Heater core on 88 GT?

Well he's already asking 1800 for it. its got 113k miles on it and he's original owner of it and has all the paper work

Just want to add that changing the heater core is a pain but only if the car has air conditioning. Without it the job is fairly easy.

If the car is in decent shape I wouldn't be too picky at a price of $1,800 and doing the heater core. You should be able to have it replaced for around $400.

Well I can do the work all myself. (with the help of friends of course)

What would the benefits be of using a 130amp alt?

A new heater core is about $40 from ford, and about $400 to install. A real pain and something I would farm out if at all possible. Along with the web site get yourself a real good maintenance manual that details the procedure. On the other hand you might be able to save some money on the alternator repair. The most likely failure are the brushes, about $4.00 and a little over 1/2 hour to do. Something to keep in mind when it comes time to allocate your resources.

Well both my father and brother are mechanics for pep boys so they have all the tools and things.

Are the alternators the same between foxes? I have a brand new one for my 86 Mooostang 2.3L

pepboys?mechanics? Wow, I never thought i'd hear those two words in the same sentence

jeff

re: upgrading alternator

Don't know of anyone answered this yet, so:

In many if not all Fox body mustangs, the alternator does a barely adequate job of charging. If you start adding things like an aftermarket stereo system, pullies or anything else that could affect charging, you could have problems. For me, if there is a relativly cheap upgrade to a part that wears out, I upgrade. Claud

I don't remember where my friend heard this, whether it was Stangnet, the Corral, or one of the other Mustang boards, but I heard that there's a trick to prolonging the life of your heater core.

The first is, as Michael said, buy a Ford heater core and not a generic replacement. They last much longer.

The second was a flow restrictor. This essentially is a hunk of metal with a hole drilled in it to reduce the water pressure in the heater core itself (and probably increasing pressure in the engine slightly, for better or for worse). This had the advantage of longer core life by decreased stress on the core, and a minimal reduction in heat, if any.

My friend tried it on the '88 LX 5.0 that I just sold him... it needed a heater core. I helped him install it without discharging the A/C, but it was a major PITA. I'd done two or three cores before with the A/C discharged, but this was just a pain. It saved some work of having to get the system discharged and recharged I guess. Anyway... off on a tangent... the flow restrictor didn't seem to reduce heat output at all, but I don't know what (if any) effect it'll have on the life of his heater core.

It's a service item... every 10-15 years it needs another one. 3-5 if you put in a generic one. ;-)

JS

Your battery won't be dead tomarrow morning...

Kind of the same way we never expect to see a post from webtv and a quote all at the same time...

Where can I buy a cast iron heater core?

Don't they have a restrictor in them from the factory?

I think the package of upgrades for the Mustangs going to police departments included a flow restrictor.

Why stop there. Get a forged one. :)

The best heater in a car, IMO, was the exchangers used in the air cooled VW's from the 50's, 60's and 70's. They would heat up immediately. No long waits to defrost the windshield or heat the interior. The downside is you could get exhaust fumes in the car if it wasn't operating properly.

I liked the gasoline powered heater in my 60 Corvair. As soon as the engine started you had heat and lots of it. The only downside was they occasionally blew up and that could blow the hood (trunk lid in front) off. Nothings perfect.

----------------- Jim '88 LX 5.0 (now in car heaven) '89 LX 5.0 vert '99 GT 35th Anniversery Edition - Silver Mods to date - Relocated trunk release to drivers side, shortened throttle cable.