1964 Heater Core and Heated Intake questions

[Shadrack]

Hey Folks,

Sorry I have been gone. My mother passed away as some of you know - I was her caretaker for years - I am crushed inside...so I have been on and off about talking and not done much but go to work.

I did get out on the 64 today and I started installing the "Painless" kit for extra circuits - constant and switched - under the hood. I drilled a new grommet - and generally tried to keep busy - I keep stopping though and just sitting, it's hard to focus, with my mom on my mind and her pain at the end of her life... It has helped me get out in the world as Doug talks about Thunder Therapy.

To the point - While work on the car I noticed someone has bypassed the heater core - I never thought about it much until now... I guess I will have to replace the heater core at some point... How big of a job is this on a Non-AC car? I have read the heater box has to come out. Any thoughts on this one?

Here is my real question. I have not followed the flow with my eyes yet, but is there a way to bypass the heating that occurs under the carb? I have an aftermarket 1406 with electric choke and it doesn't really need the heat. Is bypassing this possible.

Still working on getting the car together for inspection - spoke to the guy I bought it from and told him about my mother passing - he told me to take as long as I need - so the urgency is gone...somewhat.
Anyways, thought I would ask - hope all are doing well - I know I am not - just getting by.

Don

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[64ZCODE]

Hi Don. I think you could just route the coolant line around the carb spacer instead of through it. But I don't think the heated spacer is affecting engine power significantly.

I guess if someone bypassed the heater core it pretty much means that the core was leaking. Still, it wouldn't hurt to hook the coolant lines back up to the core and see what happens. I've never replace one of these on the TBird but others who have will no doubt comment on the amount of pain involved.

It's important to grieve the loss of your mom, and also to forgive yourself for the pain she went through. I'm sure you did everything you could to help her.

Doug

 

[Hadderz]

Hi Don
Sorry to hear about your mom, tough times, going through the same with my father inlaw.

Heater core, I've a 62 so different but I assume the same hassle to get to the beast. This is a challenge but will def keep you busy as on my 62, part of the dash has to be removed and some crazy bolts in extremly hard places to reach have to be removed too! My core was actually ok and it was the thermo control valve which is attached to the core which had failed, jammed and then leaked.

 

[64ZCODE]

Hi Don
Sorry to hear about your mom, tough times, going through the same with my father inlaw.

Heater core, I've a 62 so different but I assume the same hassle to get to the beast. This is a challenge but will def keep you busy as on my 62, part of the dash has to be removed and some crazy bolts in extremly hard places to reach have to be removed too! My core was actually ok and it was the thermo control valve which is attached to the core which had failed, jammed and then leaked.

Hey Hadderz, good point that the problem might be the valve and not the core. Doug

 

[Hadderz]

Hey Hadderz, good point that the problem might be the valve and not the core. Doug

Seems this does catch all the crap and on my 62 quite a complex beast with some themo addition!?? Replaced with what every other car uses - a ball valve with a cable!

 

[Shadrack]

Hey Guys,

Slowly getting the tbird together here - just been so hard with the loss of mom - I am taking baby steps.

So with that said - can you all help me undo a mess? It looks like my heater core was bypassed. There are still heater hoses running under the carb plate and into the intake. Are these needed? I mean can I just block off the heater hose part of the water pump? I ask because I hear heat under the carb, especially my Edelbrock is bad.

 

[64ZCODE]

Hey Don, this is the PCV valve. The hose going out the bottom of the picture goes to a manifold vacuum source either at the carburetor plate or on the carb itself. Under certain vacuum conditions, the PCV system scavenges fumes out of the crankcase (via the upper hose) and routes them into the intake (via the lower hose):



As far as the coolant circuit running through the car plate, yes this can be bypassed. You can also bypass the heater core, either by disconnecting the two coolant heater hoses from the heater core and connecting them together, or by plugging the outlet and inlet for those hoses at the water pump with pipe plugs.

But wondering 1) why you think the heater core is bad and 2) what the problem with the Edelbrock is?

Doug

 

[Shadrack]

Hey Don, this is the PCV valve. The hose going out the bottom of the picture goes to a manifold vacuum source either at the carburetor plate or on the carb itself. Under certain vacuum conditions, the PCV system scavenges fumes out of the crankcase (via the upper hose) and routes them into the intake (via the lower hose):

View attachment 4167

As far as the coolant circuit running through the car plate, yes this can be bypassed. You can also bypass the heater core, either by disconnecting the two coolant heater hoses from the heater core and connecting them together, or by plugging the outlet and inlet for those hoses at the water pump with pipe plugs.

But wondering 1) why you think the heater core is bad and 2) what the problem with the Edelbrock is?

Doug

Hey Doug!
Thanks for getting back and the help! The heater core is currently bypassed, so I assume - which can make an a$$ out of you (i know lol) - but I assume it is bad since it is bypassed.

I spoke with the Edelbrock tech and they said that the heat transfer from these older style plates can cause a heat soak condition, and/or mess with overall calibration. They suggested a new intake (not gonna happen right now) or to bypass it. I just wasn't sure how tied in the intake was with the coolant system and did not want to starve something important. I will block those off and block off the heater hose connectors on the water pump as they are not needed. I want the engine bay clean as possible so I can evaluate what I want to do. exactly.

(Side note: I wonder if I did bypass the intake if it would cause it to rust inside since coolant would not be running through it. Maybe it's not a "hot," idea - not sure.)

Thanks,
Don

 

[64ZCODE]

Hi Don. Nah, no rust. Actually you can attach the carb without a spacer however spacers supposedly increase horsepower and throttle response. So, disconnect the spacer but leave it in place. Alternatively, you can buy a new phenolic resin super duper spacer that insulates the carb from the engine.

Semper et deinceps,

Doug