Heater core removal...

[hiball3985]

I did a heater core in a 69 Mustang. Word to the wise, if the manual says to remove a part in the process, Do it. Will save a lot  of grief.

Thanks, the 66 is really simple, no manual needed. The best part is they are cheap.

[BBoswell]

Just an update. Heater core is in and everything is working great. Found the problem to be the seal (Mac's) between the heater core and vacuum control valve. Found an original seal from the vendor that lalessi1 sent information on. Once I replaced the seal, I had the unit pressure tested and the put everything back together. Wouldn't you know it . . . I finished it up last night and today the sun is shinning and I don't need a heater. Thanks again to everyone who contributed info and suggestions. Made the job go a lot smoother.

[lalessi1]

Good to hear. Now I need to do mine!!

[BBoswell]

I followed the tips from the forum and never even opened the shop manual. It was really easy. Took less than three hours not counting the time required to take into town and have pressure tested. Most of the time was draining the water, removing and reinstalling the under dash stuff and installing new hoses. From what I can tell the whole secret to having a successful non-leaking heater core is that tiny little seal. The original seal fits the shape and crevices perfectly. The seal I got from Mac's doesn't . . . it is more of a rectangle shape whereas the original seal is an oval shape. The extra seal material created by the rectangle shape causes small gaps when installed. And it appears that using a gasket sealer doesn't always work . . . or at least the Mac's seal I took out didn't because it had been installed with gasket sealer. If your old core had an original seal you might be able to do a little trimming on the Mac's seal and make it oval shaped . . . but in my opinion that would be a hit and miss thing. My first choice would be to try and find an original Ford seal - part number is B7A-19460-A.

[lalessi1]

I followed the tips from the forum and never even opened the shop manual. It was really easy. Took less than three hours not counting the time required to take into town and have pressure tested. Most of the time was draining the water, removing and reinstalling the under dash stuff and installing new hoses. From what I can tell the whole secret to having a successful non-leaking heater core is that tiny little seal. The original seal fits the shape and crevices perfectly. The seal I got from Mac's doesn't . . . it is more of a rectangle shape whereas the original seal is an oval shape. The extra seal material created by the rectangle shape causes small gaps when installed. And it appears that using a gasket sealer doesn't always work . . . or at least the Mac's seal I took out didn't because it had been installed with gasket sealer. If your old core had an original seal you might be able to do a little trimming on the Mac's seal and make it oval shaped . . . but in my opinion that would be a hit and miss thing. My first choice would be to try and find an original Ford seal - part number is B7A-19460-A.

Ditto that!!! I found a NOS seal on ebay.

[hiball3985]

Something must have changed. I got mine from Macs last year and it was oval, worked fine.
www.macsautoparts.com/ford_mercury_late/heater-hot-water-valve-to-heater-core-seal-ford-and-mercury.html

[lalessi1]

I got an oval one from Mac's as well, put it in, and I don't know if it leaked or not, something is though.  The original part has a raised "semi-o-ring" molded in it, it is simply preferable in my opinion.

[BBoswell]

Maybe rectangle is the wrong description. Oversized with square corners is maybe more accurate. See photos. One shows the part I got from Mac's, one shows close-up of part and the third shows the indention on the old gasket caused by overlap. From what I can tell the overlap caused a small gap on each side of the indented gasket which finally gave way to a small leak that soaked my floorboard over a few days.

[hiball3985]

Maybe they changed suppliers, if they did they shouldn't have excepted such bad quality. I would have bought a NOS if I had known at the time, just ordered the seal at the same time as the core, so far so good.

[lalessi1]

Here is a "real" one. It does not have a "semi-o-ring" as I described earlier, rather a contoured face. So much for memory.

[Limey57]

I used polyurethane seam sealant (Sikaflex) as the repro-seal I had was awful.  Time will tell if I did the right thing!

[SkylinerRon]

Ecklers (chevy guys) bought Macs a while back.
I don't know who their suppliers are now but,
I'm not buying any parts from them now.

Ron.

[Limey57]

Hmmmm, I placed an order with Macs back in November, a pair of door courtesy light switches, door lock retaining clips and vent window rear edge seals and it still hasn't been shipped as stuff is on back-order.  Kinda frustrating when you're at the re-assembly stage!

[hiball3985]

I've had mixed results using Macs, sometimes good sometimes bad. I ordered a part right after Ecklers took over, after a couple of weeks and no part showed up and no Email notification of a problem I had to call on the phone to find out what was going on. Then I was told the part was back ordered and they didn't expect a shipment for a month, they were only getting three pieces and they had orders for eight waiting. I proceeded to raise hell about why they don't notify people when something is back ordered and I'm setting on my ass waiting and my project has come to a stop. They insured me that they were going to improve their customer service but apparently they haven't.

[RICH MUISE]

Limey...you should be able to get the vent rear seal strip at www.classicautoparts.com and maybe the retaining clips as well. However I originally got my first set of coutesy light switches from them and they fell apart. I got my second replacement set from Ron Francis wiring and they are made much better.
Why do companies buy other companies if they are just going to let them go down the tubes? Frustrating.