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Hi gang,
I guess my '51 was feeling neglected what with all the attention I've been giving my '55 so yesterday when I moved the controls to "heat" what I got was a lot of steam.
I wasn't concerned as I had just been through this with the '55 and since I had an almost new '51 style heater core on the shelf I decided to drop that in today.
Wrong!
With the '55 the heater box is easy to remove for the hidden screws in the back. Not so the '51. I've been staring and reading the FSM for most of the afternoon and I still haven't gotten anywhere.

Is there some trick to removing the heater box from the passenger side of the cowl? I've been trying every way I can and I'm just not getting anywhere and the FSM doesn't mention core replacement except through the accessory section and that hasn't been much if any help. I've got the glove box removed so at least I'm not standing on my head but I'm at a complete stand-still. I don't want to go strong-arming 61 year old parts.

HELP.

Look carefully at the square plenum above the fresh air vent opening on the inside. You should see some tabs or maybe they are screws. Anyway, that square box will separate from it's base and come off. You will see the bolts going into the heater box mount. Those have to come out and I believe there might be one or two into the firewall on the engine side as well.

The heater box comes apart essentially the same as the later ones except the core is mounted differently. IIRC, it's flat instead of angled. There are some install instructions and half baked photos in the accessories section of SM. You can reverse the operations which might help the removal process.

Thanks Howard, that is sort of what I thought. I took out 3 phillips head screws on the passenger side and the cover above the air vent loosed up but I needed to be sure of what came next. Does the water valve need to come up so as the slide the box to the side starboard side of the car? It acts like it wants to but I didn't want to force it. The hoses are all the same age and petrified. I hadn't planed on replacing them at this time but given the amount of effort this is taking I'll replace them now.

My fuel tank sending unit gaskets for both cars arrived today. Both tanks dripped gas if I filled them up and these gaskets are different than the ones I put on when I replaced the sending units. They look alot like the ones for the 23rd series and earlier where as these are more like an "O" ring. I know the ones I have don't work so I'll tackle the '55 tomorrow after I finish the heater core on the '51. I was going to do both but the '51 has over 3/4 of a tank of gas and I'm not ready to deal with that.

Thank you again Howard. I'll let everyone know how I came out.

Too long since I took one apart to remember if the valve has to come out but since they have you install it after the plenum is attached stands to reason it might interfere.

IIRC, the original gasket on the sender was fairly thick cork -- maybe 1/8" or more so a new gas resistant O ring would probably be an improvement.

Once you have the tank removed and clear of the car are you going to do the deed and cut Ross's opening mod or muscle it again next time.

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HH,

i'd be a little concerned with shooting sparks all over my gas filled tank...even if it is sealed...just makes me nervous.

i'm guessing best way is to drop tank....cut hole and put tank back. imho.

Hank

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Thank you for bringing that to mind Howard. Yes - I'll do that as R&R'ing these gas tanks is not one of my favorite things.

I think you're right about the valve needing to come out as the box seems to slide in under the flange of the plenum. For it to slide, the valve has to go. Bye the way, you are right about the placing of the core in the box: It does lay flat one the '51 at any rate - the '55 has the core is at an angle.

Thanks also for posting the picture and all as to the placement of the access hole on the trunk floor. You realize, of course, that after I cut this hole and devise a cover, I will never ever have trouble with leakage or sender failure in this car for the rest of my life.

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Believe me: There is no one more nervous about sparks and gas tanks - empty, full or somewhere in between than me! Actually, scarred S***less would be more accurate. The tank will be far, far away.

When I reinstalled my heater box on my '54 I left the two rear screws out. These are the 6 or 8 screws that secure the top on the heater box, but the rear two are obscured by the firewall when the entire assembly is on the car. The front and side screws still hold it securely in place, and if I ever need to service the core, I can do it without having to get under the dash at all.

I left those screws out as well - just in case.
Car is all back together and it was a real learning experience - mostly that about 3/4 of the things I did were totally unnecessary for servicing the core.

I'm going to put my newfound knowledge together in a blog so others won't have to make the mistakes I did.

My thanks to Big Kev, Howard, cli55er and anyone else who helped me with this.