The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Interiors Deluxe Heater Assembly and Installation Tutorial

Hi All,
First of all thank you to the many of you that have visited this task before. Your links got me started with enough info to feel like I was not fumbling around.

This is my first stab at sharing the experiences I had working on my truck. I have captured photos and digested some the experience gained and prior knowledge used to assemble and install a factory deluxe heater into my '59 3200 Chevy pickup.

My truck needs a good heater. I've written for the point of view of a novice, kind of like Books for Dummies. So if your an experienced mechanic please don't let you panties bunch up. It'll just make you more irritable and we don't want that do we. Happy mechanic means happy truck and happy owner.

This first series covers assembly and prep of the heater unit I did to make ready for installation. I hope it helps. I'll post more as I have progress.
You'll find all the pictures at this gallery link and scroll down a bit to see description/dialogs:
http://www.hdroamer.com/MVD/59-Chevy-Truck-Build/26988984_xWjrxS/

I also used this factory manual link as reference, commonly known to many of you:
http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com/accessories/1957cpctai/57cpctai108.html

good job Dave

Bill

Thanks Bill,
I tend to write too much.

Nice!! Thanks for the detailed info!! Now I'm ready to tackle mine-this Spring. I store my '55 T.F. 6500 in Winter months,BUT I want EVERYTHING operational-NOT just looking "purty". Happy Holidays!!

Hi Guys,
I had to take a break, ran into trouble after I got it all installed. That story/lesson below.

There are now more pictures and dialog up in the tutorial gallery. If you have been there before you can pick up where I/you left off at slide #34.
http://www.hdroamer.com/MVD/59-Chevy-Truck-Build/26988984_xWjrxS/

I was feeling real good about all the steps and checks I performed. Got the heater all in, radiator filled, checked for leaks and off to NAPA for a bulb in my truck with heat, it was awesome. I came out of the store only to find antifreeze all over my floor mat. No panic yet, thought maybe the hoses relaxed and needed a tightening,,, no luck, no truck love.

So next day I remove and disassemble the heater box. ***Heater control valve diaphragm failed after testing*** Not a gusher but it could have been. I guess it was on the edge and it's age got the best of me, I didn't notice the micro cracks in the rubber.

One day, ten dollars, ten beers later, I had the quarter size rubber diaphragm R&R'd. It is a pretty simple fix, but tedious. The old valve is brass so easy to open the crimps, but you need to be careful not to crack them off when crimping back down. This process was not photographed as I found good info on the net already.

If you need any more detail on this entire job, please PM me. I do not get thread notice by email. Would like to fix that though. I'll add more detail as I get time.

Happy wrenching,
Dave

Hi Dave -

Great job with the photos and descriptions of your heater rebuild. The AirFlow heater in my '54 dribbles on the floor mat, too. Been putting off pulling it out to fix. Maybe a cue ball shift knob will help!

Thanks for the compliments guys.

Lonnie, you know it could be your core leaking, but the valve could be a lot cheaper to fix if just the diaphragm. Mine was a 'Ranco' and part is used in many vehicles. Plus your defrost will work better. Mine was beyond a drip, I had steady stream of drips like a alcohol still.

Heater maintenance, to me, is one of the most crappy uninteresting and tedious jobs to do on any vehicle. These trucks are pretty simple but laying on the floor of the cab reaching under that dash for a person of any large stature is not fun. Then it is hard not to spill any anti-freeze and make a mess.

So if this helps the next guy to perform this task, I'm glad to take the extra time and record it.

That cue ball/shifter was constantly in my face while on the floor, so had to shoot it.

How long are the spacers for mounting studs? It seems every delux heater I have had out never had them. One used wood!

I never measured so this is a best guess; 5 @ 1/2"ea. & 1 @ 3/4". Exact is not probably critical but you'll know when you put in the fan/fresh air diverter because they space the unit off the firewall and the air intake lines up with the vent flange.

For the one that is longer you can figure it out as it compensates for the firewall offset from the other two which is not much.

Thin wall aluminum or copper tubing will do it, 1/2"OD max. And they were not snug around the stud.

This tutorial helped me a lot.

My contribution will be that the spacers are 9/16" and 1-1/8" split thin wall tubing with 1/2" OD. Mine are unpainted steel.

Rather than fighting cramps and muscle spasm when working under the dash I take the seat out... turns an uncomfortable single into a roomy king size.

The original blower motor on my deluxe, high output heater bearinged-out this past Saturday. Horrible noise. I was able to remove just the fan housing with the 3 bolts that hold the fan assembly to the fire wall; did not have to drain the cooling system or move the main heater box. Motor is a DELCO 5047944. I did a lot of research and found that my local NAPA has a motor that will work as a replacement after drilling 2 new mounting holes on a 2.25" center on the mount plate. Part # is 655-1020, no shipping cost; ~ $26.00. I was able to rescue the fan from 50 + years of dirt build-up with an hour or so work with the sand blaster.

Thanks for the tip!