1957 heater core replacement instructions

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cscolastico

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Thunderbird Year
1957
I noticed coolant on the passenger floor mat, that has gotten worse over the last couple of times I had it out. I'm guessing that it is the heater core. I read some where that the heater core can be removed from the engine compartment. I removed the screws around the bracket, but there are screws that seem to be coming from the inside of the car through the bracket, which looks like i would have to get under the dash to remove. I have the shop manual, but it doesn't seem to be very helpful. Can I remove the core from the engine compartment? Can some one point me to a procedure for removal?? Many thanks
 
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cscolastico said:
I posted this on another TBird board but thought I would post here as well. I noticed coolant on the passenger floor mat, that has gotten worse over the last couple of times I had it out. I'm guessing that it is the heater core. I read some where that the heater core can be removed from the engine compartment. I removed the screws around the bracket, but there are screws that seem to be coming from the inside of the car through the bracket, which looks like i would have to get under the dash to remove. I have the shop manual, but it doesn't seem to be very helpful. Can I remove the core from the engine compartment? Can some one point me to a procedure for removal?? Many thanks
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I have had the opportunity to replace both of my 57 Thunderbird heater cores and they do come out from the engine bay area. I think there will be a couple of screws that will need to be removed from the inside of the car too. Order the heater core and the seal kit so you have everything you will need to tidy up the area when you have it all apart. Pretty easy project however. Dan Terfehr
 
Thank you Dan - are the screws on the inside reasonably accessible ?
 
cscolastico said:
I posted this on another TBird board but thought I would post here as well. I noticed coolant on the passenger floor mat, that has gotten worse over the last couple of times I had it out. I'm guessing that it is the heater core. I read some where that the heater core can be removed from the engine compartment. I removed the screws around the bracket, but there are screws that seem to be coming from the inside of the car through the bracket, which looks like i would have to get under the dash to remove. I have the shop manual, but it doesn't seem to be very helpful. Can I remove the core from the engine compartment? Can some one point me to a procedure for removal?? Many thanks
Click to expand...
I had really no issue and screws were easy to get toon the inside
 
It has been a while since I had the last one out but again I was able to find the screws with a good light and I think a 5/16 socket and nut driver.
 
dbt said:
I had really no issue and screws were easy to get toon the inside
Click to expand...
Actually, I just figured it out thanks to your help. I was mistakenly thinking that the screws protruding were connected to the core bracket as I was not able to easily pull the bracket. Apparently the gasket was almost welded on to both the firewall and core bracket and it too a screw driver levered between the two to separate the bracket. Thanks again
 
cscolastico said:
I posted this on another TBird board but thought I would post here as well. I noticed coolant on the passenger floor mat, that has gotten worse over the last couple of times I had it out. I'm guessing that it is the heater core. I read some where that the heater core can be removed from the engine compartment. I removed the screws around the bracket, but there are screws that seem to be coming from the inside of the car through the bracket, which looks like i would have to get under the dash to remove. I have the shop manual, but it doesn't seem to be very helpful. Can I remove the core from the engine compartment? Can some one point me to a procedure for removal?? Many thanks
Click to expand...
I have same issues and some guidance...
 
I'm a little unclear of the remove from the engine side instructions in the prior posts above. I looked on YouTube and they only video I found took out the plenum, glovebox, etc. and got it from inside the car.
Can someone elaborate or post a couple pictures of the screws that need to come out from the inside vs outside whn removing the core from the engine bay?
My heater core started leaking on the way to the Veteran's Day parade this week. By the end of the parade it had a puddle on my floormat. Casco and NPD are out of stock with no estimate of restocking date. Still waiting to hear from Concours, but it sounds like these are somehow caught up in the supply chain snafu?
SO - Has anyone had any luck getting their core repaired? If so where was the work done?
 
