Overhauling Heater/AC Box
I think that the easiest solution would have been to re-shape the holes in the fiberglass box and/or fabricate a new exterior mounting plate the accommodate the different tubing bends. But, did I think of that at the time??? Of course, not. I just knew that there had to be a way to make the new core work. The guy at my local radiator shop suggested sweating out the old tube and putting it into the new core in place of the one with the wrong bend radius. I liked that idea, so he went to work on it. Only AFTER everything was soldered back into place did he pressure test the assembly. Sure enough, there was a leak in the header inside the tank of the new core. Since we had already voided the warranty, we decided to open up the tank and have a look. He says that the header had a unrepairable crack in it, and that the core was junk. I have no way of knowing if the core was originally defective or it something he did caused the new core to leak. Nevertheless, I had to have yet another new core. He was able to get a new one (at about half the price I had paid :rolleyes:), and went to work again installing the long radius bend into the "new" new core. This time it held pressure and it looked good.
I still had the task of fitting it all back into the box and securing it. Again, the tubing went through the holes in the fiberglass box, and this time the steel plate came CLOSE to lining up. It was still going to take a little tweaking as Rick had told me. I did finally get everything lined up and secure, but not without putting a dandy kink in that one problematic tube.
At this point, I am resolved to just letting it have a kink in it, damnit!!! I will pressure test it before it gets sealed up in the box and installed in the car, but I can't imagine that that kink is going to restrict enough flow to hurt anything. Besides, it will be hidden behind the firewall.
I'll post more as I go forward.
I think that the easiest solution would have been to re-shape the holes in the fiberglass box and/or fabricate a new exterior mounting plate the accommodate the different tubing bends. But, did I think of that at the time??? Of course, not. I just knew that there had to be a way to make the new core work. The guy at my local radiator shop suggested sweating out the old tube and putting it into the new core in place of the one with the wrong bend radius. I liked that idea, so he went to work on it. Only AFTER everything was soldered back into place did he pressure test the assembly. Sure enough, there was a leak in the header inside the tank of the new core. Since we had already voided the warranty, we decided to open up the tank and have a look. He says that the header had a unrepairable crack in it, and that the core was junk. I have no way of knowing if the core was originally defective or it something he did caused the new core to leak. Nevertheless, I had to have yet another new core. He was able to get a new one (at about half the price I had paid :rolleyes:), and went to work again installing the long radius bend into the "new" new core. This time it held pressure and it looked good.
I still had the task of fitting it all back into the box and securing it. Again, the tubing went through the holes in the fiberglass box, and this time the steel plate came CLOSE to lining up. It was still going to take a little tweaking as Rick had told me. I did finally get everything lined up and secure, but not without putting a dandy kink in that one problematic tube.
At this point, I am resolved to just letting it have a kink in it, damnit!!! I will pressure test it before it gets sealed up in the box and installed in the car, but I can't imagine that that kink is going to restrict enough flow to hurt anything. Besides, it will be hidden behind the firewall.
I'll post more as I go forward.
