I think I figured out what's wrong with my heater

[pritch]

I've been working up to replacing my heater core and generally fixing up the heater in my green '68. The heater don't really work and I've been shivering for the last two winters.



This truck runs quite hot, around 220-230 or so in the summer. It never seems to boil over, but I'm always careful to not have to sit in traffic for too long. When I bought it, the PO had some screen-like window screen-over the radiator. I pulled off what I could at the time, but it was installed fairly good, almost like some kind of kit, and I had to pull out the radiator to get it completely off. It also had some broken V-8 radiator shroud on it, too, but the fan was way inside of it and I'm thinking that's worse than not having a shroud at all. So out it came, too.

After all that, I started to drop the inner fender to get the heater box off. Most of the bolts came out OK, but a couple broke off. The worse one is this-the hood hinge nut:



I'll have to see what I can do about that. I have a few old fenders, but I don't know if those are removable and replaceable. I can weld a nut there if I have to.

I finally get down to pulling off the heater box, and that cable that controls the door inside it just will not come off. I worked and worked at it, and was just about to start taking off the heater control to get some more slack, and I see a problem-the PO had put the wrong cable on it. Maybe-that's the 'heat' cable, right? And the 'fan' cable goes to the inner box? So in a fit of frustration, I cut the cable, since I have spares, and get the outer heater box off and find this:



Fool welded the cable on! No wonder it wouldn't come off!
I can't figure out how he even did it. I guess from the inside. Oh well. At least every thing is apart, and now tomorrow it should all go back together and I'll have some decent heat!

[1972SUPERSB]

It's amazing what some PO do to these trucks.
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[s_nova69]

Funny man!!! I had to replace my heater core when I did my engine bay upgrade cuz I broke the old one. With less leaves and new core the heat is blastin. Good luck
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[LONGHAIR]

That's what I was expecting, leaves and a mouse house....but I have seen crazier stuff.

A guy brought me a truck, that he had just purchased, for a "once over" inspection. It was nothing "official" , since we don't have that here, just for his own piece of mind. It was a late 70s Ferd stepside 4x4 that some po had lifted w/o a kit, homemade job. That was shakey enough, the really bad part was the "extension" of the rear brake hose. He just cut the hose in the middle, inserted a piece if steel brake line and held it in place with a couple of mini-clamps...like it was a fuel line or something?

[pritch]

Originally Posted by LONGHAIR

That's what I was expecting, leaves and a mouse house

That's exactly what I was expecting to find.

[clemsonteg]

Maybe I need to do this to mine. My heat is only luke warm if I sit at idle, any kind of movement and it gets cold.