Heater core removal 89 chieftain

[JerryP]

Plan on purchasing the same one as you did if available and old one not repairable.I would be interested in seeing your ease of access fixes, if possible. Thanks in advance.
Thanks for the help, also many other very useful posts on this forum.--Harv

I made a metal box from a sheet of steel I got at a local sheet metal shop, that does a lot of duct work.
The box fit directly over the old box, plus I remade all the inside brackets, and sealed the unit up better.
Having watched the sheet metal guys make their fold over seams, I made it so I only need to pull the front fact plate off to service anything inside the heater core box.


I will try to get some pictures.
If you find a sheet metal shop, that does duct work, they can make you a box to whatever measurements you want. with a removable front.

PS it works great

[Rover71]

Hi--Thanks for the reply--I'm totally lost in these forums, and think I just sent you another message, if so please ignore it or them as the case may be.
That metal case seems like a good idea, thanks for the tip. The AC expansion valve is seeping, just got a new one, but need to evacuate R-12 freon, may put that off for a while. Rarely use the AC anyway, but it  may help with the defrost.
The leaky heater core was good for some very foggy windshields on the way from BC to Yuma,AZ until we figured it out and I got most of a bottle of Bars-leak in and temporarily sealed it.
The help is much appreciated, thanks again---Harv

[JerryP]

You can buy a vacuum pump from harbor freight, pull out the R-12, and convert over to 134, or whatever it is that is 4-6 bucks a can now.
Very easy job to do.

[Rickf1985]

Technically it is highly illegal to vent refrigerant into the atmosphere. I had to get and maintain a license just to buy it and on that license are the regulations you have to abide by. One of which is the recovery and recycling of refrigerant in any system that needs to be serviced. You can buy the small cans of R134 in stores but it is still illegal to discharge the system to replace components for example. Do people do it? Yes, just don't let anyone take a picture with the ever present cell phone! The fines START at $10,000.00!

[JerryP]

You can't collect what already leaked out, unfortunately, it all leaked out......Because that is what leaks do

[Rover71]

Right , it did! Got the heater core out today, definitely needs replacing, I'll order the new one tomorrow. Thanks Jerry.
With all the help from the forum, I cut the top off the enclosure, hit it just right to get core & damper out. Won't be hard to replace now. Tried a couple of photos, too large.