heaters again

[Young Ed]

Hey All

Trying to take the cores out of my dual heaters so I can repaint the cases. Each has 3 screws at the back of the "lid" and it looks like the top and core should slide out. But I can't get either one to come apart. Anyone know what the deal is?

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed,

If you have all the screws out around the lip of the top, it should pop right off. It's probably just stuck from 50+ years of rust and crud. I have a spare out in the garage the the lid just comes off of real easy. After that you can just lift out the core.

[Young Ed]

I put a screw driver in the lip where the fresh air piece attaches and hit it with a hammer. Still couldn't get it to move.

[55 Fargo]

Ed, did you get the 2 clips off the top of the heater, that attaches to the freshair intake, the fire wall mount bolts are of right. On the heater housing there are screws that go al the way around it, try taking those off also. It should drop right out, might was a rusty dirty mess and came right out.......Fred

[Young Ed]

Heaters are out of the car and detached from the fresh air stuff. I only saw 3 screws on the firewall side of the heater. I couldn't find any on the other sides.

[55 Fargo]

Right on EdThey look great after there cleaned up and painted...Fred

[Young Ed]

Fred I'm sure they will after I get them apart! I did my model 36 for my pickup and it came out nicely.

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed,

Maybe spray it down with some good penetrating oil and let it stand until tomorrow night. That should loosen things up a bit, if they are rusted together. Rust and crud is sometimes better than super glue.

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed,

I really don't remember how many screws hold the lid on. Forgot that part without going out to check. I know Fred just did his recently though so he should be right on the amount of screws. If you have less than he did, it's possible your screws are hiding under any rust that may be on the heater. Either that or, the screw heads could be broken off and the holes with the screw studs are hiding under rust. If that's the case you'll have to drill out those broken screws. Before you do any drilling though, make sure you remove the motor first. Don't want to get any metal shavings down into the motor.

[BobT-47P15]

Ed, is yours this style of heater....model 53?

I only see 3 screws on the firewall side holding the core onto the top. This one came out of the salvage yard cowl this weekend.

The one already in the car has 3 screws across the front, but I can't see the back. Probably some there also.

Link to a couple other pictures.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/BobT3/Petey%20Plymouth%201/Interior%20-%20dash/100_6671.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/BobT3/Petey%20Plymouth%201/Interior%20-%20dash/100_6673.jpg

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v96/BobT3/Petey%20Plymouth%201/Interior%20-%20dash/100_6674.jpg

[Young Ed]

Hmm now its getting more confusing. Bob those both look like my heater. I think I have the 53 &54. Its the dual heater setup.

[BobT-47P15]

Yes, you probably do have the 53 and 54 heaters. Then they would be the same style as the ones I have. The one I just got and the one that I've had in the car for a long time are both 53s, but evidently made in different years. Therefore the one in the car is slightly different than the second one. I don't recall now whether the one in the car came out of a Plym or some other MoPar brand of the era. My car did not have the duct work on the kick panels.

When I bought the car, it had both left and right heaters.....of a different style. Did not feel they were original (but they may have been), so removed them both and tossed them. Later found the model 53 which I liked better, and figured I only need one heater for my limited driving use. And that seems to be adequate.

Do both your fans run off the same switch? Son-in-law took a switch apart by removing the top.... Inside is a brass slider plate with some high spots on it for contacts. He cleaned it up as well as any other internal parts he found, put it back together, and it now works on all 3 speed settings. Only worked on one at first.

Then, there was this paper-like insulation piece on the newly acquired dash. May have been on mine years ago.....can't recall. Guess it is to keep any heat generated by the switch from heating up the dash. The switch does have resistors on it.

Just working with that old cowl piece and the things attached has been a bit of a refresher course on originality. Don't know how many years that car sat in a salvage yard, but nobody messed with stuff on the dash and heater. I now pay more attention to certain details than I did years ago.

[Young Ed]

Mine do both run off the same heater switch. I think I have that protective piece of paper too. What I'm wondering now is if maybe mine has spotwelds where yours has screws in the front. It sure seems that stuck! I've thought about not putting them both back in but then I'd have holes to patch in my already painted cowl. So I'll probably put both back in hopefully with the fresh air piece I've still got to repair.

[Young Ed]

Ok update time. Took a wire brush to the fronts of the heaters after I got home from welding. Looks like there are spot welds in place of the screws thats Bobs has.

[Young Ed]

Another update. I washed out the heater cabinets and the cores and then scuffed up the outsides. Stood them on their tops to keep most of the paint out of the core and painted them. Both have 2 coats now and are looking good. Still need to refinish the mopar heater plates and the motor covers. Will post pictures when they are ready to go back in the car. Now to work on that fresh air heater piece.

[BobT-47P15]

Ed, are you painting them the original brown sort of color??

[Young Ed]

I'm using hammertone gold. Seemed to be the closest color the hardware store had. Here's the one I did for my truck. Same type of paint but this was the gray.

[BobT-47P15]

Should look nice.

[Young Ed]

Finished product with the exception of the defroster outputs.

[Young Ed]

Here's the start on the p15 heaters.

[eric wissing]

Those look great. The two are just mirrors of eachother? That must get pretty toasty with both working. Eric

[Young Ed]

I must say I really love the retention of this new forum. I was able to go back and find my heater thread from months before. Still putting along on my heater project in my spare time. Just have to fix the defroster cable hookup on the truck one and its ready to go. Started wondering if I should have a model 53 name plate. Came back in here to look at bobs heater and sure enough I should. Can't find it anywhere though! Anyone got one? Oh and any tips for painting those small red circles on the motor covers?

[Norm's Coupe]

Ed, Only two ways to get those stripes in there. One, pick up a pin striping paint brush and have a steady hand. Two, pick up one of those little pin striping kits that has the roller wheels on it. They are listed in JC Whitney's catalog for (I think) under $20.