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Here’s a way to bench test your heater core at home with a piece of bicycle tube before taking it to the shop for testing.
Pump it up to whatever pressure you want and submerge it in water to see if there’s an air leak. Or leave it on your bench and check the pressure the next day to see if it goes down.
I think I learned this from someone on the forum or online somewhere so not my idea, just passing it on.
Why would anyone break the core when taking the old hoses off?
Easy to do, the old hoses are usually stuck pretty tight. Pull on the hoses a bit too much and it'll break the seal between the inlet/outlet tubes at the tank. I've had mine broken loose by a mechanic replacing the battery beneath the water hoses. That's why I only replace my own batteries and always cut the old hoses loose from the heater core when they need removing. Hoses usually in need of replacement if they have to be removed anyhow. Just my $0.02 .. . .
I'm in the middle of repairing the heater core in my '66 convertible right now as a matter of fact.
It was the original Harrison core, dated April 1966. My car was made April 29, 1966.
I had this company...
...do the re-core. They specialize in repairing the older stuff.
Besides re-coring it, they also re-enforced the hose nipples. The quality of the metal in the end tanks is much better quality than any new replacement core and I know it'll fit.
This everything I removed from the car to facilitate the core repair plus I removed the passenger seat. Before I took the old core out I blew some low pressure air through the old core to minimize how much coolant spilled in the passenger foot well. That worked very nicely, only had a few drips. I followed the step by step directions that Mark sent me and it all worked very nicely. Not an especially hard job but it does take time and patience. Good luck with it.
Easy to do, the old hoses are usually stuck pretty tight. Pull on the hoses a bit too much and it'll break the seal between the inlet/outlet tubes at the tank. I've had mine broken loose by a mechanic replacing the battery beneath the water hoses. That's why I only replace my own batteries and always cut the old hoses loose from the heater core when they need removing. Hoses usually in need of replacement if they have to be removed anyhow. Just my $0.02 .. . .
Exactly. You always slit the hose. That avoids breaking the core. Any mechanic worth a tinker’s damn should know and do this.
