|
1965 Galaxie LTD
I believe '65-'68 are pretty much the same...
If you have factory AC like my '68 you'll have to remove the inner fander, which can be done without removing the fender. It's tight, and you ahve to 'manipulate' it a bit, but it comes out alright through the wheel well. You may even be able to get to the heater box without removing it and only pushing it out of the way, though you won't have much room to work in.
In any case, remove all the inner fender attaching bolts and remove the inner fender or move it as much out of the way as you can get it. Look at where the heater hoses go into the core. You'll have to remove that outer cover of the heater box. It's attached by several small screws with hex/bolt heads. I found some of the ones of the bottom were badly rusted and the heads were worn down from rust.
The heater core sits inside that box. When you put the new heater core in be sure to seal it up good. That foam padding inside the heater box that seals up the core and rpevents it from moving is important. Be sure it goes back in snugly, and if not find/make a suitable replacement to keep it snug and air tight. Then when you put the heater box back on the firewall you will probably find the foam around the sealing edge of it is in pretty bad shape. You can either clean it off and replace it with foam strips or a similar product (perhaps that stick weather stripping you can find at the hardware store to seal up widows and doors), or use silicone caulk.
I was freezing cold when I replaced my heater core (damned 30* weather) so in a moment of stupidity I decided I'd just bolt it all back up. Oops. The heat doesn't blow as cold as it used to, and I'm assuming it's because it pulls in cold air from the heater box to firewall area since I didn't replace the old worn foam. When I replaced the heater fan I cleaned off the foam and adhesive and used clear silicone caulk on the mating surfaces. It seems to have done an excellent job.
I have to remove the fender when I replace my radiator support (hit a deer last year) so when I do that I'm gonna take the heater box off and seal it up real well.
If you have any questions or want more details about anything please feel free to ask. It's not a pleasant job to do, and moreso is not a pleasant job to do twice in the freezing cold like I did (they gave me the wrong heater core the first time around... The one time I don't look closely at a part before walkig out of the store... grrr...).
[addsig]
|
Today
