Spring Heater Box Cleaning - Damage Found

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Steve69Fish

Steve69Fish

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So we finally got decent weather enough to clear some room in my garage and start some projects, first of which is a heater core replacement and heater box cleanup and rebuild using gasket and foam kit from Detroit Muscle Technologies.

On pulling the box, I found it to be fairly fragile, but got it apart cleanly by being nice and careful. Unfortunately, when I pulled he hoses off, I found a break on the hose attachment.

What opinions do you all have on the best easy repair on the hose attachment that will keep the damage from spreading and hold up under the light pressure of a hose clamp. I've never fiberglassed before and thought that the curvature might make it tough as a first time attempt. JB Weld is my main idea, with basically sleeving it either inside or around the attachment with a chunk of PVC pipe as a secondary potential method.

Thanks!

HeaterBox1.jpg
HeaterBox2.jpg
 
Fill it and sand it to shape. Jb weld will hold up well in that repair I have used it in the past on case repairs for portable wire feeders that get abused daily on construction sites and it survives.
 
Find conduit or something similar that will fit inside it that can be glued in.
I cant remember what we used to patch a hole in the 67. It was a 2 part roll of "play dough" from parts store. Hardened up good and was able to sand.
"Tech steel" maybe?
Do yourself a favor and relieve the pressure off of the spring clips before reassembling. No reason for the.clips to be as tight as factory made them.
 
You need something to reinforce it, or it will crack again. Go to the parts store and get a small, but complete fiberglass repair kit. Make sure it includes the fiberglass matt, as that's what you need for reinforcement.

Since the box is fiberglass, it will bond like a big dog and make a much more permanent repair.
 
I appreciate the responses all.

While I think I'd like to stick with the glass, JB Weld seems like the easiest route and glad to hear toplscuda has had good results with its longevity under duress.

Rusty - watching fiberglassing makes it look fairly easy, but with this car anything that looks or should be very easy...isn't. Are those repair kits usually pretty good quality and straightforward to do on something like this that needs to come out smooth and strong matching that arc after cleanup/sanding/etc. for a fiberglassing noob?

And 4spddragtop, I got new clips with the DMT rebuild kit, so I'll definitely loosen them a bit before popping them on. The glass is fragile for sure and was a bit chippy when I popped off the originals. Thanks for the advice.
 
If you don't want to screw with the repair at all I have that half of the heater box from my 68 still in great condition.
 
toplscuda said:
If you don't want to screw with the repair at all I have that half of the heater box from my 68 still in great condition.
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I might decide to go that way. I haven't cleaned it up yet to see about any other damage and if I find some, replacing would definitely be the best way to go anyway. Fire me a PM on what you would want pricewise, shipping to 12020! Thanks.
 
Steve69Fish said:
I might decide to go that way. I haven't cleaned it up yet to see about any other damage and if I find some, replacing would definitely be the best way to go anyway. Fire me a PM on what you would want pricewise, shipping to 12020! Thanks.
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I will have to retract that offer. After cleaning the dust off of it and giving it a good once over I found it is cracked where the steel ring for the blower motor attaches. Sorry about that.
 
I have an assy as well from a 68 if you need it. Check out my ad "68 notch back" under parts cars for sale.
If u found something to slide inside that outlet that would be a nice easy fix.
 
I repaired my heater box out of my Dart with JB Weld. Once it set up that was the most sturdy part of the box. You can't really go wrong with the JB Weld.
 
4spdragtop said:
I have an assy as well from a 68 if you need it. Check out my ad "68 notch back" under parts cars for sale.
If u found something to slide inside that outlet that would be a nice easy fix.
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Thanks. I'll keep that in mind. I'm going to try the repair in a couple of weekends (have a family birthday party this weekend so no time to work) and if no go, I'll be in touch on it!
 
RRR's glass suggestion is good, and they also have the "Bondo glass" which has the fibers in the resin.
It's also easily sandable.

You could pick up a cow with the glass mat and resin, but the Bondo glass would only support a large dog.
The JB weld will work without a problem also, but may only support a medium dog, so a defroster hose would be just fine. :D
 
TrailBeast said:
You could pick up a cow with the glass mat and resin, but the Bondo glass would only support a large dog.
The JB weld will work without a problem also, but may only support a medium dog, so a defroster hose would be just fine. :D
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I like this system of measure. What would I need to support this fine daschund specimen?

daschund.jpg
 
I would just rough up the inside, bend a small piece of thin sheet metal and jb weld it in place. Then, fill the void with more jb weld using the small sheet metal as backer. That repair would last a lifetime and wouldn't require a trip to the auto parts store for special fiberglass resin or mat.
 
Me-thinks a prior guy was prying w/ a screwdriver to remove a duct. I fixed the cracked box in my 65 Newport, using "plastic epoxy" over fiberglass wall-board tape for tensile strength (Home Depot). I don't think the box is traditional fiberglass - epoxy. I suspect it is more like plastic extruded into fiberglass. I would test a section first to see if epoxy resin sticks. TrailBeast's suggestion to use Bondo glass sounds best. I have an opened can, so wonder why I didn't. I think the resin is similar to what is used w/ fiberglass. I recall they use the same hardener.
 
The problem with JB weld is that it does not have anything to back it up like the fiberglass matt, so it has no foundation. I don't know what the big deal is. JB weld is the same as fiberglass with one difference. You coat a backing matt with the two part mix. It's a no brainer to me to repair fiberglass with fiberglass. JB weld will probably crack again at some point in time. Fix it how you want to. It's your car.
 
Not everyone has fiberglass resin and mat at home. I'm willing to bet 95% of folks some JB though. If you put a thin piece of sheet metal on the inside radius of that vent to act as backer, then fill with JB, it would work fine.
 
Steve69Fish said:
I like this system of measure. What would I need to support this fine daschund specimen?
Click to expand...

I don't know about that one.


mopowers said:
Not everyone has fiberglass resin and mat at home. I'm willing to bet 95% of folks some JB though. If you put a thin piece of sheet metal on the inside radius of that vent to act as backer, then fill with JB, it would work fine.
Click to expand...

If it were me and I was going to use what I have on hand to get it done I would wrap the outside of the tube with tape and fill it from the inside, then once set pull the tape and see if it needed any final touch up where the tube slides on.
It's just an air tube.

Were driving Rusty nuts with the discussin it for days. :D
 
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