I've decided to give some information on heater core replacement for my 73 Gran Torino. As told from my other page the core needed replacement. I bought mine from Autozone for around $23(Please see update below). You can get them from Dearborn Classics and Auto Krafters but when I checked Dearborn they were like $80 something dollars. The one from AutoZone does not come with a gasket the is on the front of the unit closest to the firewall. I'm looking now to find one but Dearborn Classic/ Auto Krafters may come with one. I may call them and see. Anyway on to the story..
If you are going to replace the heater core you get several responses from your friends: A) Sucks to be you, B) Have fun(sarcastic tone) and C) It is not easy. It is good to have a factory shop book or some other manual. First you drain the coolent and then undo the two hoses going into the heater core. You have to unplug vac hoses, take off some parts and then undo 10 screws. Those suckers are not the easiest in the world to get at and remove. Most of this is done on your back.Once you pull the cover off you get to look at the heater core. I was not really sure how to get the core detached from the firewall. You will notice that it is held on by one screw which is behind the tubes. It seems that getting a tool in that area is impossible as it is really a tight fit. So this is what I did. I took a hacksaw(I think I got it at Wal-Mart) and cut the right tube and removed a section to get at the nut to remove the core. What is holding it in place is a 3/8" metal nut. I removed the it with a 1/4" ratchet and two extensions with a 3/8" deep well socket. Using the hacksaw was slow but it worked. I was not sure about using a dremel with a cut off as I thought if I slipped I might cut something else but it would be faster. At one point I removed the hacksaw blade from the handle and used it with somewhat faster results until it would bind up. This job was not that hard but all I have to do now is find a gasket. Also you will notice that a metal peice will fall out when you pull the heater core out. Mine was slightly rusty so I cleaned it up and sprayed some Just like Chrome paint on it. Looks ok but I won't see it again but I just did that to protect it some. I'm sure that there might be another way to remove the heater core with our cutting it but you may want to try and use a tool to remove the nut. I will post some photos and maybe some diagrams on here to show what I am talking about.
Update 11/18/2002: I finally got around to putting the heater core back together and I ran into some problems. I could not get the back cover of the unit to fit right. Then it dawned on me to check the unit. I was lookin in the factory shop book and it lists the heater core itself to be 6"x8"x2" while the one I bought from AutoZone is listed as 8"x6"x2" with a 5/8" inlet and outlet. Well I went back to AutoZone and talked with one of the guys down there. He was kinda enough to look it up in the parts book. It has listed from 1968-76 the same part listed as the one that I bought. Needless to say I made a assumption that the part would fit which is a bad idea and I never thought to measure my old core which I threw away. That is life I guess so I ended up bypassing the heater core as I have yet to get a new one. I did like using the campertop seal a gasket for the back of the heater core cover. It works rather nicely just be sure to make it a long piece and not use short peices because they may fall off when putting things back together like mine started to do. I also bought some rubber and foam material to make my own gaskets. That turned out nice too as I only spent $5 on two peices. I plan on posting some of the sizes of the heater cores that several guys from the Fairlane list gave me which helps me out.
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