Heater box delete

[Glengoolie Blue]

Hi all,

 

I am about to receive my '73 02 back from the body shop. It has been welded, POR15ed, rhino-lined, and painted. My vision for the car is a light, tight, weekend driver when the weather is nice. I am attempting to keep it as spartan as possible. Before it goes to the upholstery shop I would like to solve a nagging hangup.

 

I have decided to remove the heater box permenately . I know that this sort of talk tends to illicit gasps of horror from people, but I really don't plan to drive it when its cold out and my heating system is TRASHED. Anyway, my question..what is the best way to plug up the hole where the box sits and how should I redirect the plumbing for the cooling system? I assume I will need to run less coolant?

 

Thanks,

 

Kyle

[Simeon]

If it's all going permanently then you should consider removing the entire heater plenum panel from under the hood.  Apart from reducing weight, this will give a bit more access. 

[Glengoolie Blue]

I didn't know this could even be done. Does it require metal cutting?

[JerryC]

You can plug the heater box hole with a piece of 1/8" (3.14 mm for purists) thick sheet aluminum cut to the same size as the outer lip of the heater box with two holes for the mounting studs. Thin sheet metal could also be used, but it will probably need some flanges bent along the edges to stiffen it up since there are only two nuts on studs holding the whole thing in. Seal the cover plate with the sticky 3M black gooey tape stuff.

 

When I refurbished my heater box, I used a piece of plywood with a self-adhesive-backed piece of foam weather strip around the edges to temporarily keep air outside.

 

The heater hoses can be blocked with clamped-on plugs. I used socket-head bolts clamped around the circular head with the threads hanging outward during my own heater box refurb. An alternative is to connect the hoses together with a piece of tubing, or put in a single piece of right-sized heater hose. Take your pick. I don't think blocking the hoses is any different from turning off the heater valve, and installing the straight-through hose is no different from turning the heater valve on - makes no difference to the car unless your's needs the heater core to help control engine temperature. If that's the case, upgrade your cooling system first.

 

As far as needing less coolant, yes, that's going to be true. Just fill to within an inch of the cap, same as before.

[OriginalOwner]

Here's my experience with blocking off the coolant flow loop through the heater.

 

A few years back the heater coil began to leak.  So I plugged the outlet from the back of the cylinder head (which is the inlet to the heater), and I plugged the hose that returns coolant back to the water pump (the heater outlet side).  The car began running HOT !!

 

So I redneck'ed some hoses to connect the cylinder head outlet to that return hose, thus "restoring" coolant flow from the back of the cylinder head into the water pump.  The car ran normal temp.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

[jimk]

You are gonna find out how hot it will feel around your feet without some air flow.  I remember well working summers driving old trucks that had no air flow around the feet.  We would drive with the doors ajar to get some circulation.  You might think the insulation will shield you, but report back after one summer!

[JerryC]

26 minutes ago, OriginalOwner said:

Here's my experience with blocking off the coolant flow loop through the heater.

 

A few years back the heater coil began to leak.  So I plugged the outlet from the back of the cylinder head (which is the inlet to the heater), and I plugged the hose that returns coolant back to the water pump (the heater outlet side).  The car began running HOT !!

 

So I redneck'ed some hoses to connect the cylinder head outlet to that return hose, thus "restoring" coolant flow from the back of the cylinder head into the water pump.  The car ran normal temp.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

Just goes to show that every one of these cars is a little different after all the years of POs, repairs, and modifcations. Blocking the heater hoses made no difference to my tii, and I drove it all summer like that. I have a 3-row radiator, maybe that was the difference for my situation.

And jimk, I too welcomed having the air flow back after reinstalling the heater box. It was nice to be able to drive with all the windows closed to keep the air from blowing on my head.

[OriginalOwner]

JerryC,

 

definitely every 2002 is different ..... mine also has the 3-row radiator which I assumed would handle the situation.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

[Healey3000]

4 hours ago, OriginalOwner said:

Here's my experience with blocking off the coolant flow loop through the heater.

 

A few years back the heater coil began to leak.  So I plugged the outlet from the back of the cylinder head (which is the inlet to the heater), and I plugged the hose that returns coolant back to the water pump (the heater outlet side).  The car began running HOT !!

 

So I redneck'ed some hoses to connect the cylinder head outlet to that return hose, thus "restoring" coolant flow from the back of the cylinder head into the water pump.  The car ran normal temp.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

 

Interesting.  How is blocking off the ports different from having the heater valve in the Cold position?  Is that why there is supposed to be a trickle flow through the coolant control valve?

[OriginalOwner]

An excellent question.  I can't speak for the trickle flow, but in my '74tii there is always hot air from the heater even with the heater valve Closed ..... which makes me think there is a trickle flow, if only in my car.

 

Cheers,

 

Carl

[Gordon]

I pulled my heater box years ago in my former 2002 and just ran a hose from the heater outlet on the block to the inlet port for about a week while I was refurbishing the heater box.  Very noisy and lots of engine smells coming in through hole in the firewall.  One thing to consider, you also lose your defrost and as you know, 02's windows like to fog up on the inside. I recommend keep it, just refurbish the heater box, there's a guide on how to do it in the FAQ.

 

G-Man

[TobyB]

I found that blocking the heater hoses completely made it REALLY hard to get all the air out of the back of the head.

So I looped the hoses, with a restrictor to keep the hot water leak effect to a minimum (the heater is a radiator, so if you loop the hoses, you're letting hot water bypass the main radiator.

 

And yeah, some airflow is nice.

As is some defrosting, sometimes-

say, you stop for lunch, and a sudden rain shower comes through and cools everything down as the humidity goes through the roof.

 

I'd keep it.  But I'm a weenie.

 

t

 

[rdeeble]

if your tossing the box let me know - I know someone who rebuilds em.

[Glengoolie Blue]

Thanks everyone for the replies. Losing the defrost is probably the thing that worries me most. I would happily rebuild the heater box, but it really is a shambles. 

[ray_]

I believe MikeS once posted that blowers from hair dryers could be fitted in the defrost ducts. That may be a cheap solution to one issue....

 

Cheers,