KED85

Hi all,
It's that time of year
Heater Core time!
I've done 1974 Corvette (w/AC), 1985 Blazer (W/AC), 1967 Camaro (no AC).
All PITA!
Any Tips?
Work from below to get certain access of "stuff"?
Thanks for the help....
I plan on new Modiune heater core should be about $30-$40.
AND several new hoses as I see the need for.
In all my times of accessing the ECM, I've never notice the heater core, is it really that buried in there?

Project: 85 2.8 bird

I've heard it helps to have th wole dash removed , sit back, relax, & let the TomP sermon on heater core swaps commence. Just don't pass aroung the plate

85f-bird

my heatercore job is coming pretty soon also, gonna have to find time where i can get in the hanger and work on it all day, which isn't going to be fun, but definately necessary if i want to have non-foggy windows come wintertime. From the looks of the haynes, it seems like removing the dash is the best bet to getting things done, although i'm sure it could be done otherwayz, i'm sure it'd be a PITA. My advice (although i haven't done it yet) would be go ahead , pull the dash, keep beers handy, curse to release anger, and have at it. Hopefully i won't need all of those tricks of the trade, but it never hurts to have them handy.

Project: 85 2.8 bird

belive me, take lots of notes, never loose any of the screws, & save the beer or after the dash is back in



and

1991tealRSt-topGuy

i dont believe going that far is nessacery

Petes 84Z28

Bah.
All you need is some patience, a 7mm ¼ drive socket and handle, and the ability to become a contortionist.
Remove the hoses from the heater core underneath the hood.
Inside, pull off the hush panel, lay yourself down on the floor with your feet and legs outside the open door, then remove the 4 or 5 screws from the molded plastic cover and remove it. Remove the metal plate - it pulls straight out. Then two more screws to remove the plastic plate that the heater core is attached to. It takes some fidgeting to remove these...take your time.
Installation is the reverse of removal.
It might be a good idea to flush out the heater core with water before removing it, in case any fluid spills out during the removal process.

Pete

Petes 84Z28

nertz

Petes 84Z28

Below is a blownup pic of Project Bird's pic with the locations of the cover screws circled...the one in the lower left is somewhere in the circle...

Project: 85 2.8 bird

of course my heater core decided to **** all over carpet AFTER I get the interiore & dash back together

Good luck to all those who need to do this in the future.

KED85

Remove the metal plate - it pulls straight out.

This part I'm lost at.
I'm looking at pic & not sure
THANKS ALL.
This looks like the interior of my 1974 Corvette doing my Heater core job.
Remove all panels, find the core housing, which gets loosened by circled screw areas & pulls inside, pull core thru interior, reverse.
I also have to remove the center consol area?
Like my Blazer, but, seems worse, oh joy!
Hope this holds up for a few more days actually weeks.
I'm down to no cars!
But will be done with house for sale project in a few days hurrah!
Need new engine firewall compartment hoses & seems like GM only stuff.

Project: 85 2.8 bird

you don't really need to remove the center console (I think) but it adds room to manuever.

drdave88

iTrader: (3)

it only took me about 2.5 hours and i was going back together with mine. you dont have to pull the whole heater box out. take the blend air door off and a bracket and you can access the heater core. just watch your knuckles when it pops loose, damn did it make shredded cheese out of mine. but its pretty easy, i only had to pull the dash completely loose, not out. i had my brother hold it back for a little bit to get access to it. i could tell someone had been in there before me, the middle of it was cracked all the way down. if i remember correctly, all i needed was a philips screwdriver, 1/4 ratchet, and a 7mm and 10mm sockets. maybe a couple other tools, but it doesnt take much, at least for the camaros. good luck to ya.

SSC

It wont take long to do the job, Some of the 86+ CARS REQUIRE DASH REMOVAL. Your car shouldent be hard at all. It took me 20 minutes to remove and install my heater core with just hand tools at home only advantage being the heater hoses were already off and core was drained. You should get a 1/4 flex driver (spring shaft driver) well worth it makes these jobs very easy. Its actually straight forward look at your manual just to get locations. I only removed about 10 screws total and it pop'd right out.

KED85

Still asking......
There are two short section "pre-bent" hoses in engine compartment/firewall area?
Access those from top or bottom
and
Did ya slice them off the core tubes for removal?
Dealer only?

You paid $30-$40 for the core, correct?

Need I remove the top dash pad, too?

Thanks all!
I tend to also remove the seat for better access, too!
MAY be good time to steam clean carpet & install the electric drive seat, too. Especially IF the seat block plug is "right there!"

ONLY WISH I could swap in new Firebird dash pad. "Just Dashes" is literally down street from my for sale home in Van Nuys
www.justdashes.com I believe is the web site.
I am going to have done my 1967 Camarao RS/SS350 4-speed Converts headrests & my Brother's 1963 Grand Prix dash pad, not cheap at all but no other options at all (who buys 40 year old vinyl & expects it to NOT crack!).
NOW acception donatons for good 3rd Gen F Bird dash pad! Tax write off available!

TomP

No donation plate, just 6-packs will do!

I've got no "sermon" about this except that it's a literal pain in the neck/back/shoulders trying to get those uppermost bolts. I remember something about the temperature door getting in the way; maybe that was the metal plate that was referenced?

I didn't remove any dash pieces; just the hush panel that hides the bottom of the dash from the passenger's feet. I also had removed the computer and complete wiring harness from the car (I was getting ready for the frame welding after I totalled my car), it might be helpful to leave the computer plugged in, but remove it and it's bracket from underneath the dashboard.

