How to Remove the Heater Core in a Corvette
From the time it was introduced in the early 1950s, the Chevrolet Corvette has been one of the most popular sports cars in America. Sleek and fast, the Corvette is a high performance machine. Like all cars, however, its parts do wear out over time and have to be replaced. One of these parts is the heater core, which helps provide heat for its passengers on cold winter days (or even cool days when a convertible top is down).
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Instructions
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1
Open the hood and disconnect the battery. You'll need to keep the doors open for an extended period of time, so there's no point in draining the battery. To disconnect the battery, use a socket wrench to loosen the nut holding the negative (black) cable from the battery, then disconnect the positive (red) cable from the battery the same way.
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2
Put a container underneath the radiator, and use your hand to open the plug on the bottom of the radiator (the petcock) to drain all the coolant out.
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3
Remove all the heater hoses by loosening the screws on the metal brackets that secure them in place and pull the hoses off, then pull out the AC water shutoff valve with your hands.
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4
Go into the passenger compartment of the car and remove the lower right dashboard panel and lower side console panels by prying them apart with a flat-head screwdriver.
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5
Loosen the radio and center gauge cluster from the dashboard by using a screwdriver to remove the screws and a socket wrench to remove the bolts, and move it away from the dashboard with your hands.
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6
Remove the lower duct on the passenger side, the crossover duct that connects the two sides, and the lower duct on the driver's side by loosening the screws holding them in place and lifting them with your hands.
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7
Go back to the engine compartment and use a socket wrench to remove the nuts that attach the heater box to the firewall.
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8
Go back inside the car and tilt the heater box toward you, removing the cable and retaining clip.
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9
Disconnect the vacuum hose that connects to the heater box diaphragm with your hands and remove the heater box assembly.
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10
Remove the screws that connect the heater box to the mounting plate, and take the heater box off of the mounting plate.
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Remove the heater core from the mounting plate by using a socket wrench to remove the bolts, and lift it off by hand.
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Tips & Warnings
Recycle the old coolant at a service station or auto parts store.
References
- Photo Credit car heater vent image by robert mobley from Fotolia.com
