Just started rebuilding the heater box on the 72tii

[thehackmechanic]

Bloody thing was full of acorns. At least it proves the provenance that the thing sat for 12 years.

[jgerock]

No pics Rob???

The squirrels from the comic strip Mutts are ready to throw some..

[mfbanres]

Rob,

Just finished this project myself. I cut a mouse pad to size to replace the rotted foam on the flaps, and JB Weld to fix cracks; some were reinforced with a piece of plastic cut to size (who is ever going to notice?). Jim's suggestion of weather stripping came in handy as well.

The motor did not work when removed. Figuring I had nothing to lose, I carefully removed the fan, disassembled, cleaned with WD40, hooked it up to a test battery, and viola! Removing the fan was tricky. I separated the plastic piece holding the fan which gave me room to use a small wheel puller fitted with a allen socket and pressed it off. There is a small notch that fits into the fan.....I cleaned the notch, and fitted the plastic bit in reverse order so I could reuse the small ring orginally on the bottom. A touch of epoxy, and it spins like new.

cheers

Michael

73 tii being prepared for paint.

[saaron]

You really ARE back. Working on your car and talking about it, and everything. The world is starting to make sense again.

My car is now surrounded by mouse traps. Not kidding. Tis the season here in Ohio.

Scott

[wegweiser]

I had to go submarining under the dashboard of a nasty Jaguar once. Every time I dropped a trim panel, dead and dried mouse carcasses fell on my face and head. I thought I was going to flat out HURL! There must have been 5 or 6 of them. Any animal that lives where it pees is foul. Not unlike Jaguar engineers.

[jgerock]

This was under the original carpet of the '69 (from AZ) Carlo Abarth signature edition perhaps?

This fell out of the dash next to the glove box

Heater box guts

[thehackmechanic]

Paul, that is fooking gross. I wrote in Roundel about a dirt-cheap Euro 635CSi that I passed on because it totally stank of mouse piss.

I already had hit the heater box once with a shop vac and pulled out 3/4 of the acorns. The photo is of round two, after I'd pulled the core out.

Still, at least it didn't stink, I'm pulling it out to deal with the hot air flow into the car from the degraded foam on the flaps.

In contrast, 20 years ago, I had a '74tii that I bought in the dead of winter from a guy in Newburyport. I was driving it home on I95. It was cold so I turned on the heat. The foul stench that ensued was enough to gag a maggot. I not only shut the heat off but had to ROLL THE WINDOWS DOWN.

Two months later, still winter, after I'd gotten the car somewhat sorted out, I drove it again. It was freezing. I remembered what happened the last time I turned on the heat, but my immediate need trumped my memory. "I'm COLD," I thought, "how bad could it have been?" Again, in about 15 seconds, I had all windows of the car down, and fully appreciated the meaning of both "smell" and "cold."

When I tore apart that heater box, I fully expected to find mummified mouse carcasses, but all I found was the remains of a mouse nest. The stench that that collection of yarn, hair, and twigs made was completely out of proportion to its size.

[Guest Anonymous]

Hackman, Love your writing in Roundel, need to ask your advice. Putting in new carpet in the Screamin Yellow Zonker (76 Golf o2) and the snow is getting ready to fly here in Mount Shasta California, my heater fan is dead and want to do both at once, is there a link or something on the world wide web that would guide me thru this adventure? I have heard this is one of the biggest pains in the arse on a o2 and just need some prep H to get me on. Some great tips were mentioned above, lookin for a guidebook to get me started. Thank You Kindly Dave Miller

[Conserv]

There are lots of strings on this forum that discuss heater rebuilding, but I don't believe there is a single summary of all that accumulated knowledge. Do a search and take a look!

Steve

[John_in_VA]

[thehackmechanic]

Thanks for your kind comments on my column. I'm following the heater box rebuild instructions that are listed in the FAQ (yes, our FAQ does have a FAQ). They are very detailed and well-written, with photos. You can find it here:

http://www.bmw2002faq.com/content/view/73/32/

[jgerock]

There are lots of strings on this forum that discuss heater rebuilding, but I don't believe there is a single summary of all that accumulated knowledge. Do a search and take a look!

Steve

Thanks for reminding me to suggest adding some notes for early cars to the FAQ heater box article. The procedure for removing the controls from the dashboard is different than the later models (of course the heater hoses and valve are smaller).

[JackF]

When I pulled the htr box on the 72 it was in better shape than yours...but still destroyed. We know you love a challenge, but I ran up to AVA Restoration in Dublin, NH and had my pick of about 30 htr boxes that they had saved over the years. Great guys, , great shop to visit, nice ride and you might find a better box to work with, but we do know you love a challenge;)

[BillWilliams]

Just remember if you mix boxes, some years speed connections are different. Just test before reassembly

There is an old thread on the speed differences somewhere.

[thehackmechanic]

Well, the main thing is finding the correct acorn size to pack it with. I mean, otherwise it's just not original.

:^)

One thing I'm seeing is that, with everything removed and checking the flap opening, when the fresh air flap on the right side is completely closed (no foam left on it, dead flush), the fresh air flap on the left side has a good-sized gap. One of the grommets is pretty worn out, but even pushing the linkage all the way to one side, it doesn't come close to making up the gap. Should I just bend the flap on the shaft to get it to close, or is there some other adjustment I'm not seeing?