Hi. New member, first question: do I need to pull the dash, instrument cluster, lower dash etc. for heater/ac core swap? My 68 shop manual pretty much says just remove the glove box liner. I know the West Coast Cougar video for the 69 shows a lot of tear down before dropping the heater housing. What can I get away with? -Dave
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SubvM762z0g
Check out this video. This covers doing the heater core on a 69 car which is close to the same job on your 68. Do not cut corners here. The fiberglass box is fragile and be quite expensive to repair if you damage it.
Thanks for the quick reply. I did see the video, but the shop manual procedure seems to imply removing the dash first is not needed. Possibly on the video there were other goals - replacing the clock… I know it will be obvious once I start.
In the 68 you should not need to pull the dash face. pulling the glove box liner and or the glove box door will give you better access. You may have to pull the console if you have a console.It makes it easier and you dont want to hurt your console. Make sure to disconnect the cables running to the levers on the box as far as defrost heat etc. Then you will need to disconnect the defrost tubes from the top of the plenum. Disconnect the heater core hoses at the water pump. There are 4 nuts in the engine compartment surrounding the fan motor that will need to come off and there is a hex-head screw under the dash near where the heater box attaches to the bottom of the cowl that you need to take off. Then you can slowly feed the box down and out. Generally easier to have someone pushing the hoses through the firewall to minimize resistance.
While you are at it get the kit of gaskets for the heater box and redo them as I am confident you will find that the originals are turning to powder and its cheap. Be careful taking the clips off the box that hold the 2 halves together as the box is brittle from age. I would recommend putting the repop plenum on as its much heartier than the original. I would also test your new heater core for leaks before you put it in. Fill it with water and let it sit for a bit. Pressure testing is better but I dont know how to do that.
I think I covered it all but this advice is worth what you paid for it LOL. If you have a 69 instead of a 68 will be very different potentially.
Chris
Thanks Chris - just what I wanted to hear. BTW, your red 68 looks like my red 68 (except for the hood). It was my wife’s first car - also a 302-2V. -Dave
Funny. My red car is my first car as well. Spent 5 years resoring it. HA. The job is a big PITA. Not sure how much worse if you have an AC car as mine does not. So if you have AC watch out for things I did not describe. Personally I would replace the hoses while you are there. The hoses could be white stripe or red stripe depending on date of manufacture. The red stripe hoses are pre March 68 I think. Also remember when you are done you will have to burp the engine to get the air out of the top so the water will circulate properly. Once you have completed the job and filled the water and antifreeze back up. Have someone stand at the front of the car with the radiator cap off. Start the car and then have them put the cap on. May take a couple times to get all the air out. If the coolant level drops add a little and go again. The coolant should just barely cover the holes in the radiator when you look down into the hole. 1/4 inch or so when full.
Chris
Lots of people ignore the obvious: Pull the passenger side front seat too.
I have an old bicycle tire innertube that I cut. I clamp it on the hose ends of the heater core and using the shrader valve, pressurize the innertube. Then I submerge the core in a 5 gallon bucket of water and look for bubbles.
This trick works on radiators too.
Good idea. I wanted to replace the carpet anyway - a good time to do both jobs.
I would also definitely pull the tab on a Budweiser before attempting the heater core exchange! After that you absolutely do not have to yank the dash off to change a heater core.
I did mine years ago and did not pull the dash. It was an absolutely awful job and I was considerably skinnier then than I am now.
Colin
Not to Hijack the thread but what is the significance of Trumpet1 and where in the country are you 
I too played trumpet…all the way through Jr College. Good luck with the heater core
Chris
We get a ton of response on the 69 heater core replacement video so we need to do a 67 and a 71. I would love to get Dr. Cougar to do a vid on this, he is way better than me and it is always good to get multiple perspectives as we all have different tricks acquired over the years.
I changed my heater core in my 67 way back in the 70’s when I was just a teenager. I do remember going thru the glove box and not removing the dash. All other details of how are long gone!!!
It’s pretty much all been said, but I just did the heater core in my 67 about this time last year. As has been said by others, I took out the glove box and passenger side seat and console. It still was not what I would describe as fun, but I am so glad that I did it. I got everything to do the job at WCCC, including all the new foam for the flapper thingies, heater core, everything.
Let’s see. If I could get my 68 up the coast, you could have a great car for the video:-) In fact, if you need a video on A/C compressor replacement, or a video on a C4 to AOD swap…
Born, raised, and currently live in Long Beach, CA. Played trumpet since I was 10 - graduated high school in '65 - you do the math. Strictly an amateur player, but am active and reasonably competent. I use the Trumpet1 username because my email is trumpet.1@charter.net - an email selected years ago to avoid spam, before it occurred to me that it might suggest a professional connection or an inflated level of ego, although as a trumpet player yourself, you know that we play the most important instrument. I work as an aerospace systems engineer and started as a computer programmer back in the punch card era.
Since you asked…
Our 68 std 302 Cougar was my wife’s first car in college and we used it on our honeymoon up the California coast. In the 70’s we sold it to someone in the family, who sold it to someone else in the family, who sold it back to me about three years ago - at 5 times what I sold it for for originally. It had been garaged, but not driven or maintained since the early 90’s.
-Dave
I did mine years ago, and I talked with Ron the other day about actually putting A/C back in my car. I just did the glove box, and worked on that side of the car only if I can recall. I wouldn’t want to do it again with my bad neck. Ron said I could test my evap unit from the firewall, hope he’s right ! I would take out the seats too unless you’re a gymnast.
OK, did it and here’s the report. No, you don’t need to pull the dash. But I did take out the passenger seat, the glove box liner, and the radio. I have a base model and there is no console. There were three screws at the firewall, two of which connect to the heater box and the third the blower motor, and one screw in front of the box under the dash. I disconnected the vacuum hoses, and one heater door flap cable. The firewall screws had little rubber goodies inside the nuts and stayed on the studs after I took the nuts off, making it harder to pull the heater box - but it came out with some effort.
The fiberglass box is in pretty good shape, but is cracked at one of the brackets - don’t know if I did that wiggling it getting it out. A small fiberglass patch would easily strengthen the crack. The reason I wanted to pull this is to get at the heater core since one of the core exit tubes came off the core inside the compartment - now I know why. The drain was completely clogged (and crumbled apart upon removal) so the whole core is probably rotted out. I haven’t opened the box yet to check. All the visible door pads and seals are crumbled and a rebuild kit would be called for. The vacuum servos look like they need replacing too - they won’t hand operate, assuming they are supposed to.
Hope this helps someone. -Dave