69 gto heater core leaking inside
well, it's that time, i have scoured the internet and not a single video. my blower motor still works so that is good. couple easy questions i'm hoping someone can help with
1 - since blower motor works i do not have to access or remove the blower motor cover on the firewall, right? just leave that in place? 2 - pull the hoses off the broken heater core, and plug the core ending so it doesn't spil when i remove 3 - removal of core is done by the inside big black box coming down, remove seat and glove box to make life easy ? am i on right track? there is no drop the wheel well BS if it's just he heater core, right? |
I will jump in ..heres my .02
ac housing or std heater housing ?... I would put a motor in also now that the motor has been exposed to moisture and age yes pull the seat... pull glove box door and liner pull the seat belt compressed air will get most of the moisture out pull the tire pull the inner fender buy new hoses have a good helper hangin around once you think your ready to pull and also at install theres a tough fastener on the out board side towards the door if it hasnt been apart b4 paper towels and a n old towel or 2 and your good,,, just go real slow on the install so you dont damage the solder of the tubes to the core... thats when youlle need a little help on alignment and the first couple nuts... Scott scott68gto@comcast.net I can take pictures of one I have apart right now up on the shelf if you want pics ,,, |
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Oh wow, thanks scott for detailed answer!!!
there is no a/c ... heater motor is good. it's a classic car very little usage. even less usage of blower motor. there is no moisture or issues as it was never a daily usage car, just summer car and garage stored it's whole life... firewall is pristine, wheel well and paint job pristine.... i'd just hate to have to bother!!! so can we back up to original questions, can i just do the job from within the car once the 2 heater hoses are removed? when the thing was painted originally orange in the paint booth they did the whole firewall orange with the box and all bolts,nuts orange so if that box comes off it is gonna look "off". I mean if i had to, I would. I'm just trying to maintain the look nice looking firewall paint. I'm hoping the black box mounts inside and doesn't affect anything through the firewall on the other side that is painted?? I'll see if i can find a pic shortly. THANK YOU SCOTT! ps no fan has ever been on during any of the leakage issue. |
It's all done from the inside other than messing with the heater hoses. You
don't have to remove the inner fender unless you are changing the blower motor. As I recall, I believe you might need to remove the right kick panel to get the box out, in addition to the other items mentioned. Definitely remove the right bucket seat and the glove box to get started. You will need to remove all the nuts from the studs that go through the firewall. This is done from under the hood. |
Thank you GTO hurst, That makes sense, like how the hell would you mount something that heavy on the inside with out the threaded stud's going threw the firewall with nut's on the other side.
Hopefully they are all super easy to access and don't have any BS bolts/nuts near the blower motor mounting locations. I'll have to use hockey tape on the socket to take nuts off without removing paint. When it goes back on I'll use touch up paint on surface around nut against firewall location. It's either that or blast the nuts and Black paint colour. Phew, ok.. This is doable , I'll try and take some pics and help future forum members when they need to do this job. THANK YOU! |
Something to think about is what are you going to do with the heater core once its out? Repro's are junk, the hose tubes are never shaped quite right (bending them is obviously very risky) and the core itself is paper thin, just itching to leak!
Getting the original rebuilt is a better idea if you trust your local rad guy to get a good quality core. However if you go this way its vital that the tubes and tank are very carefully inspected for cracks or pitting. Ideally an NOS unit would be best but hard to find, pricey and who's to say the reason its still around is because it has a defect or over 50 years its hit the floor once or twice. In any case pressure test the new unit and make sure the whole system is flushed if needed before removing the old unit. Hate to pump rusty muck into a new heater core. |
You know I was thinking about that today... This heater core is from 1988. Again collector low miles, I just put 8 L antifreeze concentrate when I re-filled the rad after draining the whole rad. I had run 50/50 prior. Hopefully not rusty? Obviously the new antifreeze did something. So there is an old school rad shop down the road, I would trust them to inspect, fix and test it then buy new honestly but I've never ordered one here.
