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I separated the heater box from the firewall and moved the top a few inches back. But something is caught on the bottom preventing it from breaking free of the firewall. What is it and how do I get it off?
Unfortunetly I have a lot of experience in this. One did you get the nut/ stud off on the utmost right side by the blower motor? If you have verified all 5 nuts are off on the engine bay side then rock it up and down. The studs were bent on both my Vettes and required some "encouraging" to remove.
I separated the heater box from the firewall and moved the top a few inches back. But something is caught on the bottom preventing it from breaking free of the firewall. What is it and how do I get it off?
What year are we talking about and which side of the firewall are you working from? Are you pulling the heater duct from inside the car OR are you pulling the blower box from the engine compartment?
If you are pulling the heater core from inside the car then the feed tubes are probably what's hanging up. Make sure you have removed any & all clamps, etc. While pulling up on the core/box also rotate the assembly slightly towards the rear of the car, it should slide out. I should note that my dash was completely out when I did this so I had lots of room to work. If you are not reusing the core, you might consider cutting the core tubes as high as possible, from underneath the car. This would ease the extraction process.
If you are pulling the heater core from inside the car then the feed tubes are probably what's hanging up. Make sure you have removed any & all clamps, etc. While pulling up on the core/box also rotate the assembly slightly towards the rear of the car, it should slide out. I should note that my dash was completely out when I did this so I had lots of room to work. If you are not reusing the core, you might consider cutting the core tubes as high as possible, from underneath the car. This would ease the extraction process.
I just did this a few days ago on my '72. I had the same problem. You have to rotate the box (top toward you, bottom left against fire wall) to get he feeder tubes to come up and out. I did it without cutting the tubes.
absoluely no reason to cut the tubes. I first pulled the outer core box with blower and htr core motor out from the engine bay side and then I pulled the inner box from the interior of the car.
St. Jude Donor '05-'06-'07-'08-'09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15
Be extra careful when putting the hoses back on. Try to support the core inlet/outlet as you put the hose on so you do not break the solder joint at the core. Been there, done that.
Just did mine a couple of months ago on my 79. I took alot of pictures along the way. When I put the hoses back on the tubes I lubricated the inside of the hoses with margarine and they went on real slick. But before you put everything back together start it up to make sure it does not leak. It has been known that you can be sold a bad heater core.