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Howard thanks for the information.... Wouldn't you know....if I would just look at the dang parts plates maybe I'd have seen that... But no I didn't like a doofus. Thanks man! It seems like a lot of the cars don't have these put back on, so I was afraid I bought something I didn't need. You are right the curve on the rubber seems a bit wonky and they don't seem to fit very well. Maybe another reason nobody puts then back on???

Owen thank you soooo much because I do have that spring but for the life of me couldn't figure out why I had it taped to the parking brake handle. I actually don't know how it mounts either. Stupid lack of pictures!!! I'm sure someone has a picture of how it goes on. Thanks man!

here you go

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And boom goes the dynamite! Thanks Howard!

some more garage time was afforded.

I actually put together the heater box with screws. stainless #10 metal screws. not exact matches to the originals, but they worked fine. plus I hate flat head screws...prefer Phillips. I used some clear RTV for the gasket on the heater core. its the same stuff they use on aircraft, so I'm pretty sure it can handle the job.

you can see the heater box doesn't really sit too flat on the firewall at the top. its as close as I can get it. I may take it back off and puts some black RTV at the top to seal it better so water wont leak down through it into the car.

I also don't know what those small screw holes are for on the interior side of the firewall. (red circles) I thought about a screw through one of those to pull the heater box towards the firewall, but idk.

fixed the fuel door using some metal rod I found at Lowe's that was close to the original size. it worked well. again stainless screws to hold the door on. yes I put the spring back on, just didn't get a good pic of it.

I put back together the high beam switch. its not pretty but it is smooth as butter.

I repaired the heater valve as well, no idea if it will spew water all in the car or not. I'm not sure how to test it.

I painted the horn with appliance paint...super hard enamel paint. love the stuff. can't ding or scratch it much at all. pretty close to powder coating in a can. yes I will make sure of a good ground.

the auxiliary vacuum tank needs a good blasting, but I noticed when I was cleaning it that the nozzle was loose. I guess they used lead at the factory to secure it in the hole. I melted all of that out with a torch and then just welded the nozzle in. its not pretty, but it held 20 psi of vacuum. so...I call that good enough.

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Nice. How thick is your heater gasket and do you have the small bracket welded onto the box which screws to the firewall just under the ballast resistor? I believe that bracket is all that holds the upper box close. IIRC, the gasket is fairly thick but somewhat soft and compressible -- maybe around 3/16" thick. Am fairly sure those holes you have circled were not for the heater box but what about the fiberglass plenum on the inside. Were any of those screws long enough to go thru the insulator pad and into the firewall or is the plenum just mounted to standoff brackets welded to the firewall?

I have seen that welded on bracket on other units, but mine doesn't seem to have ever had it. I can see no evidence of a bracket being there. (see pic for reference to welded bracket. this is not my pic, mine never had that bracket)

the gasket thickness is not as much as the original. another steele fault I'm sure. I may just take it off and put black RTV around the whole thing on both sides of the gasket.

the little circled holes.....if I put a screw through there it will screw into the heater box where it touches the firewall, so I doubt anything goes through those holes, just a mystery as to why they are there. my thought was to use one of them to drill a hole and then use a screw from the inner firewall side to pull the heater box closer to the firewall on the top.

but since there is supposed to be that welded on bracket, I could always make one and just screw it to the box and then the firewall, this would be better then the screw from the inner firwall, which would make it hard to take the box off in the future when the car is done.

I believe the plenum just mounts via those raised pegs on the inner firewall.

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The RTV might work but I think in addition I would make something or maybe go to the hardware store and see if you can come up with a small decent looking L bracket. Maybe screw it to the box instead of welding and then attach to the firewall. That box has a lot of weight which can move so it might pull the RTV loose. The bracket doesn't have to be in the factory location if the core interferes with a screw in that spot but should be close.

I would not go with a screw from the inside unless you make provisions to access it somehow. If you have something inaccessible from the inside under the pad and plenum if the heater box ever has to come off again it will be quite a project.


EDIT: We think alike. While I was composing my suggestions you had already reached the same conclusions.

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Now I wonder why my bracket is missing with no visible sign one was ever there. Weird

I started to mention earlier but then thought better of it. I vaguely remember reading an article that said the bracket was added but don't remember where I read it to say if it was an official document or just someones recollection. Also don't remember when the bracket was supposed to be added. Is yours an early car by chance? If so that might explain the reason and lead credence to the article.

Just went out and checked..... I have the hole in the firewall for it to screw into, but the side of my heater box shows zero sign of ever having a bracket. My car is a March 55 car. I bet it never had it. With the way the box is fitting I'll make a bracket to pull the top part closer to the firewall and seal off the gasket.