Local Canadian Lordco parts store comes back at: $45.30 , amazingly cheaper than summit! But here is the link none the less: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/sgt-94532/ Not sure local guy can fix up old one for that price? |
Regarding NOS GM heater cores, my experience has been that they were junk from the factory. MY original heater core failed in 1972 at 40,000 miles. I replaced it with an aftermarket heater core that was much heavier than the GM part.....
I don't remember what the brand was but it has lasted for 47 years so far and 130,000 miles. I do know that the heater cores being offered for sale today weigh about a third of the weight of the replacement I bought in 1972. The last time I had my car all apart for a refurbish I was going to change out the heater core just as a precaution, but when I compared the new one to the old, I put the old one back in, it was obviously made of much thicker metal |
it aint about price
its about doin' it twice ................ |
Will start on job tomorrow! Once I get old one out i can take it down to lordco and compare weight and size since they have it in stock.
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When I bought my replacement heater core about 10 years ago, there seemed to be two different ones on the market. The first I got from Rock Auto weighed about 1/2 what the leaky original weighed so I didn’t think that was a good option. I returned that one and ordered the one Ames was selling which was almost as stout as the original. So far so good with the ones Ames sells.
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When I was in Lower Mainland got Richardson Manufacturing to rebuild mine with proper core. Decent price.
Mark |
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I need to tackle this on my 69 GTO convertible. I've had the heater core bypassed for about 20 years, |
I've heard that some people actually cut a hole in the well to access that nut. Then plug it with a rubber plug.
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If the car has heater and no A/C, I don't recall there being a
nut that you can't reach . I'm working from memory...my car has A/C and does come from the factory with a nut you can't reach in the bottom right corner. The thing to do on the A/C cars which I did on mine in 1972 is take a chisel and cut the corner off the fiberglass case, then seal the cut off corner with dum dum when you go back with it. My car has been like this for 47 years. I've replaced several 69 GTO heater cores on no A/C cars over the years and I don't recall any nuts I could not access. By all means if you have a nut you can't get to, be sure not to reinstall it when you go back together with it. |
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Hi Guys,
Non A/C Car here 1 seat removed 2 Remove hoses. 3 You can..if u want suck some antifreeze out of unit, put some stuff in the pipes so when you pull it out it doesn't leak 4 pull glove box box and lid out ( screws and lift plastic parts off lid so you can remove metal cords 5 undo bracket in middle 6 undo electrical connection on top 7 remove 4 medal nuts from firewall. No issue with fender or any of that bs 8 pull tab metal tab off near gas pedal that activates one of the vents 9 - pull medal tab off near glove box 10 - pull medal tab off near middle of unit 11 - Wiggle out the whole being aware of how it fits I decided to not go with Spectre aluminium hc, returned it. I went to local shop they wanted $250 so I decided to wait a bit and shop around. Now I'm shopping in Canada. I'll try that Richmond manufacturing and amazon next. Ames if I have to pay brokerage and conversion. |
Other ideas
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Hi
After cleaning off around the pipes. I have located the leak area. Is it possible to use propane torch and some plumbers solder to heat up and fix this? Maybe put some CLR in side it for a night or two? Anyone done this before? Then I was gonna try a some sort of pressure test on it. Anyway..any thoughts? This is the amazon link but one of their measurements is way off. https://www.amazon.ca/APDI-9010067-H...69+Pontiac+GTO |
I know there was some thread that I read where someone found a company making really nice copper/brass replacements.
Can't believe a shop wanted that much for a repair .... need to find some old school guy in a small shop. Found a few places selling replacements in coppper/brass .... core number is 398229 so a search on "398229 copper" and they come up. Not sure of the quality or fit, but that's the number for a 69 GTO |
Yah, I found that 398229, that is from a place in IL so essentially would be the same as buying from Ames. I spoke with Ames(great customer service) , they essentially source their heater cores from a shop down the road so it labelled as AFTER MARKET. I bet partsplace has a preferred shop too.
I honestly think if someone can tell me, can i use a propane torch to heat up the silver solder around the inlet and remelt it to fix leak? I would then use CLR over night in it, and then pressure test the unit either in car or in a bucket of water using shop air (20 psi )... What do you think? Thank you! |
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