Someones been there before. I don't think GM ever used a gear clamp.

 

This story keeps growing and I like it. Ya know I used replace or have replaced all the rubber hoses on my cars every 5 years. But my Cummings powered dodge dual went almost 20 years w/o any leak before I had it's hoses replaced along with the radiator. Your '77 vette is what over 40 now and if it were mine I would keep going and replace all those coolant and fuel rubber hoses too.

Good luck.

 

25 cuss words later

note to others..remove heat control bracket or it will catch bottom dash..
must remove clamps and hoses to get it out so do not leave rubber on after cutting You need all the room you can get..
flex dash out but that damn side diaphram i may remove if i can pita..
im not sure how i will get in..
well one good thing seems clean..


Clean..further proof you can remove resistor to clean evaporator? That diaphram on side may get removed on instal will see

Shes wet

 

Disassembly
Those clamps were in such a weird place that the other part must have been removed or they are factory clamps..my radiator also in aim used some worm..used ignition wrench to loosen then cut..
seals all disintegrated..
guesses as to where it was leaking?
clean up time..come on paragon..send my parts before i forget how to install...

 

Looks like they were worm clamps from factory..also aim and service manual are NOT completely accurate on ducts and how many screws and where..they must have played a lot with those parts..
i hope new gasket kit comes with directions where and what as a lot are missing..
looks like some factory goop and core to metal..

 

The easy part is done lol!

 

He will get thru it. His other detail work looks nice. When I did mine I had the dash out for repop #2.
Mine sits outside year round, and that just doesn't help with dash pad life.

 

You are a braver man than me to tackle the heater core. I removed and capped the hoses and enjoy driving mine in the warm weather only.

 

Too damn cold to go without heater..im driving except rain snow and extreme cold..
check out these pics
what a bunch of SLOBS on the assembly line, wiped fingers, rivets, packaging from tape everywhere, seams maybe got enough ?
do you think the converter got hot? Im washing and do have to find a small piece foill foam..unless you can buy just part of carpet..its going back in and under seat. Scraping and cleaning parts...
i still smell like antifreeze...


Anyone know what this paper is under sill? Its on drivers side too just visible.

Was it from factory and supposed to rip off?

Didn’t know floors were steel! This is with a heat shield

More slob factory adhesive backing from what looks like foam they put in areas..


Rivets loose painted stuck in sealer lol

Heavy wash and rinse

 

Well no parts yet paragon!
cleanup mode and detail fixes..staring at stuff for a while shows how simple everything is..just crammed.
not spending money on new carpet...as you can’t buy Individual parts so clean up, hose out to get rid of smells..
the foil padding looks to be three parts and under seat on top of converter they have extra piece so they knew how hot this sob got..had a rattle i think i just found..righ on the burn spot if i slap it rattles floorpan to heat shield and the floor in general vibrates pretty good.
amazon vibration, sound, heat, hushmat starter kit and layed out four sq feet 30 bucks..and it really deadens it up..i still have floor to metal hitting on shield not sure what to do there maybe shove some insulation between floor and top of heat shield.
i repaired all the foil deadener pads with spray headliner adhesive and good ole reynolds wrap..hard to tell difference and i think even slight thicker!

 

Well got parts and heater core and tubes need adjustment to fit, which bends, which i leak checked and leaked after bending at connection. Paragon was responsive and helped on phone and arranged another to be sent and they will double check and pressure test and add solder if needed. I will update.
i also was told by tech help i could use bubbles and comp air with worm clamped rubber plugs that came with it..used small hole and blow gun gently..with lysol spray..showed immediately..that would have SUCKED putting it back together..

 

A video of leak

 

This is why I buy NOS parts whenever possible.

 

well i did see your post and before i purchased i looked for anything nos or usa..i was told only one vendor makes and its mexico.

i had to go with what i could..no rebuild shops around me anymore either. I went with vendor on this site God only knows what i would get outside..even NAPA getting china worse.

i think paragon is responsive and actually went into inventory and had a similiar setup to test and see pipe orientation and the suggested leak test and how after bending. They said they would leak check and bend and solder if needed. Also the oem soldered at mid pipe he said also needed adjustment on some.
let me know if anyone sees one
thanks!

 

Update @paragon sent me another heater core and bent it and checked for leaks on a jig they had, fit perfect. They were very responsive My compressed air bubble check at fittings seems good, i did not submerge it.
put in new seals for ducts, good directions most all were disintegrated. I did not use foam gasket for firewall to housing as it came with center strip and theres pretty thick rubber around the inside and seen no foam originally. Very tight fit with some ducts as they were very tight. Definitely things are back in sealed tight and correct i hope. I did solve two issues, where the drivers floor courtesy light went, and the temperature cable worked hard because it was misrouted as someone was in there before i think or replaced it. Soft foam for center ducts were not there before so be interesting how it blows.


Pretty thick foam inserts good kit

Cable so much smoother now

 

So far so good one road trip..no leaks or smell..some good
- seals all replaced mich tighter but can imagine a bitch to tear apart again as some are very tight
- temp cable much smoother operation now routed properly
- i was surprised at how much quieter that sound proofing pads did only on one side.
- ac vent heater selector acted goofy but seems to straighten itself out and all functions as should..knock on wood..
- cleaned gauges and polished plastic inside and out waiting for another core..that plug in circuit board connector is a joke and no slack
- replaced all lights
- found where my floor courtesy light goes on drivers side
not so good,
- lost coolant overflow cap...wth?
- one trim screw left over..?
- gotta find a better way to keep water shut off away from exhaust, that diaphram gets hot near the pre heater valve.
i left stereo out until i figure what im going to do and the console so much easier without it as two speaker outputs dont work
- i took a giant pipe wrench and straightened metal part under armrest now it straight..left the trim screws off between center and armrest as they are broke off and my epoxy repair didnt work..some pit some pressure on it not me
also cracked my fasten seat belt red bezel..oh well ill order with cap..that will turn up after i order.
hats off to paragon for helping and fixing repo core.

hardest part of job is stuffing some of those ducts in and maneuvering out casing for core.


Gauges look new..polished scratches out with flitz paste and washed back..clock i never got to as curcuit board dangerously brittle when unscrewing so i stopped


May have to tie back hoses from exhaust..there is no bracket it just floats..if anyone has a shot of theres no bracket it would be appreciated

 

Hence, a pair of 1/4-turn stainless ball valves ... I'd recently suggested in a similar thread

 

You only need one valve.

 

Except the damn thing works perfect..when heater core went bad that thing shut it down tight with diaphram.
it was also 38 degrees last night!

i will try to gently tie it over so it clears a little more.

thanks for thoughts all!

second test drive all good..again that damn sound mats really made a difference

 

That's quite true ... one will cease circulation ...
... but if a leak develops, a brace of two valves will isolate it.