1964 heater core replacement

[Ken 6645]

My 64 thungerbird has a leaking heater coil..I dug out a couple of motor manual's and the way they tell me how to do it and if I do it like book said ,I may never finish .......why???? can't it be taking out thru the fire wall...If you know the old core size and you know where the tubes go,why can't cut a hole in the firewall and pull the darn thing out...? I don't have a clue whats behind the firewall that would be destroyed by doing it this way. I guess this question will give someone a good laugh .so I'll your welome........................thank you for your help and time Ken

[jopizz]

The heater box has a plate that goes over the core so you would have to cut the firewall and the heater box to get it out. Then you would have to have enough room in the engine compartment to pull it out. The core is pretty long. Taking out the heater box is difficult but certainly not impossible. I've done a couple of them. Taking my time it took about four hours.

John

[Yadkin]

Major PITA job. Behind the firewall is a sound blanket, a space about 2" wide then the heater box. The gremlin pictured is in the box. There is a cover on the box that is screwed on, but since it is 2" away from the firewall, very difficult to access. It's been a while since I removed my heat only box for a Nostalgic Air heat and AC kit.

The core is 9.5" tall x 12" long including the tubes. Without the tubes the width is 6". It's 2-1/8" thick.

I don't know if you can take the box out without removing the dash and console- I doubt it. The box itself is fiberglass, and runs from the passenger side, encompassing the right side vent, and runs all the way over to the drivers side to dump air more-or-less above the accelerator pedal.

Some of the attachment nuts for the box may be inaccessible without removing the engine.

I don't want to discourage you but you can see why I didn't replace my heater box with a factory AC unit. It would have taken me too long to remove one from a junk car.

[jopizz]

Some of the attachment nuts for the box may be inaccessible without removing the engine.

The attachment nuts are the easiest part of the job. There's plenty of room behind the motor to get them out.

John