re fitting heater core in a ra 23

[ian]

hi
could some one tell me in the procedure in re fitting the heater core in a ra 23
i am not sure if the core tubes is placed through the firewall , first then the heater air box thingy is placed in after or does the whole shitfight go in at the same time
any help would be great
thanks
[a soon to be warm IAN]

[FASTFOO]

Whole shitfight dude (and it is too)
The core has to be in the heater box and the the whole box is fitted to the car (good luck doing it any other way).

MATT.

[ian]

thanks matt
i thought that was the way
as when i removed the old one i tried splitting the casing by removing the spring clips

it then broke ,then flaps and all manner of shit fell out
luckily i have a spare unit to replace it with
and i dont want to take any chances with that
thanks again
ian

[o_man_ra23]

Yeah, first thing to remove are the rubber firewall grommets. Then you need to take out 90% of the dash assembly, then the heater box, then change out the heater core, install heater box, swear profusely, re-install dash, find leftover screws, pull dash apart again, re-install dash again with miscellaneous screws, put rubber firewall plugs back in, re-install hoses, re-fill water, start car, wait half hour for the coolant to warm, then heater starts

When you do it, make a pictorial in this thread, my little brother needs to do the same.

Cheers, Owen

[Damo82]

I just did this on my 28 cause one of the pipes that goes through the firewall broke off and I had to get it braised back on.

If I recall correctly I pushed the core up from the drivers footwell to get it in (with lots of swearing), its a real PITA.

damo

[ian]

hi owen
the heater is just going back into the race car
so most of the dash has already been removed
it looks like they built the whole car around the heater assembly
normally i would not worry about the heater , but i am old and grey AND BLOODY COLD i think another little trick would be to remove the body deadining mat from around where the pipe goes thrugh the fire wall these little pipes are fragile as anything
i will try and get some piccys
ian

[TA-022]

BS to remving half the dash!

remove centre console ... that is all.

pipes point to the floor ... and be gentle pushing the outlets past the underlay... this
can stress the braze welds and you have to replace / repair again.

[ian]

hi ta 022
i will remove all the the underlay as i dont need it in this car ,the dash was already removed ,so it was fairly easy to reach the cable clips etc also i had the donor car to practice on that was a big help
ian

[o_man_ra23]

Every time I try to remove something the 'easy' way, it ends up breaking something, or theres one item that just cant be got to... so removing the lot ends up being quicker and easier. Going to be a piece of cake if the dash is already removed though.

Cheers, Owen

[TA-022]

True dat ... my bigest hurdle was the underlay

[ian]

its in and does not leak
also its warm
while i was refitting everything i had the tv on in the shed watching james bond
fuck , i am glad that he was around , he saved the world again . we can all sleep now
ian

[o_man_ra23]

nice work, did you pull the whole box out??

[ian]

hi o man
i fitted in the unit complete
it wasnt as hard as i thought , {gee there is a line there ]
i cut the underfelt around the core pipes and it all went in , like a finger in a bum
it would have been a pain to do this with a car that had all the dash / console etc
although the dash lights dont seem to be as bright maybe a coincident
but for some strange reason the clock now works
strange car
ian

[o_man_ra23]

Time for a re-wire mate.

Good to hear it was all straight forward for you.

[Curly_23]

Hey everyone, i just wanted to ask about my 23...

The heater USED to work, but now doesnt, which also happened in my old 23. Does this mean just the heater core needs replacing, the whole unit, or could it just be as simple as flushing the pipes or something? I dont really know much about fixing heaters, but if any could lend some advice id really appreciate it. Its kinda cold at 6am in Canberra!

Cheers
-Curly.