I’m in the middle of a restoration of a '68. And can’t forget the heater core and heater box. What all is involved in removing the whole heater box assembly? I just watched the new WCCC video on the the '69’s and they have to remove the entire dashboard. I hope this is not the case for a 68.
How must dis-assembly is involved to get the heater box out on a 1968 Cougar with AC standard model?
Not to bad of a job You will need to disconnect the A/C lines from the engine compartment side, remove the plates around the heater hoses,
disconnect the heater hoses. remove the heater cables and vacume hoses from the under the dash. remove the bolts holding the heater box from the engine compartment and the one inside the car into the cowl. After that the box will drop out from under the dash. The hardest part is getting the A/C lines off. I have not done one in a long time so I might have forgotten a step but its pretty stright forward. The 67 68 dash is welded in place in 69 70 it bolts in .
There are also some vacuum lines to remove. You may want to get some new gaskets. If the heater core has never been replaced, this might be a good time. I found it hard to get the heater A/C box separated and removed from the fan box with the fan box staying in the car. There is a stud that goes thru the firewall close to the fan box. To make replacement easier, I slotted the hole in the firewall towards the passenger side so that the stud could go thru the firewall and the heater A/C box then slide into the fan box housing. A hand operated vacuum pump (Mitymite) is handy for checking that the vacuum operators and water control valve vacuum switch are working correctly. You probably will want to take out the glovebox and radio and even the ashtray. These dash openings really help with access.
Good advice for sure ^^^^^^^^^
I would like to double that recommendation to replace the heater core.
The clips that hold the two halves of the box together should be removed by placing a broad bladed flat screw driver blade under the end of the clip, at the outside of the clip. The idea is to rotate the clip up and away from the box. Do not put the screw driver under the clip and pry it away from the box. That will result in the lip edge being broken off the box. You want to release the clips not pry them off.
Don’t forget the drain on the bottom of the box…
Thanks. Yes the whole reason I’m removing the heater box is to replace the heater core and replace the seals. The car is almost 50 years old and 122k miles and still has the original in it. Right now the engine is out of the car. The seats and radio are also out. So my access is about as good as its going to get… I was just wondering how much more I needed to remove, looks like I’m there.