Heater core recommendation?
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,654
Likes: 0
From: Chandler Arizona
St. Jude Donor '08
Heater core recommendation?
While I've got my car so torn apart, I figure I might as well replace the heater core. Should I just order one from NAPA, does it really matter where I get it? I just don't want to ever have to replace it again 
Just another Corvette guy
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 8,518
Likes: 3,865
From: Palm Springs, CA.
Hey Tom,
NAPA has a pretty good part with a good warranty at a decent price so I'd go with them. It's what I use in my Corvettes. I put an Autozone core in my Chevy truck for half the price and replaced it 5 times in two years. Just crap. I didn't save antything.
Good luck Bro'
Greg
NAPA has a pretty good part with a good warranty at a decent price so I'd go with them. It's what I use in my Corvettes. I put an Autozone core in my Chevy truck for half the price and replaced it 5 times in two years. Just crap. I didn't save antything.
Good luck Bro'
Greg
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Aug 2005
Posts: 3,654
Likes: 0
From: Chandler Arizona
St. Jude Donor '08
Originally Posted by Greg
Hey Tom,
NAPA has a pretty good part with a good warranty at a decent price so I'd go with them. It's what I use in my Corvettes. I put an Autozone core in my Chevy truck for half the price and replaced it 5 times in two years. Just crap. I didn't save antything.
Good luck Bro'
Greg
NAPA has a pretty good part with a good warranty at a decent price so I'd go with them. It's what I use in my Corvettes. I put an Autozone core in my Chevy truck for half the price and replaced it 5 times in two years. Just crap. I didn't save antything.
Good luck Bro'
Greg
Pro
Joined: Mar 2006
Posts: 724
Likes: 1
From: NY
St. Jude Donor '06
Originally Posted by chevy69
Thanks Greg - BTW, you think this post will go as far as my last one
Drifting
Joined: Oct 2003
Posts: 1,426
Likes: 1
From: VetteMOD
St. Jude Donor '05-'07
If I were you I would buy a good quality heater core and have it pressure tested and check it for fit. I bought a new core for an 81 and I tried to put it into the heater box and the output tubes were not formed correctly. If you were to clamp the tubes in place, it would have bent them. That would eventually lead to a leak. I took my old Harrison 81 core and the brand new core to a radiator shop and they removed the old Harrison end plates and brazed in the new core.
It is such a pain to replace these. I would make sure that you were replacing with a good part. The guy at the radiator shop told me I would have been better off to rebuild the old Harrison core.
It is such a pain to replace these. I would make sure that you were replacing with a good part. The guy at the radiator shop told me I would have been better off to rebuild the old Harrison core.
Pro
Joined: Mar 2004
Posts: 640
Likes: 1
From: Mertztown Pa
Originally Posted by BBShark
If I were you I would buy a good quality heater core and have it pressure tested and check it for fit. I bought a new core for an 81 and I tried to put it into the heater box and the output tubes were not formed correctly. If you were to clamp the tubes in place, it would have bent them. That would eventually lead to a leak. I took my old Harrison 81 core and the brand new core to a radiator shop and they removed the old Harrison end plates and brazed in the new core.
It is such a pain to replace these. I would make sure that you were replacing with a good part. The guy at the radiator shop told me I would have been better off to rebuild the old Harrison core.
It is such a pain to replace these. I would make sure that you were replacing with a good part. The guy at the radiator shop told me I would have been better off to rebuild the old Harrison core.
I had my old core rebuilt. That way I knew it would fit. It was the same price, plus then the leak test it to make sure it is good. You never know if one from napa will leak until you hook everything up and run the car.
Advanced
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
From: Iron Station N.C.
I tried one from Autozone, Advance Auto, and NAPA and none of them would fit the clamps. I took the old one to the local radiator repair and the guy measured everything on it and ordered it. It came in about 3 days and fit like a glove. I think the price was $43.00. Good Luck
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Drifting
Joined: Feb 2005
Posts: 1,583
Likes: 5
From: Richardson Tx.
Same here. The replacement ones don't fit right so I ended up chopping up my bracket to get it to fit right. I had mine pressure tested at the radiator shop. $20 I believe. The guy at the rad. shop told me that there is only 1 or 2 companies making them now so compare the price and the brand. I believe that the one that NAPA sells is made by the same co. -- sold by AutoZone--and AZ was a lot cheaper..
