The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1950 heater control

I am trying to find out how the firewall control for the heater works internally. Has control under dash that works by a rod. Does any one have an exploded view of this copper piece that come thru the firewall and the hoses connect to it. Notice that as soon as I open a window, it appears that the pressure level allows air to pass thru the heater box and into the truck cab. All hoses are really hot, so I do not think the control is stopping flow. Have thought about another valve in the hose line but the engine bay is really dress up for show truck look. Thanks for any help. Tom Duffy Cadillac, Mi.

that would be the Ranco valve, usually it won't totally stop water flow - if it's not dripping inside the cab it's working as well as it can if you want to totally shut off water to the core in summer the usual thing to use is a simple shutoff where one hose attaches to the engine, could be chrome if it needs to be 'showy'

Bill

Thanks - Bill. The Ranco valve is more like flow adjusted than an on/off valve. I think I can put a valve on the lower hose in the middle of the inner fender and then run a vent style pull cable to the bottom of the dash. This will make it controllable from inside. I did this on my 56 pickup with standard heater and deluxe controls. Hooked it to Temp arm (travel not enough). So when the control is off the valve if off but when all the way on the valve is 60% on (enough to heat the cab.).

yes, I did just that on a friends 56 panel with an aftermarket heater, works fine and not obtrusive

Bill