Heater Overhaul
I promised to give you a run down on my heater overhaul so here is my story. I started by cutting the heater hoses at the engine end 100mm long and blanking off. By doing this it gave me a easy final length for the hoses and allowed me to overhaul the heater without any pressure to complete the job. I then removed both glove boxes to give easy access.
The job was straight forward but as the hoses were heavy steam hose I found it necessary to cut them off at the heater connection. Removing the heater was not so simple because I had built in the parcel tray and that required removal!!
When I got the heater out of the car I removed all the surrounds and the fan. I was then left with the core which I flushed out with water. Initially I got out thick gooey rust and found that hosing through, filling with water, leaving for about an hour and then re-flushing over a period of maybe 6 flushes cleaned out all the rubbish. I reasoned that cleaning with an additive may have achieved a quicker result but equally may have been too aggressive. Any way my system worked and I have no leaks.
I reassembled the heater and at the same time replaced the rheostat control with a tumbler switch from Dick Smith. I really did not want a variable speed fan and on/off suits me better.
I sourced heater hose from Able Parts Ltd at 710 Great South Road. I needed 6 feet at $3.50 + Gst per foot. ( they are not metricated!! ). I found it extra good and easy to work.
Since I reinstalled the weather has been warm but trials have shown the heater now heats up in about half a mile. A vast improvement.
