Has anyone ever pulled out the entire heater assembly of a '77(dont remember year range)?? At least the blower motor and squirrel cage.

My fan doesn't work and I have crap all up in there, and just want to pull it all at once if I can..

 

My 78 truck is still in pieces so I can tell you how to dismantle it. I cannot however tell you how to deal with the water.

Undo the clamps on the water hoses in the engine bay and let the water drain as much as possible from the air unit. Once it has stopped dripping remove the rubber grommet that surrounds the water pipes.

Disconnect the electric calbes from the fan. Disconnect the steel cables that control which direction the air flows.
Pull the air hoses off (the hard ones that go to your dash for the windscreen) on the inside of the car.
The blower is held on with two nuts against the firewall and two bolts up against the 'leaf catcher' (where your windscreen wiper rod runs). You may need to remove the centre console with the stereo in it to get to the two bolts against the leaf catcher.

That should be all. Be careful with the final bolts and tilting the unit cause it will still have water in it. You will have to drop it down and towards the rear of the truck so the water pipes come through the firewall.

Hope this helps.

 

That actually helps a lot! I have a manual that describes it pretty good, other then where the 4 bolts are located.

Do the hoses for the windscreen just pull off? Or are there clamps to unscrew to get them off?

 

I have a whole spare assembly if you need one or parts. Grabbed it from some parts truck years ago in case I ever needed parts. Mine still seems to be working, altho I rarely use it lol

 

I may need some parts.. My motor is either fried, or just too much sh*t blocking it..

 

I will try and dig my spare out tomorrow and check it out. I will probably be working on the truck all day anyways lol

 

No hurry on checking it, still gotta take mine out and clean everything out of it.. Sucks when you need to fix something but need to use your truck..

I'm also planning on working on mine all day tomorrow. Need to wash it, buff and wax, and clean the inside. Also eventually getting lowering stuff from hilux dully hopefully sometime soon.. I have a big to do list...

 

Dropping the trucks is easy stuff. I have had mighty max drop coils (not stock MMs) and cut hiluxs. I prefer those. Bit stiffer from the thicker bar stock. Really close. Stock or '69 camaro V8 front shocks. Blocks and pulled center leaf.

That color should buff out pretty awesome.

 

I plan on leaving all the leafs, prefer to have a stiffer ride and still be able to haul a lot. May change that eventually but for now it's staying the same..

So you can use stock length shocks up front?

 

The hoses go to your engine. It's the hot water from the engine that creates the hot air in the cab. They are held on with clamps. Flat head screwdriver should be able to remove them. Might need to use the screwdriver to start getting the hoses off cause sometimes they can get stuck on.

 

How do the ones for the defrost come off? The ones inside for the air for the window

 

yes we did on ours

 

I have to fix mine by the end of summer.. Preferably this week though. It should be easy enough just have to start

 

They just slide off. They might have some grooves built in to lock them in place but should just pull apart. There will be two pieces (per side). One with a elbow connected to the blower and the other falattens the tube out for maximum coverage to the windscren (think of cold air intakes on some new cars). The part that goes to the window will be screwed down under the dash plate but you shouldn't need to remove this piece. Just need to remove the elbow. From memory I don't think there is any foam involved in those joints. I'm writing this from work so I can't check.

 

Sounds like it will be pretty easy to take this all out..

Thanks for all your knowledge!

 

No worries. I love old cars. The whole dash is around 6 pieces and can be out in minutes (instrument panel, heater, stereo panel, steering column, full length front face, top plate). Probably around 20 bolts

 

i know the instrument panel and heater controls come out quick! just never had the heater assembly out..

 

They really are a simple dash setup. Shouldn't be tough to get things swapped out. Bring a Phillips and a 10mm and you're set.

 

Well it took me about 3 hours from draining coolant to reinstalling.. Cleaned it out as best I could, lubed the hinges, then cleaned the whole general thing..

Didn't finish, need to get 2 clamps, coolant and a new radiator cap. My cap started leaking..

Overall, It was EASY!!

Thanks for all the help and knowledge!

 

Good to see you got in and got it done. I assume it didn't leak everywhere?