1969 A/C Heater Valve

[BlueSS454]

I need to get a heater valve for my 69 and I can't seem to locate one.  Is this something that is going to be a junkyard item?  Year One lists one for a 67-older, but nothing for 68-69.

[moparjohn]

They are not reproduced to my knowledge.  I belive any 69 B body with A/C had them so they should be plenntiful. NAPA sells a rebuild kit that is easy to do. John

[BlueSS454]

I saw the rebuild kit when I was looking on the NAPA website, I need to find the actual valve first.  Mine didn't have one on it when I bought it.  The guy that had it, screwed a piece of tin to the firewall to eliminate all of the heater outlets.

[Shakey]

There are a few threads about this item here.  I recall reading about some options in one of those threads.

[grizzlygiff]

Frank Mitchell of Mitchell Motor Parts has these on ebay from time to time. They are Ranco replacement valves that look the same as original, but they are expensive, like all his stuff. Seems like around $250 or so. Ouch!

[BlueSS454]

I saw that, I'm not paying $200 for a heater valve.  I'll go junkyard hopping for one before I pay that kind of money for a little part like that.

[Chatt69chgr]

If you can find a rebuildable core at a junkyard, you can send it off to Jim Tucker at 29597 Paso Robles Rd. in Valley Center, California at 92082.  I used him to rebuild mine.  I don't have his phone number handly but you can quickly google it up.
The cores are not real easy to find in my area (Chattanooga).  The valve consists of a "U" shaped piece of brass pipe which is swaged onto the steel firewall attachment plate.  A capillary tube runs from the back of the unit to the heater core where it is coiled up inside.  A Bowden cable runs from the heater actuation slide switch on the dash to the back of the valve----so, in effect, the valve is both cable operated and thermostatically controlled.  A plunger extends from the back of the assembly into the brass "U" shaped tube.  The end of the plunger has a rubber fitting on it (that performs the actual valve function) that is almost always deteriorated and, in my opinion. needs to be replaced.  The NAPA rebuild kit mentioned above is only the gasket between the brass tube assembly and the steel backing plate.  If it fails, antifreeze ends up on your floor inside the car.  And the gaskets on all I have seen are always bad.  Mr. Tucker can replace both of these items but you need to request that he do so.  Like everyone else, during the rebuild, he will inspect your plunger and try to reuse it as is---have him replace the rubber piece on the plunger.  Mr. Tucker told me that it isn't essential the the thermostat portion of the valve work.  Moving the cable control on the dash will turn turn on or turn off the flow of antifreeze to the heater core.  These valves were never meant to be rebuilt and doing so is an art.  I intentionally tore one up that had ruined brass tube ends just to see how it was put together and what was involved in rebuilding one.  You have to carefully bend up the brass tabs on the back of the steel backing plate to get the tube/valve assembly off.  This will allow you to replace the NAPA sourced gasket.  Replacing the rubber piece on the plunger is not so easy----even if you had it.  It doesn't just slip on the end.  All in all, I would let Jim rebuild your valve (when you find one------maybe a kind soul on this forum that has a spare core will send it to you).  He charges around $115 as I recall for replacing the gasket and around $125 for replacing the gasket and the plunger rubber piece.  He is kind of gruff at first but is a nice fellow and does good work.
The really good thing about Mr. Tucker is that he can replace the rubber piece on the plunger too.  And I think you need to do that if you want to really rebuild the unit correctly. 
Old Air Systems in TX told me they just replace the gasket as they didn't have any of the rubber pieces to repair the plunger with.  Be careful when looking for a core the the brass tubes that the heater hoses connect to are not deformed by overzealous tightening of the hose clamps.
I think that Classic Auto Air in Florida rebuilds these------and may even have rebuilt heater control valves available.  Seems like they were pretty pricy. 
Please let us know how this all works out for you so we can add it to our storehouse of Charger knowledge.  Good luck. 

[resq302]

Regarding Classic Auto Air in Fl.... I used them for rebuilding my receiver/dryer in our el camino.  Top notch work and they only charged if I remember correctly, $58 for it plus shipping.  We had it back in like a week.  Good people to deal with in my opinion.

[gtx6970]

When looking for a used one (IF you can find one ) , make sure it's the right year 1968-69 are the same and 1966-67 are the same and these 2 will not interchange. 1970 is all by itself

[smasherofall]

here's one:    http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ih=020&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWA%3AIT&viewitem=&item=300041304031&rd=1,1