Heater parts



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Mark Merritt
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Heater parts

Post by Mark Merritt »

Does anyone know where to get the heater control valve,vacuum hoses with the manifold to connect to the push button control,fire wall insulation,possibly the back of the heater box which is card board(I don't know if that one is possible).My control valve leaks,also is there A difference in control valves that have air and those that do not,mine used to have air from the factory,but some where in it's life it became pillaged.Just trying to get the heater functional again,I have removed it(3) bolts,and noticed the valve leaking.When I am done I am going to also install the new glove box,and clock.The vacuum hoses I could probably get by with although it has A couple of previous repairs.Are control valves repairable?Sounds like A Christmas list for Santa. Thanks Mark M
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Dick Koch
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Re: Heater parts

Post by Dick Koch »

Mark - The heater control valve is repairable, NAPA has a rebuild kit. I did mine, otherwise they are quite expensive. If you have the AC valve they are really expensive if you can find one. As far as the fire wall insulation board and a new interior heater box Gary Goers can supply those items. If the switch hose manifold tits are not broken off you should be able to source hose locally maybe even Gary Goers.
Dick.
Life is Beautiful! Sex, Beer & Mopars.
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rogerh
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Re: Heater parts

Post by rogerh »

If you don't mind clarifying: you are discussing two separate heater control devices...1) the water control valve 2) the pushbutton vacuum control.
Regarding )1...Yes, the water valves are re-buildable. There was only one type..the A/C makes no difference, as the valve controls the flow of block coolant, not Freon.
2) The vacuum-actuated pushbutton A/C dash control is a rare item, and since you don't need it, it might be worth it to sell it outright or trade it for a standard control (rebuilt of course). I'm pretty sure its interior passages (and thus the connections) differ from a standard control. Maybe you could figure out a way to re-route the hoses so that an a/c control would function as a standard control, but I'm not sure it's worth the effort. (I think there are hose routing schematics in the service manual supplement.)
The hoses/tubes are available by the foot from most auto parts stores.
You imply that you want a new vacuum tube manifold- (an integral part of the pushbutton vacuum control), so it sounds like your vacuum control needs a complete re-build. This can be done by Jeff Carter, here in Seattle. He may take your a/c-only control in on partial trade for a re-built regular vacuum control.
Dick is a veteran '59 Plymouth restorer, and has all the information on the latest sources! :D
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Fins59
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Re: Heater parts

Post by Fins59 »

"switch hose manifold tits"....Dick mentioned. I think that's my problem (actually not mine, but the cars).
A few years ago I took this part out of my Sport Fury, that was under the dash. I think some vacumn hoses lead to it and a couple of these plastic "tits" were broken off.
I took the same part out of my parts car but since mine is AC and parts car is not, parts car part would not work. So I let it be. The result is that it seems that heater is slightly on all the time. Car is used 99% in warm/hot weather but with windows down situation is bearable.

When I attend car shows in Sep/Oct the little bit of warm air coming from heater is welcome.

You want to talk about a heater problem...front heater core on my Dodge Ram Van 1500 went out during the summer. Could not find a replacement heater core locally. Vendors only had rear heater cores. Finally found one on Amazon. Took 2 months to arrive but I got it. Problem is I can't get the heater box out. It's under the hood....not much room under there to work. There's a few fasteners that must be hidden. I'll eventually find them but it's a real pain.
Right now it's below zero and I can't use the van. Luckily I have another daily driver.
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rogerh
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Re: Heater parts

Post by rogerh »

The reason your parts car vacuum switch won't "work" is both the tubing connection pattern and the internals of the switch are different.
Your a/c car has different vacuum cans operating different "flaps" on the air distribution system.
You may not be able to get the air to flow the direction you want, but the main reason you can't control the heat is the water valve is stuck partially open. First fix the water valve, after that maybe you can re-route vacuum tubes on the functioning vacuum control. Most likely the buttons will not correlate. I'd look into the possibility of trading both vacuum switches to Jeff for a re-built a/c switch. It's probable that you'll have to kick in some money as well.
The nipple break-off is a common problem with these 50+yr old plastic components.
A few years ago the heater core in my 2000 Dodge Dakota sprung a leak. To replace it, the entire dashboard had to come out. The shop which did the work used an after-market heater core. The dash had to come out again because of the annoying noise they created. Within a year the core failed again, but the shop was out of business. I found a trustworthy shop and had the core replaced with a genuine Mopar core. I am still making payments on that bill. And the heat is barely adequate. So I feel for you and your Ram van.
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Mark Merritt
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Re: Heater parts

