Re: Restoring Rusty
 

alright, one more tiny little screw on the inside of the cab, this one is hidden directly behind the ashtray, thank you General Motors, the German intern must have designed it's location, LOL

I slid the ashtray out as you would to dump the ashes of your Cuban cigar, then using a long extension I think a 1/4" socket was used to remove that pesky little guy

this tiny screw holds the heater core assembly to the upper vent housing, it's just enough to keep you from being able to remove the lower heater core assembly, so it must be undone, or you risk cracking plastic and you can kiss your concourse de elegance resto goodbye, ha ha

Re: Restoring Rusty - Heater Core Replacement
 

I believe in all the excitement I forgot to take fresh pictures of the three studs which pertrude out the firewall inside the engine bay in triangle formation, I will take a pic of them upon re assembly

which brings us to the Fun Level meter, on a scale of 1-11 I give this job a solid 4.5 (factoring the cooler time of the year and the fact that I waited to do this job until the first rainy weekend of the season, lol)

Re: Restoring Rusty - Heater Core Replacement
 

provided you loosened all the 7 fasteners, 3 inside the cab and the 4 under the hood, now you may commence the wrestling match with said opponent

I found that if you are not going for style points you can get the heater core out of the assembly without undoing any of the cables, you can gently flip it on it's back and tickle its belly

Re: Restoring Rusty - Heater Core Replacement
 

you are almost done, to get the actual heater core out of the assembly, two tiny internal screws (smaller than 1/4" hold it to the plastic assembly on the inside, not the two 1/4" screws on the outside)

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Looks like a Harrison core, I held on to mine just in case I ever have the money to have it re cored one day.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

yeah, my seems pretty nice and solid like it has some quality to it, I may try to braise the leak, I am sure the replacement one will be a flimzy China plastic one

Re: Restoring Rusty - Heater Core Replacement
 

and she's out


Note to self: my motivation to take out this assembly and clean it out nicely is at an all time low... squirrel!!!

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

If it helps, I put a spectra "premium" heater core in from pepboys and it was good for the 2 years it was in my truck before I put the vintage air in. My unit was all aluminum.

Re: Restoring Rusty - Anatomy of a Heater Core
 

Anatomy of the Heater Core

so there's a rubber gasket thingy and a metal bracket that holds it in place with those two tiny screws

Re: Restoring Rusty - Testing The Heater Core
 

time to test the old heater core

so I filled it with water and plugged the ports with those handy rubber plugs then I dried it real good with a paper towel and held it up to see where it leaks from

I am not sure exactly where the leak is, but it's not from the rubber stoppers so time to get a new one, I may braise this one some day as I like the good solid quality of it

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

ordered a new heater core from Auto Zone it was $30 bucks but they have to transfer it from the hub store so that's it for today folks, thank you for reading, feels good to be back in the saddle again

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

This thread has shamed me to start documenting my "fixing up" better...great thread and great build...Thank you!

just curious if you ever tried to do anything with the dash pad...maybe I missed it...

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

This thread has shamed me to start documenting my "fixing up" better...great thread and great build...Thank you!

just curious if you ever tried to do anything with the dash pad...maybe I missed it...

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Glad to hear it!

Sure did, The Greg left no stone unturned, I realize this is a long monsterous thread (apologies) so I found a section on the dash pad in thread number 2219 check it out please, I think it jumps around from there, also updated the Table of Contents (that a kind reader started for me and gave me the idea to do, thank you so much)

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Oh man!...I totally dig the dash and I started tearing mine apart last night! Got an idea for the holes (I'll post pics) using barn wood...

Sorry you had so much trouble with the JBW. It can be tricky if you ain't used to it...here in the hood we use it more than duct tape...

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Ahhhh, that brings back memories. My first experience with a heater core was in my 78 K10 back around 1990... good times.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

I have learned a lot reading your post thread thanks a lot. You will find the new heater cores are aluminum and are smaller than the original. At least the heater core I got from Advance auto was like that. I luckily had some extra foam lying around that I stuffed on the sides of the heater core. Also make sure they give you the right heater core as the first time they gave me a H core for a AC truck. I hope you didnt ruin the bolts that bolt on from engine bay, those are a bear to find.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

man I had a hard time getting motivated to get this new core in (the desire ranked right up there with a voluntary appendectamy), LOL, but I finally got tired of using my shirt sleeve to wipe off the sweaty windshield every morning

so here it is the new core

part number: 94553, 399079

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and as always we compare the old (quality unit) with the new (flimzy junk)

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

the sound detening heater padding was sagging down making it difficult to get the heater core studs in the proper holes, so I yanked it all out, it came off in chunks the size of 3x5 cards, not my proudest achievement but it exposed any rust sections lurking underneath there, someday we will insulate this again (umm, or not)

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

and the heater hoses went back on, cluttering up my beautiful engine compartment again, sometimes Form wins, sometimes Function!

So far no leaks, the truck ran in the driveway for about 20 minutes whilst I vacuumed it out (yes including the bed, ha ha) since I hauled some fire wood, yup say it with me now; "truck doing truck things!"

Then I took it for a test drive to Target and the grocery store, still no leaks, and wait for it... we now have heat! oh what a spoiled gangster I am now.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Glad to hear, you're welcome, and thanks for the feedback, its always appreciated and keeps me motivated.

Hmmm, I got mine from AutoZone and this one fit like a glove. Hopefully posting the part number like I did will save somebody some grief.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

next we'll tackle something we started over 2 years ago back in thread 1039 Anatomy of a Kick Panel

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

It's good to see some more work done on Rusty. Another 'installment', if you will.

BTW, this is my post number 454. I had to make note of that since it's a number I have coveted since high school.

Re: Restoring Rusty
 

Good stuff Greg, I changed my heater core a couple years ago and was amazed at how fast I can heat up the cab (which is handy here in WV right now).