C1 Heater Leak

[Joel T.]

I took the '61 out for a spin yesterday afternoon, it was actually pretty nice here in NJ. Had the levers pulled for some heat. After driving about a mile, she developed a serious coolant leak on the passenger's side hitting the very front of the floor boards; pretty darn good flow! I pushed the heat controls in and the leak stopped (at least from what I can tell). Nothing by way of a leak under the car and nothing in evidence under the hood.

Before I start taking things apart, what should I be looking for? Same problem on a C2 was the heater core itself... How does the heater come out on a C1?

Thanks!

Joel

[Mike B.]

Re: C1 Heater Leak

Hi Joel,

The first thing to do is to vacuum the antifreeze out of the carpet then peel it back to help things dry. Get as much as you can and consider flushing it a bit with clear water as otherwise the antifreeze mix will take forever to dry.

Look under the passenger dash area(put your head on the wet carpet!) and you'll see the works including the valve/thermostat. There is also hokey step-down elbow connection and a short piece of heater hose near the firewall that gave me trouble on my '61. Everything slowly got brittle and weeped. Also, the original clamps were "Corbin" type that are steel rings that can lose their tension.

If none of those joints or valve seems to be suspect and the leak is running from the blower fan region than it is likely the core. I've never pulled it but I think that it is removed from the inside. Note that the distribution box is made of pressed board so wetness is not a good thing. Be careful as it may be soft and soggy. You'll have a lot more room to work if you first remove the passenger seat so you can lay on your back inside of the car.

I live in NJ as well (near Flemington). If you are not that far away I can give you a hand. I have many repair books at my home shop but I think that the core removal is fairly intuitive. Others on this board can surely add their experience.

Regards,
Mike

[Joel T.]

Re: C1 Heater Leak

Hi Mike,

Thanks! I cleaned up the carpet already and was planning on tackling the issue on Sunday. I'll check out what you suggested. What's wierd is that when I pushed the heat control back in the leak stopped which kinda hints to me that it might be the valve or the connections to it. I really was not sure what was under there!

I'm pretty near you in NJ as well. I'm up in Pittstown just a few miles from Flemington. You might catch me on the county roads in this silver '61 or my other project, a red '63 SWC.

Thanks again, if I need a hand, I'll ping you...

Best Regards,

Joel