Spankrjs 1985 Spring Special CJ-7

[spankrjs]

Looks like black oak leaves, not found in AZ/CA but is common in the SE.



The sealant was probably an effort to keep any leaks from spilling all over the floor next time. The rust...well, they were never really painted well to begin with, and a leaky core with hot air blowing around would be a good place for it to start.

Yep, the oak leaves are from my yard LOL

I am "assuming" the previous owner in Nevada changed the heater core, just never hooked it up I was kind of thinking that maybe the anti-freeze, over time, could strip the paint? You are correct on the quality of the paint, no primer, just paint directly to the bare metal. But, that's probably all I'm going to do to repaint it - sand off the rust, hit it with some black spray bomb.

 

[walkerhoundvm]

Yep, the oak leaves are from my yard LOL

I am "assuming" the previous owner in Nevada changed the heater core, just never hooked it up I was kind of thinking that maybe the anti-freeze, over time, could strip the paint? You are correct on the quality of the paint, no primer, just paint directly to the bare metal. But, that's probably all I'm going to do to repaint it - sand off the rust, hit it with some black spray bomb.

Or maybe hooked it up only to find that it leaked too, maybe one of the arms got bent during the install and broke the soldering. Pretty common occurrence - did you have it tested out? I might have missed that.

Before I reinstalled mine, I really sweated it up with solder. There was a hint of leakage at the lower port, and darn it if I hate having to mess with that box any more than I have to. After all was said and done, the fan cage whirrs loudly when coming to a stop :/ Must've forgotten a washer or something?

 

[Belizeit]

No, I am leaving the stock fan, I do not want to cut out the firewall on this one.

You are probably like me, why bother down here changing the motor out, we only get a few days a year with coldish weather. Not like we're driving around in snow.

 

[spankrjs]

Or maybe hooked it up only to find that it leaked too, maybe one of the arms got bent during the install and broke the soldering. Pretty common occurrence - did you have it tested out? I might have missed that.

Before I reinstalled mine, I really sweated it up with solder. There was a hint of leakage at the lower port, and darn it if I hate having to mess with that box any more than I have to. After all was said and done, the fan cage whirrs loudly when coming to a stop :/ Must've forgotten a washer or something?

I am probably going to rig up some kind of home made pressure tester and test it. Or, hook it up to the engine, fire it up, see if it leaks, BEFORE I install the core into the box

Pulling the heater box if NO AC isn't too bad. With AC, the stakes go up LOL.

On the fan, not sure if there are any washers, maybe the squirrel cage is too far back on the shaft, rubbing the housing

 

[spankrjs]

You are probably like me, why bother down here changing the motor out, we only get a few days a year with coldish weather. Not like we're driving around in snow.

Exactly. The upgraded fan makes more sense where cold is a fact of life

Instead of swapping in a bigger fan, I wonder if it would make more sense to power the fan off a relay, so that when it is on top speed it is getting full system voltage? I have never checked the voltage at the motor to see how much drop occurs through the switch, wiring, resistor, etc?

 

[walkerhoundvm]

Or, hook it up to the engine, fire it up, see if it leaks, BEFORE I install the core into the box

That's a great idea, never thought of that.

On the fan, not sure if there are any washers, maybe the squirrel cage is too far back on the shaft, rubbing the housing

I might be able to pull on it a little by removing that cover piece that sits over the cage. Haven't been bothered enough by it - it'll start getting warm here soon enough I'll forget all about the heater.

 

[ag4ever]

I am probably going to rig up some kind of home made pressure tester and test it. Or, hook it up to the engine, fire it up, see if it leaks, BEFORE I install the core into the box

Water hose (to) Heater Hose (to) coil (to) heater hose, pinched end to reduce flow and increase pressure.

Would be a fairly easy thing to do. Just be sure the hose connections are far enough away from the coil so if it is wet you know it was a coil leak, and not a hose connection leak. 30-40 PSI should be plenty to test for a leak.

 

[Randyzzz]

Most systems run at a 15-16lb maximum. You do not want to over pressurize it.

 

[spankrjs]

I am probably just going to hook the new heater core up directly to the Jeep under the hood with the existing heater hoses. Start it up, let it run, see if it leaks. If no leaks, disconnect it and drain it, install it in the heater box, then reinstall the heater box.

 

[spankrjs]

Not the most exciting update, but I got the heater rear box panel cleaned up, used my Dremel with some wire wheels to knock off the rust:








Hit it with some primer the other night:







This morning was the only opportunity to paint it. No rain/fog, humidity only at 65%. This weekend here will be rain/cold temperatures/high humidity.

"RedneckRay" paint booth, my beat to hell Harbor Freight 4'x8' trailer:



With the largest part painted, still need to clean up the plastic, and clean/paint a few more metal bits. So, hopefully more heater box rebuild fun this weekend.

That's it for now

 

[walkerhoundvm]

How's the air pull mechanism (the long pull one with two stops)? I cleaned the heck out of mine to get all of the parts rust-free, then lubed it up a little and spent some time changing washers back and forth. Also had to trim one of the interior flaps so it wouldn't rub, but now it operates almost perfectly.

 

[wm69]

I had this thread bookmarked in my favorites on my work computer. Lots of good pics (although Raymond does the best how-to's of anyone I've seen).

https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/cj-heater-box-restoration-pic-heavy-975999/

 

[spankrjs]

How's the air pull mechanism (the long pull one with two stops)? I cleaned the heck out of mine to get all of the parts rust-free, then lubed it up a little and spent some time changing washers back and forth. Also had to trim one of the interior flaps so it wouldn't rub, but now it operates almost perfectly.

