Pre & Post Thermal Exchanger swap

Disclaimer: Links on this page pointing to Amazon, eBay and other sites may include affiliate code. If you click them and make a purchase, we may earn a small commission.

hey mister

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2024
Posts
217
Reaction score
564
Location
North Coast
First Name
Marty
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
350
Ok...this is just a radiator and heater core swap post.

Original radiator and heater core was not leaking...yet, but the foam inside the heater bow was coming out ever orfice. I mean, it looked like the poor thing was puking up lung chunks. And just touching them in efforts to pick them up only led to more dissppointment and a greater sense of urgency to get it addressed.
A trip to Summit Racing got me a deal on a 3" core rad with dual rows. Kit included dual fans and shroud. The heater core was order out of a catalog. I also ordered a bypass valve.
So pulled the fan and huge black plastic shroud.
Holy smokes does that open up the bay! Wow! I could hide people in there...lol
A couple clamps, tranny lines, and a few bolts later and the rad was on the scrap heap. The new rad was only 1 inch short left to right, everything else was perfect so getting it in was no big deal. The fans and shroud had been married on the livingroom floor earlier. And, No, I did not use those plastic zippy straps to hold it all together. I did not like the idea of molesting rad fins to put it together. There are plenty of places to drill and bolt it together.
I drove it for a few days to make sure all was good.
Then the heater core was pulled. The heater box was cleaned up and new foam was cemented to the damper doors. That too was not at all difficult, just a bit time consuming.
After the heater was back in all the heater hose was replaced. Oh, I almost forgot... The dash selector was also replaced because someone broke the speed selector some time back.
After running it for a few days, I decided to make a couple hose saddles because both heater hoses were rubbing against the alternator bracket and the bypass valve was just dangling in mid air and that just won't do.
Sorry, I don't have many "teardown" pics. Mostly finish shots. Again the Ziebart undercoating makes it tough to stay clean enuf to take pics.
 

Attachments

  • 20240126_175007.jpg
    20240126_175007.jpg
    233.1 KB · Views: 32
  • 20240422_162338.jpg
    20240422_162338.jpg
    228.4 KB · Views: 35
  • 20240422_162313.jpg
    20240422_162313.jpg
    198.7 KB · Views: 35
  • 20240410_191626.jpg
    20240410_191626.jpg
    146.5 KB · Views: 30
  • 20240410_191640.jpg
    20240410_191640.jpg
    98.5 KB · Views: 30

fofiddyfo

Supporting Member
Supporting Member
Joined
Mar 3, 2024
Posts
93
Reaction score
246
Location
wisco
First Name
Chris
Truck Year
1987
Truck Model
R3500
Engine Size
454
Looks great, and yeah it’s cavernous in there now!
 

hey mister

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2024
Posts
217
Reaction score
564
Location
North Coast
First Name
Marty
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
350
Looks great, and yeah it’s cavernous in there now!
I can rrmember in 1978 or 79. An uncle bought a new car. I want to say a big LTD or similiar. He popped the hood and all ya seen was a breather in an ocean of hoses. Holy spaghetti Batman! You could toss a dime anywhere in there and it would never fall thru...even with the engine running. I had never seen anything like it. My dad was laughing so hard. I was just overwhelmed. You couldn't find the beginning or end of any one hose and if ya stared at them long enough, they appeared to be crawling to nowhere. And there wasn't enuf spare room to hide a clean dip stick rag. Insane!
 

Grit dog

Full Access Member
Joined
May 18, 2020
Posts
6,970
Reaction score
12,220
Location
Auburn, Washington
First Name
Todd
Truck Year
1986, 1977
Truck Model
K20, C10
Engine Size
454, 350
You’re doing some great work! Enjoy following your posts and creativity.
 

hey mister

Full Access Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2024
Posts
217
Reaction score
564
Location
North Coast
First Name
Marty
Truck Year
1978
Truck Model
C10
Engine Size
350
You’re doing some great work! Enjoy following your posts and creativity.
Thank you, sir.
My goal for posting the projects is to inspire others. The kudos are nice but not really the goal.
 

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
44,162
Posts
950,639
Members
36,273
Latest member
dannyphx
Top