

Take off the 5 nuts that hold the core box onto the fire wall , 2 on top 3 on the bottom. The one on the bottom closest to the fender is a little tough to get at though. disconnect hoses. that's about it on the outside.

Now on the inside , remove glove box and door , disconnect the heater control cables that attach to the inside heater box , grab hold of the inside box and pull wiggling back and forth a little untill she break's free core will be attached to the inside of box.

That's just about it , I don't think I left anything out. This would be a great time to replace the fire wall pad while you have that box out. Just a thought:D.

In theory it's fairly easy, some will tell you it can be done without pulling the fender. Farmboy and I were not able to on my car and it may have been we were not willing to strong arm the heater core fittings and risk breaking a solder joint and ending up with a leaker.

First thing is to remove the nuts from the heater box cover under the hood. There are 2 by the blower motor deep into the fender, you can get the inner cover off and core out without removing these but if/when the new core won't slide in through the holes in firewall you'll have to pull the fender to get to the 2 nuts and then remove the under hood heater box.

Under the dash you'll have to unhook the 3 vent door cables from the box 2 have push on nuts one is a special clip. You also have to disconnect the wireing to the blower motor speed resitsor. Remove the glove box before starting all this. They make a seal kit but you'll also need some dum dum type caulk and some of the heater cores sold are not the proper thickness so be prepared to shim the core for proper fit into the inner box.

Here's the conversation that went on after we were done with mine...

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=143799&highlight=heater+core&page=2

and something about the thinner cores...

http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=146982&highlight=heater+core

In my recent experience, pulling the fender to get the firewall side cover off was the path of least suffering on the install. For me, there was just no other way.

So it sounds like for the ease of it, I should pull fender. So I also have to remove hood cause of the hinges?

So it sounds like for the ease of it, I should pull fender. So I also have to remove hood cause of the hinges?

You DO NOT have to pull the fender to replace the heater core. I've done this more than once. one time to replace a leaking core when I had the small block and just a few years back when I switched to a big block core.

My cousin just did this on his 68 and he too did it without removing the fender.


Like I said eariler that one bottom one closest to the fender is a little hard to get at but it it is very doable . To make it much eaiser to get at you could remove the little brace that bolts from the firewall to the inner fender if you wanted to , I did'nt though. You'll see what I mean when you look at it.

Now there are other nuts that hold the outside heater box on that you do not have to remove to remove the under dash box and then yes you would have to remove the fender or inner fender to gain access , ( there's also a way to get at those without taking off the fender but we dont need to get into that) but those DO NOT have come off to remove the under dash box where the heater core lives , just the 5 mentioned eairler.

Taking off the fender to remove the heater core make's about as much sense as removing the trunk lid to do it.

Taking off the fender to remove the heater core make's about as much sense as removing the trunk lid to do it.

This statement is not appreciated or needed. I can get a dozen local TC members to testify as to Farmboy's abilities with a wrench and with his understand of these cars. I also have a good feel for taking things apart but even if I were inept with a wrench he isn't and if there was a way when we did it we would have not pulled the fender.

Cudos to you for being able to get it done but if you are going to have an attitude and rub it in peoples faces your time here will come to an abrupt end!

Certainly give it a try w/o removing the fender. If it won't go it won't go. A helper under the hood is nice.

If originality isn't a concern, consider converting to the big block core. Why chev didn't make 'em all that way is beyond me.

You would have to remove the hood before you could remove the fender.

Lots of debate about fender removal in other posts too. I can understand why people would prefer not to and not risk scratching, nicking their paint etc. But my car is no show car so I much prefer removing 15 bolts that are easy to get to instead of suffering to reach others. Besides, when you have it all apart you have the opportunity to clean and paint things before they go back together.

I think a lot comes down to how exactly the tubes bend on your replacement core as compare with your original. This is why mine would not go back in and I had to remove the fender to remove the engine side heat box cover. It may be important to add that my core came from Autozone.

Either way, it's a big job, no doubt. You can bypass the core and run without heat for a while if you want to wait for the right time.

Before you install...measure the orig...and make certain it is the same size. Many of the members have run into this prob in the past. The repro may be close... but not on the mark. I think a look into the archives will bear this out.

capt

I just completed the heater core install on my 68 with sbc 327 and factory ac, previous owner had cut a rectangle out of the inner fender well so I could get at the hose clamp and that lower stud/nut, when I was reassy I did have to dremel out the heater case mounting plate because the pipes on the new core were a hair closer together, and I also dremeled out the firewall to match. The seal covered everything and the whole assy reinstalled ok with the holes wallered out a little, that way the pipes didnt bind up. dan

What a major pita. First mistake I made yesterday was to listen to a friend. He says take out inner fender well. I take all those fastners out and realize I dont think just the inner will come out. So I post a thread on here cause I know you peeps know whats going on with a camaro. ( friend has a 66 impala ss convert.) Today I go out remove the 5 fastners on firewall. No problem, Go inside figure out the cables to unhook and it's out in about 20 min. Of coarse like someone posted earlier. Time to order a new firewall pad. I did get lucky and the heater core I got is the same size as old one. Well now time to order parts and wait. THANK ALL OF YOU VERY MUCH.



