A/C to Heat ONLY conversion on 68 Dart Sports Special

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6kevin8

6kevin8

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Hello,
I am interested in putting heat in my car but I am not quite sure of what I need to do. I own a 68 dart sports special and it originally came with A/C. However, most of the A/C components have been torn out and I never plan to ever restore the A/C (at least for the foreseeable future). However, I do wish to have heat in the car to prevent fogged up windows and ice on those rare cold days. I am really not even sure about where to start with this conversion. Thank you for any help you guys can provide.
 
The most basic information needed is what you now have. Do you have the heater hoses hooked up to the firewall? Is the inside fan unit still installed? Are the controls still there on the dash and are they hooked to anything?

Some pictures under the hood and of inside will help.
 
was it factory installed a/c or dealer installed a/c?

i know on 70=up models the firewall opening is different between a/c cars and non-a/c cars
 
Although it is possible to do the conversion there are things to be aware of . The firewall openings are different between A/C and no A/C . A heater box from a non-A/C car will not fit . (I tried it) It is possible to use the heater core from the A/C car , build a box for it , hook it up to the defrost vents and get heat . Use a valve to control engine coolant , manually , and use a DC mini-fan as a blower. I think it would be cool (pun intended)
 
Another option is to simply modify your existing AC/heater box to disable any functionality in the cooling settings, but be functional in the heat/defrost settings.
 
I am sorry for the late reply, I have been juggling classes and installing weatherstripping before incoming rain. Here are some photos of my firewall and dash.

IMG_20170417_140647217.jpg


IMG_20170417_140722014.jpg
 
I plan to tear out these A/C vents at the bottom and mount a stereo there. That little black box is a dinky heater that doesn't reach much farther than my thighs.
 
I would recommend just using the a/c hevac unit and not hooking up the evaporator...

In addition to the fit issues with the firewall, the wiring harness is different for the heater only vs the A/C car and you need to know your way around electrical wiring to get it right...

We were going to go heater only from a/c in our 71 valiant and ordered the new inside wiring harness for heater only, and then realized it would be better to just keep the a/c hevac unit and not hook up the evaporator... I had to adapt the old a/c and heater wiring to the new harness that was wired for heater only... I found a few tricks to get it to work, but it took me a while to figure it out...
 
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The above is just a quick suggestion. Do some searching. "Universal" heaters have been around before I was born. Some have defroster outlets and some do not.
 
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