heater leak

[Guest]

Out driving the 60 today and noticed a small leak from the heater, car has been restored by previous owner, I got home leak got worse, so I pulled the heater shroud under the dash and could see that the valve is where the leak is coming from, pulled the core, checked with Larrys and saw that they are selling a different replacement that fits in the engine bay, is this the way you fix this problem, are there no original heater valves? Thanks again Mike

[JohnG]

You can certainly try some of the used TBird part dealers for a valve or keep an eye on Ebay for an NOS one (I have seen them).

I think there is also a rubber gasket of some sort between the valve and the core (?) that might need replacing. You want to rule that out...

If you have the heater out, you might want to take it to a radiator shop to get cleaned and checked out. You can put a piece of copper tubing in between the two hoses going to it to close the system in the meantime (a tad chilly driving perhaps... : ) )

john
58 Hardtop

[SwitchBlade327]

I'd go with the one in the engine bay, it's whats in my car and it's one less thing to worry about leaking into your interior! I can understand looking for a stocker if you want the car to be factory correct though.

[byersmtrco]

Another vote for the updated des. I've had no problems with mine. Been over 5 yrs.

[Guest]

heater leak

quote]

Thanks for the info, I decided to order from Larrys, talking to them they say that the little rubber donut or seal fails, that is where my leak is, you can't fix it, their replacement seems the way to go, I don't want this to happen again,....new carpet, lucky I had rubber floor mats!

[tarps3]

good decision.

I installed the same system on both my TBird and my Olds.
The Olds even had a valve on the other side of the firewall but the design was poor. This system is fool-proof and very straightforward. It's a simple inline valve in the heater hose.

With all the funky systems on these cars (vacuum wipers, mercury switches - on the Olds, goofy washer mechanisms, etc) you have to wonder why they made things so hard back in the day.
This little inline valve for the heater hose seems like a no-brainer to me.

[byersmtrco]

Scotty on StarTrek put it best;
"The more they overtake the plumbing, the easier it is to stop up the drain"

Of all the cars I've had over the years (25+)
The TB is the strangest. Years (decades) ahead of its time in some ways, but sub standard in others. Like they were short on funds.
As far as classic looks, the TBird has em all beat. The Ford's ,Chevy's, all of em. The 58-60 is probably the best looking car ever made.
That is of course my un bias opinion

[Guest]

heater valve seal kits

I have seal kits for the original heater control valves used in Squarebirds.They are $25 plus shipping.

Tom Young
tbirdtom@comcast.net

[Guest]

Just be careful,even with the new valve in the engine bay there is still a rubber gasket you have between the core and the bottom tube.I stripped out the small studs that attach the bottow tube to the core and had to jury rig it,with double nuts.I have yet to open the valve to test it.Guess I will have to peel back the new carpet and see what happens.

[Guest]

Well it was a little nippy Sunday morning,so on my way to the golf course I decided to try out the new heater core.I rolled back my New carpet and padding and opened the valve.Thank goodness NO leaks and even without a blower fan it was quite toasty inside.