In my ongoing efforts to adjust my hood I undertook the task of loosening the bolts that hold the hinge assemblies to the cab. Driver’s side took about 2 minutes. Passenger side however… First I thought maybe I could get at those by removing the glove box. I found that the glove box was blocked by the heater unit. I the took off every fastener I could find - 3 sides of the flange and the 2 brackets that fasten through the firewall. The heater does not budge.
There are only screws on the vertical sides of the inner cowl opening. But you should be able to remove the glove box (or at least loosen it up so it can be moved over) by unscrewing the screws around the perimeter of the dash opening (from the inside).
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I could not remove the glove box with the heater in place. I did push and warp on the top of the disconnected glove box to the point where I dislodged it , allowing me to get a peek on the hinge screw heads. That got me thinking… I found that I could wiggle my skinny left forearm up between the heater box and the firewall while sitting on the running board , and I got my fingers on the machine head of those screws. I then went through all of my tool boxes and came up with 3 socket extensions totaling 20”. With my daughter manning (per se) the ratchet I was able to locate the socket onto the head while she turned it loose a few clicks at a time. The upper fastener was really challenging.
I spent most of the afternoon on 4 fasteners, but my hinges are loose.
Yeah, I hate those tight spots. I've resorted to taping a nut to my finger to get it started. No way to get a wrench with the nut in place, but once the nut was started, could get the wrench on it.
Whatever you do, don't remove those bolts all the way!
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I figured out real quick-like that removing them all the way would be disastrous. Thanks for that tip though. Also- I think I have a good theory as to why the heater unit would not budge … I gave the task of installing a new wiring harness to a guy who does such things for a living. (I lack the patience for that job.) In the course of that work I gave him the heater unit I had rebuilt and asked him to install it while he had the truck. It dawned on me today that I didn’t research or acquire a gasket kit ; it didn’t occur to me at the time. (The guy fabricated a rather nice fan motor hole cover for the firewall.) I think he used a squeeze tube gasket product for the interface between the unit and the kick panel - my heater is glued on.
That would explain my frustrating experience of today.
Is removing the recirculating (round) heater a nightmare? I haven’t studied it all that closely but I figured it was just a matter of removing the nuts on the firewall side and the hoses.
Is removing the recirculating (round) heater a nightmare? I haven’t studied it all that closely but I figured it was just a matter of removing the nuts on the firewall side and the hoses.
Is there more to it?
That's all that's needed. 3 nuts and two hoses. And the wiring connection to the motor.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
I have many of those moments lately because I did very little of the work on my truck so there is no record of how the wiring was done.