Vintage Heater

[jrvariel48]

I installed a 40's vintage heater in my coupe years ago.
I recently added an aftermarket radiator with a 7lb cap & I wanted to know if the heater core could handle the pressure.
I have a second core that I'll take to my radiator shop for testing and cleaning.
I'd like your thoughts on this core being able to handle the pressure.
Thank you Joe

[51woodie]

My suggestion is to remove and have it pressure tested. I took the rad and heater core from my '46 to a rad shop and had them, cleaned, flushed and pressure tested. I forgot to ask the rad shop what pressure they were tested to. A coolant leak in the engine compartment is bad enough, but one in the interior is nasty! Not sure what year your car is, but the EFV-8 book, 1941 to 46, pages 5-18/19, lists 3.5 to 4.5 PSI until April 1947. Carpenter lists P/N 41A-8100 at 4PSI "Exact to original", which is what I installed. Not sure why you are considering 7 PSI, if Henry figured 4 PSI would do the job. I have had no "boil off" issues, and I am running 180 deg. stats.

[Lawson Cox]

Some people just seem to get pleasure from overthinking a problem.

[JSeery]

Heater cores can be a safety issue if not in good shape. A friend of mine had a very nice 65 Comet. The heater core blew while he was driving spraying hot coolant on his legs! Caused him to loose control and total the car!!

[jrvariel48]

It really has nothing to do with over thinking a problem. I decide to go with an aftermarket radiator with a pressurized system is all. I have the lowest pressure cap I could find for the radiator and was looking for some input. I can easily buy an aftermarket heater core but I like the look of my 40's heater.

[JSeery]

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Having a shop pressure test the core is about all I know of to do.

[Brian]

Rather than all the hassle of removing heater etc to get it pressure tested, how about disconnecting the hoses that run to/from it under the hood, plug one end of one hose, couple the other hose end somehow to a compressed air supply, via a regulator and pressure gauge. Slowly increase pressure up to say 8 psi. if it holds air pressure at that pressure, it'll be fine at your rated 7 lb coolant pressure.
Obviously, if it fails this test, you'll be back to removing the entire heater assembly!

[jrvariel48]

Originally Posted by Brian

Rather than all the hassle of removing heater etc to get it pressure tested, how about disconnecting the hoses that run to/from it under the hood, plug one end of one hose, couple the other hose end somehow to a compressed air supply, via a regulator and pressure gauge. Slowly increase pressure up to say 8 psi. if it holds air pressure at that pressure, it'll be fine at your rated 7 lb coolant pressure.
Obviously, if it fails this test, you'll be back to removing the entire heater assembly!

Brian, I actually have a second core that I was going to send to my rad shop for testing. I'm concerned about it lasting over time being that it's 75 years old. I'm wondering if a new unit may be better. I'm sure the old core is probably built better and with superior materials than the crap that's out there today, just concerned with it's longevity.Thank for the great idea!