About once every week or so, on my day off, the TA's are started up and driven on a short errand or two just to keep them in running condition. The two cars average 150 to 200 miles each year. Wednesday the I drove the 86 to a dentist appointment. I had the AC on and that unmistakable smell of antifreeze filled the cabin. When I parked the car I pulled the passenger mat back to reveal a puddle of green. The car has just 31K actual miles on it and the cooling system has been serviced regularly. There are no signs of rust in the system. I put a bottle of the Bar's Leak Copper repair and the leak stopped. Topped of the system and drove the car for 15 miles. The puddle did not return, nor did the smell. I know that this is a patch and the only real fix is a new heater core. Are there any tricks to know before tackling this project? Thanks in advance. Charles

 

Get out your 7mm socket. 4 screws holding the housing cover on. 4 more screws holding an internal plate/baffle. The baffle has a clip holding it to the core, so they will likely come out together. Don't forget to disconnect the hoses.

I have my Camaro disassembled, with the heater box on the floor. I had to fix the cracked cover, so fiddled with removing the core, cleaned it, then reinstalled.

Before removal, you may consider flushing it with clean water, then blowing air through it to get as much water out. That way, if/when you dump the core contents on the floor, it is just a little clean water, not antifreeze.

 

Swapping the core in the TA is a 20 minute job. The top bolt for the heater core cover can be got to easily by removing a bracket under the hush panel. Takes longer to get the old hoses off and re-installed from the engine side than core out/in.

 

Sorry, I have not been able to log onto this site for a few days. Have been very busy at work and at home. Thank you both for your insights, I will order the part and than tackle this project one weekend.

 

Now that STOP leak is all in your cooling system, Heater valve, t stat, radiator... You should flush that stuff out of it right before you tackle it, I'm will ya on this one on my restoration..