Wow, you must have the shop fridge really well stocked to state that!

 

 

 

I meant to drive without a heater, not put in the core. I won't have the new core and molded hoses for another week.

But I might have a few of the illustrated beverages and a nice BBQ on the weekend. After driving of course. And actually with a nice t-bone steak I enjoy Canadian Niagara grape offerings. Years ago I was instrumental in setting up a wine research institute in that area. The quality is very good these days.

 

Literally sampling the fruits of your labor!

 

The weather was too nice today to wait for the weekend so the Wife and I headed out for a couple of hours on rural country roads. Speed limit is just 80kph (50mph) but that is OK with me. Very nice drive with the heater core bypassed. Steady 180*F on the temp gauge. No problems at all.

Getting the green coolant out of the passenger side rug was pretty successful with Simonize rug foam cleaner, water with dish detergent, and a LOT of rubber glove manual hand removal followed by a ShopVac thorough finishing job. The rug looks/smells fine albeit still somewhat wet but I can see it being dry in a couple of days. I just used a weatherboot for the drive today to keep the Wife's feet dry..

So onward and upward as they say. Keep driving! New core and hoses will be here Tuesday via UPS. For some strange reason I may delay...the repairs...well that is really wimping out...but perhaps for a couple of weeks...I hate this job!!

 

Sorry to hear of your misfortune, hope you have good weather for driving this weekend. Poured here all day yesterday. Happy Labour Day to you all.

 

Paul,

sorry about the heater core deal....been though it three times in 25 years with my car......pita....it is......I dread it........still running my original radiator thought....knock on wood

I ran it for a few years shut off , because I need no heat down here .

screws up the carpet

I 'm only using distilled water with the antifreeze .....hoping this will make a diff...... well water can have acids in it that reacts with the metal and cause pin holes. Some will eat up pipes in a home, so too the coils in yur car.

heater cores are so lovely to change on these cars.....

 

Thanks for the kind words. I have no idea what happened to my five-year-old core. I only use 50/50 pre-mixed antifreeze that should be fine.

On the (+) side I have driven ~150 miles with the core bypassed, including today. The car runs very well. I am tempted to leave things as is but in my heart-of-hearts know this job has to be done. I don't drive in winter but heat, especially for defrost, is a safety feature even in just cool conditions.

 

Thanks Brian,

It was sun and cloud today and I did get out for 1 1/2 hours. Just driving, nothing special, so no pics. The 1974 runs very well with the heater core bypassed and mysterious fluids on my garage floor have now disappeared. OK, last week with CTC shop towels and varsol but now through lack of leakage.

I was rather silly with this whole matter. The leaks started gradually about a month ago. I have always had minor oil leaks but the new ones were a different colour. Hummm, looks like coolant so I tightened up hose clamps and the like but the overflow tank level kept going down gradually. Can't be the heater core it is relatively new....

When I arrived home from the car show on August 25 (pic) the core did a dump on the driveway and my passenger side carpet. Something let go big time. Thankfully I had arrived home!

As I said above I am betwixt-and-between as to what I will do although the parts arrive via UPS on Tuesday. The carpet has been cleaned up and no damage at all.

Rain tomorrow and time to contemplate my navel. Tonight is a BBQ and a good bottle of Pinot Grigio with the Wife.