Let you all know when its back together.

This statement is not appreciated or needed. I can get a dozen local TC members to testify as to Farmboy's abilities with a wrench and with his understand of these cars. I also have a good feel for taking things apart but even if I were inept with a wrench he isn't and if there was a way when we did it we would have not pulled the fender.

Cudos to you for being able to get it done but if you are going to have an attitude and rub it in peoples faces your time here will come to an abrupt end!

Wow!!!!! All I was trying to do is save Steve 20 hours of his valuable time. No attitude here at all . :noway: I did'nt mean to hurt your feeling's there white wonder:wacko: and I really don't care how many TC members you get to testify to do it the WRONG WAY , you DO NOT have to remove the fender to replace the heater core PLAIN AND SIMPLE It's NOT the way It's done , as Steve , the original poster , found out the hard way.:sad: Get over yourself Mr. administrater.:rolleyes:

You are missing the point Russ and you are being even ruder about it now! Sometimes it's not possible to put the core back in without removing the heater box completely and removing the fender can be needed to do that! I don't care how smug you think you are or how right you think you are! I do care that you not insult people with your posts and that is what this is about! If you don't like that, find another place to thump your chest! This isn't about me, I would have reacted just the same had it been another member here saying what I did and you posting what you had!

Anybody know how the dealer did back in the day ? Is there literature to back it up somewhere ?

Dealer didn"t pull fender

Heater core must be removed from inside the cabin. You need to remove the inner heater assm from inside by disconnecting all the wire cables. You will need to remove the glove box and some screws are a bit hard to find but go slow and take your time. You have to pull this inner assm to replace the heater core least on my car I could not install the heater core from the firewall side.

This is the inner heater assm I am talking about:
http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l346/Marroweter/Suspension%20and%20Brakes/Front%20Suspension/th_FrontSuspension015f.jpg (http://s328.photobucket.com/albums/l346/Marroweter/Suspension%20and%20Brakes/Front%20Suspension/?action=view&current=FrontSuspension015f.jpg)

Now on the other hand if you are talking about replacing the heater box that covers the heater core from the firewall side then that is a different story.
http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l346/Marroweter/Suspension%20and%20Brakes/Front%20Suspension/th_FrontSuspension020.jpg (http://s328.photobucket.com/albums/l346/Marroweter/Suspension%20and%20Brakes/Front%20Suspension/?action=view&current=FrontSuspension020.jpg) http://i328.photobucket.com/albums/l346/Marroweter/Suspension%20and%20Brakes/Front%20Suspension/th_FrontSuspension013a.jpg (http://s328.photobucket.com/albums/l346/Marroweter/Suspension%20and%20Brakes/Front%20Suspension/?action=view&current=FrontSuspension013a.jpg)

While it might be possible to remove it by pulling the inner fender, it IMHO is much faster just pulling the front clip and getting to it that way. There are two screws that are very difficult to get to especially if you don't know exactly where they are at. Can it be done sure by loosing a few screws and trying to get to the blind screws, but its just faster I think getting things out of the way. Even if I had to replace the cover again, I'd still pull the front clip, it just faster and less swearing. I did it both by pulling the front clip and the inner fender and I would never think of pulling the inner fender again when the entire clip is so much easier to pull and get back on.

I did this in the course of switch from a SB to a BB so I switched out the heater and heater cover/box on the firewall side as well as restored by inner heater assm.

I found that removing the windshield on my wifes car made it easier to remove the heater core in my Camaro.... IM KIDDING! ;)
Actually I found it's all about the way you put the heater box back on. If you look at the core nipples one is sort of bent into the other, so you can't just stab them straight in. Mine came out easy, then I fought it going back in for a minute, took a break and kicked my dog (ok I just took a break, but wanted to kick something), then I put it back in there, top hose through first then sort of rolled the bottom in, it went in too easy. It also helps to get as much of the interior pieces under the dash out of the way first. I found it to be relatively easy myself.

you dont need to remove fender
a 1/4 inch ratchet with U joint willl get the bottom nut out easy as pie!
I did mine 2 weeks ago
now on A/C cars the best way is too loosen the inner fender wheel housing.
and reach in from the rearward side.
(also a good way to get at blower motor)