Drag Racing Tech - Removing heater core/lines with motor in.

Like the title says, is it possible to remove the heater core, and all the hard lines to the fire wall *WITH* the motor still in the car? have my dash removed and was trying to take all the heater/air system out and im stuck with all the "gadgets" on the fire wall... any help would be appreciated

edit: thats supposed to be a "?" not a "." in the title. sorry

sure, get a cut off wheel :)

i have replaced the lt1 heater core lines with everything in the car. never did the heater core but you should be able to get it through the dash.

I did it on mine w/the motor still in, just a heads up though- be prepared for a fight!!!!!! :nod: Its not that bad getting everything from the inside/under the dash, the real pain in the ass are the little bolts on the firewall side, behind the head and wheel well......... IIRC I ended up getting the cut-off wheel out for the last one that I couldnt reach and cut the bolt from the inside............... plan on spending the better part of an afternoon and a little cursin!!!!! :chug:

theres threads on here on how to do it..its said you can get to all the bolts..i know when i remove my system when i get back from vaction im going to try an take my box out in 1 piece so i can sell it..i got the lines an everything all out already....my plate im making just out of a aluminum..

Yes its possible, just be patient, it will all come out, no need for a cutoff wheel.

thanks for the info guys... ill git r' done.
ill post some pics along the way for anyone thats curious. so i got 2 bolts on the plate thats against the firewall. do i need to get under the car for any other ones? also im thinking if i removed the passenger valve cover i might get more room..

now i was looking at it last night, and it looks like the hard lines that go through to the heater core, are coming from the bottom part of the water pump (2 heater hoses?). am i mistaking here? do i need to block these off or do these stay? sorry for the dumb question

Your gonna have to loop them, use a Dayco # 87629. I got mine from O'reillys for $11.00...... Here is the link where I found the part number when I was looking for what to do........

http://www.ls1tech.com/forums/conversions-hybrids/1228353-heater-hose-u-bend-bypassing-heater-core.html

dude nice, thanks for the link. looks like i have some work ahead of me.

alright i did it, mother of god.. what a pain in the ass that was..

during the removal i found out my POS passenger side header cracked, where the AIR flange block off was. cracked around the weld and i just pushed on it a tad, and what do you know? it broke off

so it all started by trying to move my gauges from my a-pillar to the radio delete panel & swapping injectors too...
then purchasing a tach, removing the dash to re wire that crap.. might as well delete the air/heater core and all the duct work, right?.. and now having to buy a new set of headers.

now im debating on just buying a cage since the interior is all apart..
then a rear end.

this shit never stops does it? :)

alright i did it, mother of god.. what a pain in the ass that was..

during the removal i found out my POS passenger side header cracked, where the AIR flange block off was. cracked around the weld and i just pushed on it a tad, and what do you know? it broke off

so it all started by trying to move my gauges from my a-pillar to the radio delete panel & swapping injectors to...
then purchasing a tach, removing the dash to re wire that crap.. might as well delete the air/heater core and all the duct work, right?.. and now having to buy a new set of headers.

now im debating on just buying a cage since the interior is all apart..
then a rear end.

this shit never stops does it? :)

That happened to my pacesetters a while back, on the passenger side as well, ended up cutting off all of the air provisions and welding the holes shut, worked great. I'm running the TSP headers now though.

yeah man it sucks.. heres what it looks like
http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/7296/cimg0039qb.jpg

is this hole too large to be fixed? :eek2:

anyways, heres how the car looks at the moment..
http://img171.imageshack.us/img171/2659/cimg0042x.jpg

http://img210.imageshack.us/img210/3954/cimg0041w.jpg

http://img80.imageshack.us/img80/9710/cimg0040q.jpg

The hole in mine was the same size, thats the exact one that shot off on mine, it happened during my quickest pass at the track, it sounded horible, I thought the motor went bye bye. But anyway, thats not too large to be fixed, I welded a washer to the header to make the hole smaller, then welded the washer shut, it didn't look too pretty but it worked, I sold the headers to my friend a few months later, and he still has them on his car without any problems.

nice man, the washer idea is pretty smart. ill have to give it a try. my buddy has a MIG welder so ill see what he can do. i dont care if it looks ugly i dont have the cash for a new set of headers right now. ill prob just cut all the emissions flanges off and have him weld them all shut.. then just wrap the headers

Update:
removed emission fittings and had my friend weld the holes shut.
Exhaust is back in, as well as the BMR HVAC delete plate. Got the new fuel injectors installed, bypassed the water pump with blk96's suggestion.. just have to throw the exhaust clamps on, wire a new tach, install the trans temp guage... and she shuold be good to go for the moment. Thanks for the help all.


http://img21.imageshack.us/img21/6399/dscn1217d.jpg
http://img717.imageshack.us/img717/8472/dscn1215j.jpg
http://img684.imageshack.us/img684/9044/dscn1218j.jpg

nice..im going to try and get mine out with just removing the glove box.

it might be do-able. have you removed your ductwork already?

Looks good! Glad you got everything figured out. That's the same panel that I use.

nice..im going to try and get mine out with just removing the glove box.

GOOOOOOOOOOODLUCK!!!!!! If you want it in one piece then it's not going to happen. I just did mine, bolts came off easy and went to pull it off but there just wasn't enough room. After cuttin the evap unit in half it came out without pulling the dash. If you want to keep it as a whole then pull the dash haha.

Here's an odd question for everyone that's removed the stuff from the inside.

Can the Heater box assembly be removed, cut a heater passage in, and have a blockoff plate installed, and then put the cabin-side stuff back on the firewall? Will that 1/8" of metal mess with many bolt-up tolerances?
I've got everything demo'd from the engine side with a dremel cutoff wheel, but can't get the new blockoff plate back there without lowering the motor a little.
Any feedback would really help, regardless of which direction I go, I'd like to have this back together within the next 5 days or so.