[Darth Menace]

Hey guys, I know I did have a thread on this, but couldn't find it for the liufe of me. Anyway the heater core needs to be replaced, but it is currently away getting prettied up. The body shop was going to do it for me, but the two I ordered were too large. I ordered 1 heater core for a 69 GTO/Lemans/Tempest with a/c and one without. Both of these heater cores were too large to fit where the old one was. The car was originally a 6 cyl with a/c, but now it is a 400 without a/c. Was the original heater core smaller because it was a 6 cyl? I now have to do it when I get the car back, and would like to get the proper heater core in before I get the car back, so it will be ready to rock.

[Darth Menace]

The heater core is replaced and works fine. Now I was going to put the wheel well in, but it is a bitch. Is it easiest to first insert the wheel well from the front or more towards the rear? I tried from the front and it went 80% in then started to get bunged up. I thought I should look into this before I get to rammy and break the thing in anger

[rexs73gto]

You need to loosen the bolts on the fender so you can slip it in. If you don't loosen the fender it will bind the wheel well & won't go in. With the fender loose it will allow you to push the wheel well in.

[gtohurstjudge]

Darth, to be clear, you have to take the two lower bolts out of the
fender(the ones down on the bottom , in front of the door, and pull it out as far
as you can, then snake the wheel well in front end first. You will need the wheel
off to have clearance to get it in.

[Darth Menace]

Originally Posted by rexs73gto

You need to loosen the bolts on the fender so you can slip it in. If you don't loosen the fender it will bind the wheel well & won't go in. With the fender loose it will allow you to push the wheel well in.

Without sounding like I am making sexual innuendos...is there a proper way to insert it? I did loosen the fender bolts, but it always seem that the rear portion is just a tad out. I can always incredible Hulk it, but it never ends up pretty when I do

[Darth Menace]

Originally Posted by gtohurstjudge

Darth, to be clear, you have to take the two lower bolts out of the
fender(the ones down on the bottom , in front of the door, and pull it out as far
as you can, then snake the wheel well in front end first. You will need the wheel
off to have clearance to get it in.

Sorry, I didn't see your comment prior to my previous post. I will give this thing another go.

Thanks guys

[cortcomp]

Man i am glad i don't have to do this, HATE doing heater cores/blower motors. Worse design ever on these cars. Not near as bad on my 66 truck though:

[gtohurstjudge]

Originally Posted by cortcomp

Man i am glad i don't have to do this, HATE doing heater cores/blower motors. Worse design ever on these cars. Not near as bad on my 66 truck though:

The worst design ever is on the 1963-65 Buick Rivieras. My 65 Riviera still has
it's original heater core and I'm praying that it doesn't go out while I own the car. You
could build the Pyramids faster than changing the heater core on an early Riviera.

[cortcomp]

I just went to read up on that. Wow. What a terrible job. When it's easier to swap a motor than do a heater core, you know it's a bad day.

[north]

I've done a few over the years, miserable job. One added thought; if possible try to find an NOS one as replacement-repop units are half the weight. Not a good harbinger of likely lifespan. Also very easy to crack during install.

[David Jones]

As noted in my signature.......

[rexs73gto]

Darth as it was posted , you ned to REMOVE the 2 lower bolts on the fender by the door & that way you can pull the bottom of the fender out just enough to get the rest of the wheel well in in the back. When you loosen the rest of the bolt it will allow you to get the wheel well in with the bottom of the fender pulled out. But you have to REMOVE the bottom bolt all the way out so the fender can be pulled out of the way . But very careful so you don't damage the fender when you pull the bottom out. If you need a 2nd hand to keep the bottom of the fender out while your installing the wheel well you can put a small piece of 2x4 in the bottom of the fender to keep it out while your getting it in.

[Darth Menace]

Well I am all done the wheel well. What sucks is that I had to do the wheel well twice...I forgot to put the blower fan unit in first so I had to take the wheel well out and do it again.

What does suck...the fender when I loosened it moved it way back sworn I opened the door it rubbed the panel and did some minor damage . I guess I will loosen the bolts and try to push it forward and try again....