Heater Box Restoration

[Shakey]

Start off with a thanks to those who told me how simple it was to remove the heater box and offered their tips.  Not being sarcastic either, it was not difficult whatsoever.  Which makes me wonder why whoever did the bodywork on my car didn't take the time to remove it prior to sandblasting the body before priming and painting.  You can the mess I was dealing with.  Anyways....

Who here has restored their heater box?  Anyone have some advice they'd like to share?

Looking at the casing I see that it is made of fibreglass and that it is hidden pretty good under the dash.  Has anyone taken the time to sand it lightly and apply a fresh coat of paint?

I have the core here at work getting pressure tested and cleaned up.  I plan on lightly sandblasting all the metal pieces and painting them.

What about the insulation pad that mounts between the heater box & firewall?  Are they being reproduced correctly?

Please share some photos & tips.

Thanks in advance.

[ScottW]

Here's a Mopar Muscle article that may be of interest to you - it's for an A/C system but still has some good info.

As pointed out below, I forgot the link.   

http://moparmusclemagazine.com/techarticles/34500/

[doctorpimp]

Here's a Mopar Muscle article that may be of interest to you - it's for an A/C system but still has some good info.

You forgot the link.

[Dennis K]

If you want to restore the heater box, here's some parts you will need. Almost everyone sells the firewall insulation. Year One, Paddock, Harding's, Jack's, etc. http://www.restorick.com/products.asp

[Shakey]

Thanks for the links folks.

[nh_mopar_fan]

I'm about to tackle this myself on the wife's Valiant. Thanks for the info.

One question, the article mentions "dumb dumb" strips. Where do I buy those?

[ScottW]

I'm about to tackle this myself on the wife's Valiant. Thanks for the info.

One question, the article mentions "dumb dumb" strips. Where do I buy those?

It looks like RestoRick carriers that as well - look for heater box caulk on page 4 of the above link.

[nh_mopar_fan]

Excellent. Thanks.

The front half (the firewall side) of my box is still mounted in the car. I'm hoping to leave it that way and replacing the core and the back side which is missing.

[doctorpimp]

Thanks

[terrible one]

Great info guys

[grek]

I took my ac/ heater box apart and noticed there is insulation on the heater side (core) of the box and thin slabs of styro foam on the ac side (condensor).  I acquired some thin pieces of styro foam that will work great for replacing the old however what type of insulation should be used for the heater core side.

Thank you for all of the great info mentioned above.

Grek

[runningman]

I bought this kit from www.restorationfullcircle.com  but haven't used it yet.  Supposed to refinish the fiberglass

[runningman]

Also I have been using www.safestrustremover.com , this stuff is pretty cool.  If you have enough you could dip the whole unit inside and it would remove rust from the metal parts.  You could then use some clearcoat on them.  I just did my brake pedal assy, I will try to get some pics posted this week of the before and after.   

[defiance]

Curse you all!  You convinced me to pull out my box and check it out, now I find I've got a LOT of work to do!!

(Actually, I'm VERY grateful for the info and inspiration!  If I didn't do this now, I would've had to pull it apart later when something came apart or started leaking or just didn't work)...

[Dodge Don]

Good info. I'm doing mine soon.

[terrible one]

Shakey, have you progressed on yours any? I think I speak for all of us when I say I would love some more pics

[ScottW]

Shakey, have you progressed on yours any? I think I speak for all of us when I say I would love some more pics

I second that motion!   

[Shakey]

Hi Fellas,

I didn't do anything this past weekend as I was on a golfing trip with some of my buddies.  I did however do some work last weekend, the 13-14th. 

My heater core was NFG so I got a new one from YO.  My heater motor is OK, I have taken the air chuck and blown out some of the debris / sand and will apply a few drops of oil prior to installing it.  The wire wound resistor is NFG, I am having the electrical engineers here at work repair it for me, lucky me. 

As far as the box itself, I have taken it completely apart and my plan was to sand and paint everything.  Well, the sheet metal pieces were relatively easy.  Just light surface rust that was sanded with a somewhat fine sandpaper.  Thinking back, it was whatever was handy.  Some 400, maybe a bit of 800.   Just clean it up the best you can and get the majority of the surface rust off of the sheet metal.  Once it looks OK, clean it prior to priming it.  I use a lot of Eastwood's products.  I used PRE to clean it all before applying  the self-etching primer.

The sheet metal looks like it was just bare metal from the factory so I used Detail Gray from Eastwood.  I did make a mistake, as I painted all of the sheet metal the same gray colour when in fact one of the pieces, the one that holds the resistor in place and can be seen from inside the car on the passenger side is supposed to be black.  Not a big deal as I can cover the gray with black but just not thinking clearly while working on the car.

As far as the heater box housing goes I have decided to simply scrub and clean it rather than sand it all down.  Waaay to much work for something that no-one will see.  I will let you know how that works out.

I also did the fresh air box from the drivers side.  Simply removed it, took it all apart and washed it really good.  Dried it and painted it black.  I taped up the rubber gasket as I didn't want to have to replace it.

Here are some photos for you.  Maybe this upcoming weekend I will get to assemble eveything.

[terrible one]

VERY nice man! Thanks for taking time to share all of the information and post pictures!

[Dodge Don]

Mike......we both tracking on the same stuff 

http://1970chargerregistry.com/70messageboard/viewtopic.php?t=3171

[Shakey]

Finally finished.

Thanks again to all who helped.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Awesome! 

[4402tuff4u]

You did a nice job Mike!! Looks fantastic!!

[tan top]

   nice job 

[694spdRT]

Looks very nice! 

I need to add that to the list of things to do someday.