Try, I've not had any supply issues with them:

Thunderbird Headquarters, Inc.
4020 Pike Lane
Concord CA 94520-1227
Local: (925) 825-9550
Toll Free: (800) 227-2174

 
Once the heater core is removed, you might want to test it before you buy a replacement. Cap inlet/outlet and attach a hose to the other end. If necessary, you can cap off one end by simply sealing it with your thumb. Submerge the core in a bucket of water. Using your lung power, blow through the hose. If you see bubbles, you have a leak.

I can't speak for the quality of heater cores sold by Tbird suppliers. A radiator shop might be able to repair yours. They can also test it, if you choose not to test it yourself.
 
On the subject of heater cores, I bought my 1956 bird 3 years ago at a auction and during the process of restoring the car I found this dated heater core. The car showed 26 K miles but I figured that would probably be 126 K. The core looked pristine but I replaced it anyway. Do you guys think that it would have been NOS for it to be in such good shape and dated? When I rebuilt the transmission it looked like it had never been apart and had the bronze clutch plates. The engine looked to be from a 1961 Mercury so that has been changed along with the mufflers so I think that the car has more than the 26 K. The brake drums had very little wear, but the wiring did look it's age. My thought was maybe someone did restore the car less the wiring and then the car was stored. I didn't find anything that looked worn, not even the door hinges. According to what little info I got with the car it looked to have been driven only 1,000 miles in the last 25 years. My car was built on the 28th of April and the core is dated the 12th. I don't think that they had a "Just in time" system in place in those days so that would say it isn't the original core.
 

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If the date stamp is original, I would say that your heater core is original to the car. I will check mine for a date code to see how close it is to the actual build date.
 
One other thing to look at is the brake pedal for wear. Most restorers will never go that far to replace it. If the edges are worn I would also surmise 126K. I would say the core is original also.
 
Stamped into the metal at one end of my heater core is "B & B 12 54." On the opposite end, there is a yellow stamp which says "Dec161954." My 55 was manufactured 01-20-1955. Yours must be original to the car.

I tested my heater core as described in earlier post. There were some bubbles initially when submerging the core. Once they subsided, I blew into the core. but saw no bubbles. Just to be safe, I will have a shop test it. Other than minimal white deposits on the tubes to which the heater hoses attach, my core looks like it's in pretty good shape, too. Although everything was in place when I inherited the car, it's possible that the heater/defroster never worked during the 50 years the car has been in the family. However, it will be working when I'm finished.
 
55blacktie said:
Stamped into the metal at one end of my heater core is "B & B 12 54." On the opposite end, there is a yellow stamp which says "Dec161954." My 55 was manufactured 01-20-1955. Yours must be original to the car.

I tested my heater core as described in earlier post. There were some bubbles initially when submerging the core. Once they subsided, I blew into the core. but saw no bubbles. Just to be safe, I will have a shop test it. Other than minimal white deposits on the tubes to which the heater hoses attach, my core looks like it's in pretty good shape, too. Although everything was in place when I inherited the car, it's possible that the heater/defroster never worked during the 50 years the car has been in the family. However, it will be working when I'm finished.
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Well I'm impressed if these are original heaters. Mine also had the B & B stamped with a 4 and 56 which matches with the build date of the car. Talk about "they don't build them like they used to" couldn't more true of at least the heater cores. Until I got to a point in life where I could buy a new car every 2 or 3 years, I can't tell you how many heater cores I repaired/replaced. A couple more than once. I'm still having a problem with the idea my heater is 65 years old and looks as good as it does.
 
Pretty much all of the vacuum hoses on my car had disintegrated with age, including those for the wipers and heater valve. I'm eliminating all of the vacuum hoses, except for the distributor. I purchased a manual heater-control valve and electric wiper conversion kit.

By the way, my radiator top tank is dated December, 54. I can't remember if there's a day. The core is rotten, but didn't leak. I'm holding onto it, but a 4-row copper & brass U.S. radiator will be going into the car.
 
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