I just installed a heater core in my 85 Z28 and it jus doesnt kick out any heat, well it does but it didnt roast you out. After that I bought a new thermostat, a stock replacement, and the temp guage says about 160.
what did I do wrong or is it normal for this car?

 

I can't help with the heat, but I do have a heater core question. How do I get to the top heater cover screws to remove the cover and then the heater core? How did you get your out?
Thanks,
DC

------------------

 

There is two screws at the top, i think, one at the corner, and one somewhere in the middle.

I had to take off the dash pad to get at the top nut holding the dash on, it is in the corner. take that off, then there is one on the bottom. take those two screws out, and by then the passenger side of the dash should be able to bent/come out a couple of inches. For me that was enough, you may have to take the whole dash off, i don't know.

well anyway, find a socket wrench and a 1-1/2 inch to 2 inch extension, and it will take forever because of the room. and it will just fit. and that was for the middle one.

The outer one is a little easier, but not by much. I didn't have to bend out the dash to get at it, the socket wrench was able to fit.

then there is 4 screws holding the core/chassis in. take those off, and slide/con***le/tie it to a mack truck to take it out.

puting it back in was a pain though.

I hope this helped, although it may be confusing, but i don't remember exactly how to do it, but i think this is how.

Good Luck

 

Thanks, Ace,
I got mine out almost exactly the way you described. Did you get a new core or have the old one fixed?
DC

 

If you have an extremely hard time getting the top screws off, you can always break the plastic for the top screw. When you put it back together, it works fine and you save yourself alot of time. There's a shop that did that without any problems.

 

Ace.....Even though you bought a factory replacement thermostat, it may be faulty right from the get go. Factory replacement thermostats are 195 degrees. If your car is running at a constant 160, it may already be stuck open, letting the coolant to be constantly flowing through and not building any heat.

This is just my $.02. I hope you find your problem before the really cold weather sets in. Here in Indy it's already here. The high was 20ish today. Tonight it's supposed to get down to 15 degrees.

Good Luck
(Oh by the way, my car may just be weird, but I have a 160 thermostat and my heater gets damn hot real quick too. I don't know what keeps yours from building heat other than a crappy thermo. I just did this replacement on my girlfriends 1985 3.8L 2 barrel Cutlass---Pain in the *** ---

 

To answer DMCJR's question, I bought mine new from auto zone, I figured I was in Green Bay with a wad of money to basically spend on my camaro, and they had two in stock.

I find that wierd because all of the third gens camaros around here are pretty close to rust holes, the third gen f-birds are the only nice ones, and my camaro is the nicest in my school's parking lot.

thanks 90iroc, I'll try the different thermo. It is getting really cold here in WISCO, and even though I have parked the camaro in the nice heated garage, i still want to fix it because when it got somewhat cold outside, I would have to wear a nice warm jacket.

P.S.
I have purchased the new chilton manual for my car, and i have found it to be great help. I don't know if it is any different from older ones, but mine has pictures and drawings for almost everything. The only thing I wish they had were bold sizes.

 

are your heater hoses crimped? Did you use the pre bent heater hoses made for the car? if you buy sections of straight heater hose they will not make the tight turns and i'll get no anti-freeze in the core

------------------
3.8 turbo 20th anniversary transam #497 first owed by Clifford Williams, Bass player from rock band AC/DC

 

Actually, I did buy the curved one, but I had troubles putting it onto the heater core and the hard line to go to the radiator, so I just bypassed the whole hard line and ran a hose from the core to the radiator, and it is a straight shot from the two points, so there is no crimps, and it looks pretty cool at that.

 

i replaced my heater core last sunday. it took me 1 hour to get it out and 30 mins to get the new one in. it was a little difficult to get the top screws off. i did it all with only taking the bottom panel off. and the skinny one above that. i also took the Computer out and that made it alittle easy.

------------------
RED82TA5.7L

1982 Pontiac Trans Am
Cross-Fire Injected 5.7l V8
Eldebrock Headers, 3" Hooker Cat-Back, duel outlet with quad tips.
Mods: 1.6 Proform Roller Rockers, electric fan, Corvette 5.7L CFI computer chip.