Green Bean
SILVER Star
After a recent coolant flush and replacement of all of the heater hoses, some deferred maintenance issues surfaced. First, the rear heater core had to be sent off for repair after one of the inlet nipples broke off. After that was sorted, I noticed a drip on the transmission hump near the boot for the floor shifter. 
Sure enough, it appeared that the front heater core had developed a small nagging leak. Thankfully, aftermarket front heater cores are readily available. Search "HVAC Heater Core APDI 9010346." For example, Rock Auto has them. Mud vendors such as City Racer, Cruiser Corps and Cruiser TEQ also have them. I purchased this one from Cruiser TEQ.
It is a simple process to remove the front heater from the vehicle. 4 easily accessible M8 bolts with captured nuts. Since I had just refilled the cooling system with fresh coolant, I didn’t particularly ant to drain the system again. I closed the heater valve under the hood and used a small catch basin while carefully disconnecting the two hoses going to the front heater. There was minimal coolant spillage. Removal of the 4 firewall bolts, disconnect the defrost ducts and the heater comes right out. Once on the workbench, the driver’s side of the heater box can be separated by removing 4 small sheet metal screws. Then the heater core can be slid out.
As far as I can tell, this is the original front heater core. If so, it survived almost 54 years!
The old heater core had some glued on padding on the ends and sides. I replicated these with 1/4" thick high density neoprene foam that I had left over from another project. Neoprene Foam
The inside of the heater box would have benefitted greatly by media blasting, but I don’t have access to a blast cabinet. So, I just sanded by hand and treated everything with de-greaser and metal prep before a re-spray with Steel-It. Reassembled everything and installed. I opted to use stainless screws instead of the black ones.
Sure enough, it appeared that the front heater core had developed a small nagging leak. Thankfully, aftermarket front heater cores are readily available. Search "HVAC Heater Core APDI 9010346." For example, Rock Auto has them. Mud vendors such as City Racer, Cruiser Corps and Cruiser TEQ also have them. I purchased this one from Cruiser TEQ.It is a simple process to remove the front heater from the vehicle. 4 easily accessible M8 bolts with captured nuts. Since I had just refilled the cooling system with fresh coolant, I didn’t particularly ant to drain the system again. I closed the heater valve under the hood and used a small catch basin while carefully disconnecting the two hoses going to the front heater. There was minimal coolant spillage. Removal of the 4 firewall bolts, disconnect the defrost ducts and the heater comes right out. Once on the workbench, the driver’s side of the heater box can be separated by removing 4 small sheet metal screws. Then the heater core can be slid out.
As far as I can tell, this is the original front heater core. If so, it survived almost 54 years!
The old heater core had some glued on padding on the ends and sides. I replicated these with 1/4" thick high density neoprene foam that I had left over from another project. Neoprene Foam
The inside of the heater box would have benefitted greatly by media blasting, but I don’t have access to a blast cabinet. So, I just sanded by hand and treated everything with de-greaser and metal prep before a re-spray with Steel-It. Reassembled everything and installed. I opted to use stainless screws instead of the black ones.
