Any ideas where to buy new AC heater core for a 68 Charger?

[bksfld68]

Just realized that mine is leaking as I was getting ready to install it, happy I found out now, not thrilled about having to buy another one.  Anyone had any luck finding one for an AC car?

Thanks,

Ryan

[hemi68charger]

Not sure right off the bat at the present time, but,,, I'll tell you from experience, when you get the new heater core, MAKE SURE the attach bracket the core is in fits properly in your box...  I had one for my '71 Charger and the support bracket fit horribly.. I just removed the core from the new reproduction bracket and transplanted it into the original bracket..... Perfecto.....  Also, alot of not all a/c '68 Chargers had dual heater cores.......

Troy

[4402tuff4u]

Year One has them for $ 62.00. You might want to swing by a radiator repair shop and let them look at it. It might be a small leak that they can fix. A/C cars had a heater core and a evaporator (I think it's called) coil. Two different systems. One runs water, the other runs refrigerant for the A/C. I've never heard of two heater cores - but then again, I learn something new everyday.

[Todd Wilson]

If your 68 is like the 69   you are SOL!!!!!! I researched this 3-4 years ago.


You can buy a 69 heater core for a heat only car all day long at a part store for roughly 75$.


The 69 Charger with AC heater core is a dual core made of brass. They last a long time and transfer heat better but when they go out they are done. Not usually can a radiator shop fix them because they are basically dust inside from corrosion. The cores in the mounting frame is a tad bigger then say a keyboard on a computer.  It has a small valve to shut water off to one of the cores when defrost is used and that valve wears over time and leaks also. You cannot find this valve either.  You cannot order brass core to rebuild it either.  At that time period brass and aluminum were having a industry battle of who would be used for cores. Aluminum won. It was cheaper and didnt last as long so you could sell parts to fix later.  Brass cores are of different dimensions then the aluminum cores made so its about impossible to find an aluminum core to replace.  An outfit on the web several years ago had a refrigeration core that could be used and fit into the heater box with some modifications but they didnt tell you what core they were using and the web site eventually disappeared. If you have an old radiator shop that has been around for 35+ years they MIGHT have some old brass core sitting on the back shelf. My old time radiator shop didnt but they went to look.

I do not know if this would work but I have been doing some thinking on the subject and research. The C bodys of this era used a dual core similiar to the B bodys. It will NOT fit into the B body air box BUT I think one could take apart a C body core and use those cores to redo your B body. You can still find C body cores at some parts stores and ebay.  I THINK the cores are the same   they are just soldered together differently from C body to B body.


I have pictures of the various cores somewhere to show my theory on how to fix one. I will dig them up when I have more time later this evening.


Todd

[ChargerAndy]

I purchased an ac heater core from Texas.... I think it was "Texas Acres". Was the only one I could find for my 68 and I remember it was pricey. Its out there, just gonna cost ya. Andy

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

There is a company reproducing these....I cant for the life of me remember who and I cant get them on a Google search.
I did find this from Old Air Products.......they dont show a pic so it may not be avail
http://www.oldairproducts.com/shop/index.php?cPath=1_600_601_6011969&osCsid=577dca6deeb2638a40c525ec87efb2e3

[bksfld68]

I talked with a guy today at Old Air products and he said they had them for 180.00, I will ask some more questions in the morning.  Like Todd said, mine is leaking at the valve as well as some different areas within the core itself.  Hoping the valve is part of the whole package.

Ryan

[kab69440]

The whole ball of wax is a one piece unit. I bought a NOS C bod unit off eBay. It is slightly different, and will require an external water valve, but it will work. This is what you are looking for.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

The Rancor water valve on the firewall is rebuildable.  NAPA sells a rebuild kit

Check here......

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,10288.0.html

[bksfld68]

It looks like the H valve is what I need along with a new heater core.  And at this time the vendors I talked to said the H valves are not readily available. Always something .

Ryan

[Todd Wilson]

The Rancor water valve on the firewall is rebuildable.  NAPA sells a rebuild kit

Check here......

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,10288.0.html

And sometimes that valve is what leaks inside making you think your core is going bad.


Todd

[Todd Wilson]

The whole ball of wax is a one piece unit. I bought a NOS C bod unit off eBay. It is slightly different, and will require an external water valve, but it will work. This is what you are looking for.

The C body unit as a whole wont fit in the air box will it?  I thought the sheet metal frame it fits in is totally different. The plumbing is also different.


But are the cores the same dimensions as the B unit? I was thinking you could take the new C apart and recore your old B unit and be good to go.

Cores is cores.


Todd

[HeavyFuel]

...and if my car originally had A/C, and I plan on not re-installing the A/C, I can go with a regular heater core, right?  Or will that leave some unsightly unused holes in the firewall?

I live in ND, and we don't get tons of really hot days, so the A/C is just an added resto expense, and more weight up front.

[Chargeraddict]

Did anyone figure out an answer... I have the exact same problem, probably going to go with the non ac heater core. I ordered it and its a hell of a lot smaller, will it fit in the 68 ac heater box? Im afraid to try to fit it.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

http://www.texasacres.com/parts/heat.html

Supposedly stocks them

[is_it_EVER_done?]

If your car is a "local" car (built for delivery to the Bakersfield area), I would pull the heat-A/C box out and see what core you need before buying one. The reason I say this is that I have never run across a dual heater core-A/C unit in over 35 years, however every car I have ever owned is local to the Southwest desert, so I assume that the duel units were for cold climates.

I would hate to see you order one and have it be wrong for your application, but even if it's not a dual, the singles for an A/C car are probably even harder to find, but fabricating a non A/C core is fairly easy.

[Recharger]

Once again, it looks like I'm a bit late to the conversation here, but for what it's worth I found this a few months ago on the Classic Auto Air website. 

http://www.classicautoair.com/chrysler.asp

I believe they were charging over $200 for it when I called.  Looks like a pretty close to match me, but I didn't order one so I can't verify how well they fit... 

[kab69440]

OK, here are the two units side by side. If there is a difference in the mounting framework, I can't find it. The new one seems to mount into the box assembly without issue. Aside from the differences in plumbing, I can't understand why it wouldn't work just fine and dandy. Personally, I am going to rob a water valve from a later model car,and mount it on the firewall, where it belongs. One more thing to not go wrong in an impossible to repair area, in my opinion. So it won't be correct...?  Maybe in a thousand years someone will care. In the here and now, I sure don't.   BTW- Nice find Re! That ought to help out a lot of people!

[Chargeraddict]

So is the non a/c heater core going to work in there? would you have to leave the evap out?