Leaking heater core

[Bobacuda]

Wanted to take my ‘53 for a drive, but the 71 yr old heater core decided to leak inside the cab. 
 

It’s some brand of dealer installed heater (no brand badging).  Not difficult to remove from the truck, but disassembly was a pain. Removing, without breaking, stuff that had been in place for so long is a challenge. 
 

Now on to the radiator shop  and hope he can rejuvenate it. 

Edited December 28, 2024 by Bobacuda

[bkahler]

I feel your pain.  My original mopar heater core didn't pass muster and the repair shop said they couldn't fix it because it was to far gone.  Ended buying two more on ebay to get one good core.

[The Oil Soup]

I also had an off brand heater in my truck with a bad core and searched a list on oreilly auto parts website, found a replacement and made it work. https://www.oreillyauto.com/shop/b/air-conditioning---heating/heater-core/b8e4def0b5a5?q=heater+cores

Also sourced a new fan motor for it.

[greg g]

Has anyone looked into dirt bike or snowmobile  radiators as a possible  replacement? Seen new aluminum ones for around 50 bucks.

[Bobacuda]

Don’t know about your aftermarket heater, but this one is held to firewall by the inlet and output pipes.
 

The pipes need to be on opposite sides of the tank, and both the pipes and the tank have to be sturdy enough to support the heater. 

[Bobacuda]

The shop just called me. My heater core is totally shot. A new core would be a custom build by the core supplier, then the radiator shop has to put it together, and that would cost $500. 
 

I will freeze first. 

[Bobacuda]

I can find new heaters for 12v systems. Will those motors run on 6v?  Negative effects?

[Lingle]

you can drop from 12V system voltage to 6 but I would be worried about using a 12V motor and supplying it 6V.  Ill send you a PM, may have a good 6V fan motor(I bought a 12V replacement since Ill be at 12V), but its from a different heater.  I will try to send some photos and dimensions to you via PM.

 

I too had to have my core replaced, but luckily it was pre 2019 so costs were not too bad, but out the door was still $300 for new core plus all the flux work.  good thing the heater was cheap!

[Bobacuda]

Lingle - thanks for the heater motor offer, but mine is good. It’s the core that’s bad - leaks everywhere. 

Edited Monday at 07:38 PM by Bobacuda

[Los_Control]

I agree the 12V motor will not work on 6V .... our 6V wiring is twice as large then 12V wiring .... why we can run the 6V starters on 12V.

Or we can run a 6V heater motor on 12V because the wiring is extra heavy .... just runs really fast.

12V motor will have too weak of wiring inside and would not hold up to anything 6V throws at it.

 

A fairly simple repair would be to look at the link oil soup shared and find a heater core that is close to yours in size and tube inlet placement.

Good chance you would probably need to cut some metal and enlarge the openings so the tubes can exit the heater .... will need to modify the firewall also.

 

Keep in mind, if you bought a universal modern heater .... you would also need modifications to run the heater hoses.

 

There appears to be 6 trillion and 32 different styles of cores available. You just need to get your measurements and go through the choices to match yours up.

There is a possibility you may find one that needs no modifications .... your mechanic is not going to take the time to do the research and is cheaper/easier for him to just make a new one.

So possibly pick up yours and then get the information and search .... when you find it you can have it put back in the car?

[Los_Control]

Just to throw my two cents in .... after this thread came out the other day ... I was cleaning the floor in my truck and saw a drop of antifreeze under the heater.

I have been running the truck since and have not seen another drop .... only one place it could have come from