How long did it take you to rebuild your

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Brooks James

Brooks James

VET, CPT, Huey Medevac Pilot
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Rebuild your heater box ??
I want to rebuild mine in my 70 Dart, no ac

A friend of mine said he could
Do it in 4-5 hrs ????
 
Depends on how many posts you put on the internet while doing it.
 
Depends how bad of condition it's in. If you need to repair or rebuild parts of the case with fiberglass and/ or adhesives, it could take a couple of days. If it's perfect, (but what ever really is??) an afternoon isn't out of the question, but it all depends on what you're starting with and what your doing to it. Heck, it could take most of an afternoon just to get a new heater core to fit right...
Just do it and you'll see how long it takes. It isn't going to change the fact of whether you are going to do it or not.
 
New gaskets, new heater core, clean and refurbish. Does this include R&R time? New heater hoses, clamps. Are all the parts on site, or do you have to order? You're talking to an old mechanic who used to work "flat rate". How long does it take?
 
Unless you just don't want to do it, I wouldn't pay anyone to do this job. It's not difficult and doesn't require any special skills. It takes some time if you want to ensure everything is clean and nice when you put it back in but if I was going to pay someone to do a 4-5 hour job, it would be a difficult and dirty under the car job that I didn't feel like doing. Not a simple clean on the bench job that is easy and somewhat satisfying.
 
I'd say that for 4-5 hours to be realistic the box would have to be in pretty good condition. I changed all the seals and gaskets in the box for my Duster, I was probably into it a couple more hours than that but I stripped the blend doors and painted them, had to get a different heater core because the first one didn't fit, etc. But I didn't have to do anything crazy to it, that one was in good shape.

The one I rebuilt for my Challenger definitely took longer than that, probably close to triple that amount of time. But it was kinda rough and I did some fiberglass work on that one to repair a couple corners. Had to soak the rusty blend doors in evaporust for awhile too and then wire wheel them, etc. But I didn't keep track and it wasn't done all at once, few hours here, few hours there, etc.
 
Mine was split over 2 days for paint drying, but it came out looking and working like new.
Probably 4-5 hours realistically.
Really easy though.
 
I agree with @ESP47 when he says it is easy and not to farm the job out. I have done several heater/AC boxes, and they are easy. That being said, I have never been able to do one in 4-5 bours, but I have always done a complete restoration on them, and there was usually some damage. Like @Professor Fate said, it depends on a lot of factors. You said you wanted to "rebuild" it. If that just means take it apart, clean it up a bit, put in a new heater core and a few seals and then put it back together, 4-5 hours is possible. If there is damage, of if you want to paint it and restore it to look like new, I think it will take more than 4-5 hours.
 
Yeah it really depends on what you mean by “rebuild”. If all that means to you is changing the gaskets and foams then yeah, 4-5 hours is plenty of time. But that’s a gasket change, not a rebuild.

If your heater box needs fiberglass repair, or the doors are rusty and you want to clean them up, or the whole thing is faded and crappy looking and you’re going to paint it you’re going to need more than 4-5 hours.
 
I have been toying with the idea of one of these setup and seeing if the factory blower motor could be swapped into it so it could be ran from the factory heater controller. Now if someone would only start reproducing the heater delete passenger side cowl vents…
CAP-1000H - Heater | Hurricane System | Cable Operated | Upper Fittings
25-1019 - Heater Valve | Bypass Style, Cable Operated, Pull to Close
Using this style of heater control valve would require eliminating the thermostat bypass hose to the intake manifold to prevent overheating, but I think it looks a little more sanitary without the bypass hose.
 
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