I saw somewhere on here that you can elocate those 3 hoses over the passenger valve cover. How do I do this? Thanks.

 

How to remove the ugly heater valve switch and go to an old school simple setup. The ideas are all the same for every thirdgen so just because some of the locations are different, doesn't mean it won't work. For example, the stock TB intake manifold doesn't have the heater hose fitting in the front near the thermostat, it's in the back next to the distrib. They're the same thing, both are supply lines for the heater core. Parts list:
3' of 5/8" heater hose
3' of 3/4" heater hose
teflon tape
3/4" barb fitting with 1/2" NPT thread
5/8" barb fitting with 1/2" NPT thread
5 hose clamps
A simple hose end cap/plug for 5/8"
Tools:
Large adjustable end wrench
Screw drivers (the shorter the better)
Small knife (less than 4" blade)
At least one functioning hand


Step 1) Drain your coolant system completely. It'll get messy since you can't always drain all the coolant out of the intake manifolds and hoses! I usually squish around the hoses or unhook the lowest points and drain them.

Step 2) Unplug the vacuum line going to the heater valve switch and plug it with a screw.

Step 3) Remove all the heater hoses. And clean the fittings on the heater core, be careful not to bend the tubes or put too much pressure on them in any direction. The best way to remove the hoses at the heater core is to just cut them off. Just cut them off with a knife about 2" from the firewall. Now just slit the remaining piece of hose and peel it off.

Step 4) Prep the intake manifold and water pump for the barb fittings. There should just be some block off plugs that need to be removed.

Step 5) Wrap the 3/4" barb fitting with the teflon tape and install into the water pump. Wrap the 5/8" barb fitting and install that into the intake manifold, this is the supply line.

Step 6) Install the new heater hoses with the hose clamps. My hose was really easy to get onto the fittings. I just twisted the one end onto the heater core fittings, this seems to be the best method because it puts the least amount of stress on the core itself.

Step 7) Now that the heater is all setup you need to plug the radiator fitting that's just below the radiator cap. NOT the overflow line, the one below that.

Step 8) Refill coolant, turn on car, check for leaks, fix any if found, add coolant as needed. All done.

 

I removed my Heater control valve a few months ago, following JPrevost's instructions. It was very easy, you should have no problem doing it. The area around the passenger valve cover looks so much cleaner, definately worth it.

 

Thank you for the reply. Where do I hook up to the manifold on my TBI camaro

 

After doing this, the heater still functions correctly, right? Are there any drawbacks to not having the Heater Control Valve installed? I would love to be able to get rid of the ugly piece of junk. Thanks!

 

I took my control valve off and re ran the heater hose and have maintained full heating. At the same time I removed the A/C so my engine compartment really cleaned up. It game me plenty of room so that I can wrap and unwrap my headers which help keep my engine compartment really cool!!

 

This doesn't cause any ill effects with interior heat in the summer does it?

 

your feet do feel a little heat, not much. I also noticed that the car is running about 20* cooler, I believe it has to do with the mini radiator effect that the heater core has. I removed alot of stuff dealing with the heat and A/C and have noticed a change in cooling and appearance My buddy that drags his Nova is wanting to remove the A/C condensor in the front of the radiator on my car. I believe that would also have a positive effect on cooling??????

 

I've been looking for a solution to this for a long time as well. I used to have TBI so I have the same heater valve and hose setup. When I got my new engine, it came with chrome valve covers and I couldn't let them be covered by ugly hoses. I was going to rip out all of the hoses completely, but decided not to because the AC was designed to work with the valve. So I just moved it away from the valve cover. Here are a few pics:



You can see the hoses leading to the valve at the left. The AC dryer is there just to illustrate where I routed the hoses.



In this pic, the hose looks like it's sitting right on the header tube, but it's just the angle the pic was taken. BTW, the tie straps are just temporary until I can find something better. Hope this helps.

Mike

 

Fbird88, This is exactly what I'm saying. I don't want to effect the air cond. just move or whatever ideas to clean up the area.

 

I did this last night, tried to follow JPrevosts instructions but found there was a much simpler and cheaper way to do this.

All you need is a razor blade, pliers and a 3/4" block off plug.

The manifold outlet is in the rear like he mentioned but there isn't any outlet on the water pump for the L03. I followed the routing of the coolant out of the manifold, then goes into the heater core, out of the core to a T where one hose used to go to the valve and the other went to the radiator return.

I simply took the hose from the intake outlet, cut it down to about 7 inches long (was still in good condition) and hooked it directly up to the heater core inlet while reusing all the clamps. I then took off the upper hose from that T fitting and put a block off plug and a clamp around it. THATS IT. You don't need the barb fittings, if your hoses are in decent shape you don't need to buy new ones and you can reuse your hose clamps. Works just fine. Oh, don't forget to block off the vacuum line (same as JPrevosts post).

JPrevost: You should write up a tech article on doing this, maybe co-author me for the additional information?

 

im interested in this subject, i have already removed my a/c but i would love to clean up those hoses as well. except im a visual learner. could someone mind drawing me a pic of the before and after routing? that would be awesome and thanx a ton!

 

I have a question on this too. I have an '86 TPI, and it's routed strange. I've never seen a routing like this. Supply is from the fitting near the thermostat housing, then loops up into the throttlebody. Then exits the side of the throttlebody and goes to the heater core. Then exits the heater core and returns to the radiator just below the cap.

I bought a universal Be Cool radiator at a swap meet today. It's twice as thick as the OEM radiator with two wide cores. But it does not have the fitting below the cap for the heater return hose. Most of the older 350's lacked the return fitting on the radiator too. But I don't remember exactly how it's done.

Does anyone know where the return hose is on the older 350's? I know there are different ways of doing this. I thought they routed the return hose back to the block via the fitting on the rear of the passenger side head, and had the supply fitting directly off the water pump.

 

can someone come up with a drawing or detailed explanation of where these hoses need to go?

I completelly removed my heater valve and all the hoses when i did my L03 -> 355 swap, and now i want to hook my beloved heater back up but i have no idea how! all i know is you have to somehow get coolant out of the engine and into the hole in the firewall... anything beyond that is a mystery to me? help!

 

https://www.thirdgen.org/techbb2/sho...hreadid=222605

here you go, this is the thread i started that helped me.

 

I have researched this topic on my own since my posting and I think I can help. First, the stock set up:

Water comes out of orifice next to water neck and into throttlebody (if you have TPI). Out of throttlebody and into heater core. Out of heater core and into radiator.

The idea is to use a higher pressure source as the supply. Because with carbureted engines, the return orifice is the same as the supply orifice on tuned port engines, which is what led to my initial confusion. The reason this works is because on carbed engines, the supply comes straight from the water pump, which is much higher pressure than the fitting next to the water neck, which is why that works.

And that's the answer to my question. I'll route mine just like carbed engines have it, and I should be fine.

 

Actually, on older engines, the supply to the heater core is the same, it comes from the coolant crossover, beside the thermostat. The fitting in the waterpump is designed to be a return. If you pull the back cover off of the pump you will see that the direction of flow from the fitting to the impeller draws coolant from the fitting , not pushes it out. If course, coolant will flow out of the fitting if left open, because the entire system is pressurized.

 

Okay thank you! That'll still work for me. My biggest issue will be clearance for an elbow on the water pump to convert to my new radiator. Tuned port motors are real cluttered around there, but it looks like there's just enough room.