1969 Dodge Dart GTS - Drain Radiator To Remove Heater Box?

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Lord Sparky

Lord Sparky

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Not to bad. Be careful with the defroster hoses not cheap IF you can find them. Your choice to drain it or not. I usually pull the hoses, leave them up and take the glove box liner out and go from there.
 
Lord Sparky said:
The service manual says to drain the radiator before removing the two hoses to the firewall connectors to the heater box. Is this really necessary? Any other tips to easily get the heater box out and rebuild? I’ve heard remove the seat and glove box and get the Detroit Muscle rebuild kit. Mopar A Body 67-72 BIG NON AC Heater Box Rebuild Restoration Seal Gasket Kit
Click to expand...

I would definitely recommend it and, cap of the ends of the heater core inlet and outlet unless you want coolant all over your interior and floors. Taking out the passenger seat and glovebox helps greatly! The Kit from Detroit Muscle is excellent , easy to install and greatly improves air flow by removing air leaks. One thing, be careful when splitting heaterbox. Those clips that clamp the two sections together are hard to remove and if you are not careful, will easily crack up the lip they are attached to. you need to work them off slowly, do not just put a screwdriver behind them and force them off, you'll break the lip every time!!
 
By draining down the rad you will also pull some of the coolant from the heater core.

You could put a piece of hose on the top port to the core look at photos to see if that is the left or right tube or top or bottom. Blow into the tube slowly and you can get a lot more of the coolant out of the heater core. You can use compressed air but keep the pressure low like no more than 16 psi or there abouts
 
You don't have to drain it all out, just enough to lower the fluid level lower than than the core. Plugs help at the hoses and core. Pulling the glove box helps with access to the control cables and wiring. As stated be gentle. The fiberglass is weak in areas and will break.
 
I would drain the system down some, remove the hoses. Put another hose back on one of the core tubes, then with an air gun, lightly blow the fluid out of the core., then cap them some how if you can. There are two or three wires to disconnect and two cable clamps. Theres a hook in the right cowl vent behind the door, and the motor of course, and the defroster hoses. Take a good look at core, it may need replacing. If you mess up the area when removing the clips, you can use JB Weld to bond a broken piece back on or remake the area if someone has been in there and already messed it up
Remove the seat.
Good luck
 
I wipe the core tubes with brake clean, then use duct tape to seal them off so you don’t spill a drop inside the car. Then remove the tape when you get it out of the car. Don’t leave it on there it will be very hard to remove later.
 
Once you lower coolant level in radiator, you could use a small wet/dry shop vac to suck coolant out of heater core, then no chance of major spillage inside car. I would still cap the core hose connections so no drips.
 
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