Post by Mark Merritt »

I got the dash switch working pretty good,I sprayed the buttons with lube and hit it with compressed air.I am going to see if my NAPA has the rebuild kit for the ranco control valve.Something I noticed I am sure the car had a/c,it still had the compressor bracket on the engine,I see mounting holes under the dash for the unit,and 2 holes through the fire wall for the tubes,but the dash switch say's off, lo,hi,def,v.I think a/c had off, mc,fc,def,heat ? The back side of my dash switch does not have the extra electrical connection blades (3) more,and the control valve appears to be standard.Did they offer another type of a/c or just factory? The car was bought new in Las Vegas and was originaly white in color,I could not think someone would not have air and live in Vegas,but is possible.They probably did nit use the heater that much either. Mark M p.s. My heater was always on A little as well.
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Dick Koch
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Re: Heater parts

Post by Dick Koch »

Mark - Sounds like someone installed an after market AC in your car. The Factory AC engine compartment firewall box had an evaporator in it and the heater core was in a seperate box that attached to the main box. It was on the passenger side and had a vacuum actuator sitting on top of it. John Fowlie, a member of this site would probably have a switch manifold with nice tits and hoses attached. You can contact him at www.bigmauto@colusanet.com

Dick.
Life is Beautiful! Sex, Beer & Mopars.
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rogerh
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Re: Heater parts

Post by rogerh »

According to the 1959 Mopar Parts List, there was
1) factory A/C, called "cowl type"
2) the "903" type. I do not know the difference between the two. They look identical in the schematics, but there are different part numbers. My guess is the 903 was provided to dealers for them to install.
Both these types used the A/C-only dash-mount vacuum switch. No additional holes required in the firewall; these units had the evaporator mounted on the engine-compartment side of the heater box.
Another way to have A/C on a '59 was to have an after-market unit installed. These would be the chrome-trimmed evaporator units attached low on the dashboard, with names such as Mark IV...These units required additional holes in the firewall to allow the refrigerant lines to be plumbed to the evaporator. The units hanging under the dash had their own controls, completely separate from the factory pushbutton vacuum control.
In the engine compartment, factory A/C cars had a four-groove crankshaft pulley, as well as compressor bracketry, condenser coil and, with factory A/C, an inner fender-mounted drier.
Cleaning and external lubing of the vacuum control can help. These controls consist of perforated plates sliding across each other. The factory grease solidifies in time. Jeff Carter disassembles these switches, cleans and re-greases the plates, and installs new (I believe) back covers.
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Mark Merritt
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Re: Heater parts

Post by Mark Merritt »

I think as you are right ,it probably was A dealer installed item,I also have the extra groove crank pulley,and my passenger side horn was located on the inside of the core support,I also have the standard cowl/heater core.A lot of the original stuff was missing,probably went to someone on E-Bay,I'm slowly putting some of the pieces back together.(mysteries of old cars),the switch works good,the tits are all intact,and I will hit the Napa store for vacuum tubing.when I get it done it should function well.Thanks for the come back and info,I will post some pics later. Mark M
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rogerh
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Re: Heater parts

Post by rogerh »

Your comments reminded me that on factory A/C cars, the dual horns were bolted to a single bracket.. ..although I cannot remember where they were located! :oops:
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Fins59
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Re: Heater parts

Post by Fins59 »

Just went out (in my pajamas) and checked my AC car. Dual horns are on passenger side above dryer. (Car is stored in my detached garage and it's -6 degrees below zero out there, but couldn't remember either.)

Roger - regarding heater core in van - a few years ago I had a '80 Dodge Van and replaced heater core. Heater box was under hood, had a cover on it with about 10 screws. Removed screws, lifted cover and heater core was unbelievably accessible. Too bad its not like this on my newer one. My neighbor had one replaced a couple years ago in his car - $700.
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rogerh
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Re: Heater parts

Post by rogerh »

On behalf of those who will benefit from your information, I thank you for going out in negative temps, in your pajamas!
Yes, the A/C horn set was bolted to the passenger side sheet-metal face which runs off the core support. The dryer sat in its own well,formed in the passenger inner fender.
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