Heater Core Leaking?

3

'31 Patina

Senior Member
I’ve recently noticed that my passenger floor has some antifreeze on it. I looked under the dash and I can see where it’s leaking. I assume it’s the heater core? Are these difficult to replace? I do have the ford manual that tells how to replace it but again wondering how difficult it is. Any suggestions where to find a replacement part? Concoursparts? My car is a 57 Ford Country Sedan.
 

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I just noticed some fluid leaking under my 56 just below Heater Core. Will take a closer look late next week at the shop.
Seems straight forward, remove the Tube/plumbing to the Fan drain the antifreeze, remove ext hoses, and under the cover is the Heater Core. May be a seal at firewall.
If it's leaking it has to move to the bottom of the list on the other things I'm doing.
 
The picture above is a T-bird or something. it not correct for a 1957 Ford car

There are about 4 upper bolts and 4 lower nuts and the clamps and connectors on the engine side.

Then there are the two cables and the upper air dam connector, and the passenger vent on the inside.
Once you take the lower 4 bolts off the engine side the whole hear housing comes loose on the inside.

obviously drain as much as you can before starting.
note which cable is which with some masking tape. the cable coming out of the heater back should be disconnected from the controls on the dash.

take apart the housing, remove the heater valve and them remove the core.

At this point you might be careful removing the heater valve, if your heater works.

get a seal kit for the heater and the little heater valve seat.

take your core down to the radiator shop and have it cleaned and soldered

reverse the process.


I ahve done this a couple times, its pretty straight forward stuff.

I think the install by oneself is the toughest.
Also making sure the little ranco heater valve sits correctly and is sealed, I used extra sealant just in case.

last is making sure al the cable came and went back into the correct spots.
 
I took my original 55 Tbird heater core to a reputable local radiator shop to be checked for leaks. Although it was date-coded 12-54, it looked like it was in great shape. However, the shop did find leaks. I asked about having it re-cored. "Randy" quoted either $250/$300 (I can't remember which). He added that I might be able to buy a new heater core for less than what he would charge to re-core it. I ended up buying a new heater core from Concours for about half the price. Their price for a full-size 52-56 is $174.95. They frequently have 10% off sales on most items, free shipping (on most items) if you spend $300+, and no sales tax, if you live outside of Nevada.
 
There is a huge difference between 56 and 57 Heater Core Assy.
Will attach a fish soon on 57
Thanks Blacktie
 
Thanks guys for the info. I’ll look into buying a new one. Looks like Concours has what I need. I’m sure I’ll have some more questions as I tear into it. I assume I should drain all the fluid from the radiator?
 
Buy a new one if you can find one. I didn't do a deep dive searching. I think the main thing is that the tubes exit or are correct and if you're still using the vacuum valve make sure sure it works. Otherwise some have been converted to just be a pull cable.
 
Yeah Concours seems to have it. Please post results!

As far as the radiator. I guess you can flush but really just the heater core lines need to be disconnected.
 
There is more than one heater core style for a 1957 FORD.

Recirculating, fresh-air and integral AC.
 

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KULTULZ said:
There is more than one heater core style for a 1957 FORD.

Recirculating, fresh-air and integral AC.
Click to expand...

My 57 country sedan is pretty much stock so it must be either recirculating or fresh-air.

I think this is the part# I need, B7A-18476-XR. I see the same part number on other sites except instead of XR it has an A. How do I tell what my setup is and which part is correct?
 
Im pretty sure its the Fresh air style, the AC is totally different so just toss that. Do you have integrated AC?, its a rare option. The recirculating one has a grill on the front inside the cab, and the firewall has a flat delete plate., looks like a harrison or 40's style car heater.
 
I think this is the part# I need, B7A-18476-XR
Click to expand...

That is not a FORD PN, it is a variation as using the FORD PN on vendor parts is a copyright violation.

You have to be very careful of outside parts suppliers, especially those parts coming from over the big pond.
 
When I needed a new core for the heater in my '54 Ranch Wagon I had it recored at a local radiator shop. It was a bit more than the off shore one from Concours but I knew it would be quality and I was supporting a local shop. They had to use a new core from a different application but the end result was perfect.
 
Before paying more to have yours re-cored, you might ask the shop where the new core was made. In my case, if the shop thought their more expensive core was superior and justified the added cost, I don't think they would have suggested that I could probably buy a new heater core for less. I don't know where mine was made, but going by appearance alone, I can't fault the quality.
 
Abe Lugo said:
Im pretty sure its the Fresh air style, the AC is totally different so just toss that. Do you have integrated AC?, its a rare option. The recirculating one has a grill on the front inside the cab, and the firewall has a flat delete plate., looks like a harrison or 40's style car heater.
Click to expand...

I do not have integrated AC so you're probably right that it's a fresh air style.
 
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