Replacing 67 Camaro Heater Core
 

I want to replace my leaking 67 Camaro heater core and there appears to be two ways to do this...remove the fender and access from the engine bay, or remove the glove box and drop the heater box into the interior and access the core from inside the car. Since I have nice paint, I'd prefer accessing the core from inside the car. Anyone ever do it this way? Any tips or pointers that you can provide? Thanks!

Can all be done from the inside. Just take your time, remove the glove box, as I recall one of the nuts in the engine compartment is a little difficult to get to however doable. Be careful going back in, small block cores have the "bends" and have to play with it carefully to get through the firewall. :biggthumpup:

Can all be done from the inside. Just take your time, remove the glove box, as I recall one of the nuts in the engine compartment is a little difficult to get to however doable. Be careful going back in, small block cores have the bends at the ends and have to play with it carefully to get through the firewall. :biggthumpup:

I did both my 69's non A/C from the inside. I didnt even disconnect any cables. Yes, you have to take the glove box out.
There are 6-7 nuts I believe, the hardest nut to get at is at the lower left of the cover. I could get it off but it was really hard to get it back on. Its just in a tight spot.
I had both my heater cores rebuilt locally so I knew they would be good and that they would fit.
After doing 1, I knew what to expect and the tricks of doing the second. It was easier than I thought.

Yep, the guys are right, from the inside. Put a small amount of tape on a couple insides of the socket for the outer nut that is difficult to reach. Press the socket on the speed nut and it won't fall when it's off the stud. I took mine completely out, as it needed a "little" cleaning too.



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Thanks guys! I think I’ll give it a shot!

How does all that crap get in there?

There is no filter on the intake. Air is drawn in through the cowl panel vents. Anything that can fit through the vents can end up in the heater core.

Got it…thanks Lynn!

Cowl vent. The fan pulls air from in the cowl and leaves can slide thru the vent and get washed down in with water/rain. Pull your kick panel and vent sometime, you'll be amazed how much "stuff" is in there. My '66 Chevelle had Eucalyptus and Live Oak leaves stacked almost to the top, when it came here from FL.

To remove the core itself, there is a clip with 2 hex head screws that are behind the foam seal piece. Slide the foam seal off the two tubes and you will see them. There is also a push on retainer that holds the other side. You may need to pry that off with a screwdriver.
Then the core will come right out of the heater box.

Thanks Mike! That tip likely saved me a bunch of time!

The replacement heater cores these days aren't the same thickness as the originals. What are people doing to compensate?

I took my original to a radiator shop. They had no problem rebuilding it. More money but better...Joe

Mine is not a concourse car, I purchased an aluminum one when original types were not to be found, very thick and stout. Fit great with no worries of hurting it. Can't see it when installed!

Just following up on this thread. I purchased 2 brass cores from Classic Industries and sent them to a friend’s shop to install them along with a few other parts. When they opened the boxes, Classic had sent aluminum cores that looked nothing like the one that was in the car. Unfortunately, they had already installed the core before they sent the first pic below, so I asked them to remove it and put in another or fix the original. Anyway, it appeared that the original core was not leaking and the mechanic thought it was a tiny crack in the hose that was causing the leak. So, we put the old core back in and they changed the hoses. After about 25 miles, it’s leaking again, so I bought another core and new correctly marked hoses (they were out of stock during the last repair).

This time I got the core from Camaro central. It is brass and 2 inches thick rather than 3 inches like many of the current repops. I also got new clips and tower clamps. While the car is at the shop we are going to replace the repop spiral shocks and rear axle cover gasket. The car should be ready to go for the next driving season!

Aren't the spring ring clamps (vs. tower clamps) correct for heater hoses through sometime in 1968?

Yes, for 67, but I don't know about 68. Owner before me took them off after they were used when the car was first restored. He didn't trust them and I agree. Went with new towers as the old ones were a little oxidized. If I was going to show the car, I'd put them back on for the show.

Spring clamps
 

I have the spring clamps on my car, never had a leak. Kinda aggravating to put on. I took an old pair of cheap pliers and used a Dremil tool to make indentions in them so as to keep it from moving as you open them.

Richard

I have 2 pair of spring ring pliars (old) spring rings work great, never had a leak and prefur them over a tower however I'm an old Mopar guy! :beers:

Repop Spiral Shocks...don't get me started.They look good but ride like crap.