I also think that I didn't put that upper left screw back in. I left a screw out of somewhere because it was just too much work to put it back.

I think, too, that I unclipped the cable for the temperature door from the heater box under the dash.

Helped a friend start taking the heater core out of their Blazer; man, what a pain. Had to unbolt the bottom of his dash and pull the whole dashboard backwards to get room to slide the heater core cover away from the heater core. Still haven't gotten the cover off. I stopped before I started breaking things. Our screws may be a pain to get to but at least the cover is somewhat willing to come off!

SSC

Naw, the dash should not need to come out nor the seat. When I get back to work where my car is parked I'll refresh my self on the trick removal, its been a year. There might be a metal plate external for access If I remember correctly. The internal one that holds the heater core in place slides out once the cover is removed. I also left the upper most screw out, even with the flex driver it was hard to get it set back in so it went in the bucket.

At least it isnt a exploder where you have to strip the entire dash down to the bare firewall before you can even get to the heater box.

BitchinRS

Just did mine a couple of weeks ago. Really it wasn't that bad. My shoulders were sore the next day though. I have '92 Camaro, I don't know if that makes a difference or not.

The lower srews and upper right screw are easy to get to. No prob there. Now mine doesn't have an upper left screw. It's more of an upper middle screw, But still tricky to get to. I had to remove the ECM and Braket like Tom said. Once they were removed I was able to come up over the top via the rignt side were the ECm and bracket used to be. I used 1/4 6" extension and socket. Placed it on the screw first and held it in place with the hand that went over the top of the box. Then fiddle with the rachet until it clicked onto the extension. Reason? With the rachet on the extension you wont have enough room until the socket is seated on the screw and a 3" extension is to short. I didn't put this screw back in. I decided it was to much of a PITA and threw as far as I could.

As for the hoses, yeah get to them from the top. I ended up spliting the hoses. The were slightly melted onto the heater core tubes and wouldn't come off. I only spliced just enough to get them off. Then I trimed them up a slipped on to the new heater core. There was just enough length to do this. So if you screw up and splice it to far back you will need new ones.

Now I didn't have fun getting the new heater core in. I didn't notice that the door that Tom was talking about was getting in the way. Once I figured this out it was simple. just make sure it is shut before trying to do the install. Don't remove it unless you have to. Mine fell out and was a pain to get back in.

Most of my problems came from never having done this before in any car. So I didn't know what to expect. Take your time and be creative when it comes to getting to that last screw. then get rid of that screw. Three seem to hold it just fine.

As a side note. I would like to find the punk who thought "Hey squeze clamps would be a good idea to use on the hoses!" . Those dam things suck so bad!!!! The tabs never point in the correct direction for you to get a grip on. I usaly go and buy some worm screw type clamps and tose those crappy things a way.

Have fun!!!

SSC

Ok so I reply a day late. 82-85 are all identical all model's with air of course. 86-92 are the PITA one's that call for almost 5 hours book time compared to the 1.9 for 82-85. All claim evac of ac system is nessasary, its not. Remove the hush cover, disconnect the ecm, slide it out of the way. Theres a access pannel 6x6 this has some trick screws in it, remove it and you can see the heater core. Unscrew the heater core support strap and it slides out assuming the heater hoses are disconnected. Easy 1 hour tops job. Glad I dont have an 86+ where dash removal is nessasary.

KED85

Hello Pennsylvania!
Brought this back up for myself & others doing a core swap.
I start mine on Tuesday I believe.
So excited.
What's great for CLEANING CARPET from Parts store or Grocery store, using scrub brush & elbow grease & vacuum cleaner?
I got good carpet, tan, that is dirty, with spots & no holes?
Would LIKE to try & save it.

NHRATA01

Hey KED, I posted my comments about my recent heater core swap in 92 RS's thread above (or well below now since I'm responding to this one ). Maybe you can find it useful. Anyways I didn't think it was near as bad as the horror stories I'd read, and you don't need to dismantle the dash! Do expect to end up with a sore shoulder though! Best of luck with it!

KED85

MANY THANKS!
It sounds like my 1985 version will have a metal retention strap to keep core in place. Just like on my 1985 Blazer & 1974 Corvette & 1967 Camaro.
I like non-rusting metal.
One the core swap jobs, was the vacuum hose from engine bay, thru firewall, to the HVAC unit, accessible?
I "hurt" mine during the "? mark shaped" hose in engine bay swap job I've already done. Need to cut & splice in new vacuum hose. I have only "defroster" setting because I kinked that hard plastic hose, damn!.

Gumby

Wow this job took me all of about 5 mins to remove it.

I got lucky and the person before left that top screw out, I never run my hush panels as my feet don't fit when installed.

but it was so simple, remove the 3 screws, remove the 4 obvious screws on the plastic cover holding in the core and yank out.

plenty of room

but looks like my core is fine, the heater hose was back cut so only about a 1/4in was sealing and it finally failed.

My cure is IM going to hog out the core holes in the firewall, and then hook up the rubber hoses to the heater core first, snake the hoses through the firewall first and install. WIll make sure those ends are right as you don't have much room to slide on the hose n clamp it, which is what caused my final leak.

I can have heat again

Gumby

Even if the top screw was still in place, what I would have done is just popped out the map pocket pannel in the dash, and cut a small access hole to reach it, or help reach it, they should of just made the hole factory.