My three dash cables work great, and the one cable I left inside the air box is working nice and smooth. I will probably put a little lube on the cable that runs inside the air box, just to be safe

 

[spankrjs]

I had this thread bookmarked in my favorites on my work computer. Lots of good pics (although Raymond does the best how-to's of anyone I've seen).

https://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f8/cj-heater-box-restoration-pic-heavy-975999/

That guy's "how -to" has me beat

He went a lot farther then me. All my foam seals are still good, and I did not feel like 100% disassembly/sand blast/paint every little part. My little project here is just a typical Raymond "oh, I'm just going to change the heater core and then this and this and this................"

Thanks for the compliment

 

[spankrjs]

A little bit more clean up/paint work this weekend, nothing too exciting.

I went ahead and carefully removed the rubber seal from the triangle shaped flapper, cleaned up the little cable bracket, spray painted them up. OCD.



The flap has a little bit of wear and tear at some non critical points, it is still usable. Not sure how you could find a new one of those?

Paint booth:





I also cleaned up the blower motor and shot some paint on to it, after carefully pulling off the foam seal.





I am assuming this is the original part number?



I am pretty sure that almost any "replacement" blower motor will require enlarging the hole in the firewall, from my quick research?

A little bit of corrosion on the mounting lip, almost looks like a galvanic reaction?



Unbolted the squirrel cage:



A few things to note here. (1) a bit of grease leakage from I presume the motor (2) the two thin washers that space out the squirrel cage (3) I ended up taping shut the end of the motor to keep paint out of it:

 

[spankrjs]

Primed and painted:





I also spent a few minutes and polished up the plastic heater box housing parts. They are still in good shape, I did not want to paint them.

Uses this stuff:





And after, not a huge difference, but cleaned up nicely:



Another "hint" that this is not this Jeep's original heater box, bed liner over spray:

 

[spankrjs]

While the housing was down, I sprayed some lubricant on the internal cable. It still moved OK, moves better now. I stood the housing up vertically, dripped some oil on the cable until it ran out the bottom. Works really good now.







I still need to clean up the screws, then I can start putting everything back together. I was going to replace all the screws, BUT most of them are "plastic self tapping screws", which I would have to order off the internet. So, I will clean them up and reuse them.



In the picture above, the 2nd from the top and the bottom screws are the "plastic self tapping screws". You can see how they have a larger thread on them.

I did some research on heater hoses this weekend, going to pick some up this afternoon, hoping I found some part numbers that will work without adding plastic reducers everywhere.

That's it for now

 

[spankrjs]

Heater Hoses

Switching gears a bit. I wanted to try to buy some off the shelf heater hoses that would work on the 258 WITHOUT using 5/8" to 3/4" adapters. I found these part numbers on the internet, the local O'Reily's had them in stock, so this is what I used, all Gate's brand part numbers:

Gates 18083 - Hose #1, water pump outlet to heater core (water pump is 3/4", heater core is 5/8")
Gates 18909 - Hose #2, heater core to rear intake manifold fitting (5/8" to 5/8")
Gates 18763 - Hose #3, front of intake manifold to thermostat housing (intake is 5/8", t-stat is closer to 3/4")

These part numbers worked perfectly.

The following NAPA part #'s should work, too:

NAPA 10084 - Hose #1 (it is 60" long, so the excess 5/8 could be used for Hose #2, since a molded hose is more of a luxury here)
NAPA 10909 - Hose #2
NAPA 10763 - Hose #3


The three hoses:



Part Numbers:



Everywhere I look says the water pump outlet should be 3/4". Mine is 7/8". So, I "pre-stretched" the 3/4" hose end out with a 5/8" spark plug socket, worked wonderfully:



Hose #3 loosely installed before trimming, it will work perfectly:



Hose #2 will work out, too: (hard to see back there with all the other black wires/hoses)






Hose #1 works out, too:



After removing the socket, Hose #1 fit over the water pump outlet with no drama:



A little bit of trimming, Hose #3 fits like a glove, gets rid of the big "loop" if you just use bulk heater hose:



It clears the fuel line stuff, BUT I will probably add a bit of wire mold for extra protection:

 

[spankrjs]

The excess length of Hoses #1 and #2:



Allowed me to easily do this:



This was the easiest/fastest/best way I could figure to test out the replacement heater core, go ahead and hook it up LOL!!!!!!!

Pushed the Jeep outside, first time in quite awhile, fired it up.



Two things to be happy about:

1) the new heater core is not leaking
2) my RTV valve cover gasket is not leaking

Not pictured, but I did "bleed" the heater core. I always do this because there is air trapped inside of them.

How I do this:

Start Jeep up
Have clamp off the upper heater hose
Slide the upper heater hose back, squeeze it, allows a small gap at the top
Air/hot water sprays out, then nothing but hot fluid

Not sure if there is a better way, just how I do it. You have to act fast, even with it 30 degrees out last night, the coolant gets HOT FAST.

One other thing: one of the pieces of trimmed off new heater hose pipe works perfect to replace the heater box drain elbow thing:



That's it for now

 

[spankrjs]

Starting to put the heater box back together.

I needed to make a new foam gasket for this fresh air vent flap thing. One of the "pre-filters" off a small engine seems like it will fit the bill.





I also made some gaskets from adhesive backed foam I bought at Michael's craft store, not sure if they will work? I bought a thin and thick sheet:







The Michael's foam is very stiff, not sure how it will work, it might not conform enough to seal?

Put the squirrel cage back on the blower motor:



Glued the rubber gasket back on to the heater flap. Make sure you put it on the correct way!!





The rubber flap still fit tight on to the metal flap, BUT I also glued it on with some 3M snot. I also had to use the stuff in the can to remove said snot from my fingers:



Judging from my pictures, and other internet pictures, pretty sure this washer goes here: