3 door heater in my 48 F-68, Canadian built truck. Heater core leaking a bit, so pulled it apart, took off one of the tanks, sure enough full of crud. Will try cleaning cores out, but pretty sure by the time thats done all the buried corrosion under the crud, it will leak a lot more.

Any ideas if anyone makes an aftermarket replacement core, or has a good used core. Alternatively, once I get it cleaned out anyone know of a good "mechanic in a can" product to try and plug up the leaks- heater core only, wont put it in the engine.

 

Crud does not necessarily translate into leaks but if you do have some:

 

Just about any reputable radiator repair shop can repair your core if it's not just completely disentegrated. I paid ten bucks to have mine repaired shortly after I got my truck.

 

i have the exact same unit. must have been popular at the time.

 

This is the same heater I have in my 49 F47 except yours is MUCH nicer than mine
A rad shop can check the core out and repair it as required. Might be worth a shot.
Brian

 

That seems to be a very common heater in the Canadian trucks. I have one just like it in my 1949 M-47. I've seen lots of them over the years at the swapmeets here in Ontario.
I got mine recored years ago at a rad shop. Wasn't a lot of money to have it done.
Greg -47

 

If you want to "boil" out the crud in your core I would use Super Clean. Fill you unit 1/2 to 3/4 full then cap off the ports and let it set for a day or so, shake it once in a while and flip it from side to side occasionally.

Drain and flush with hot water and repeat again.

Super Clean works well for heavy cleaning operations but its tough on your skin and the fumes make me gag, but it does work great.

 

I have the same heater; had local rad shop flush and then seal leaks.

I also re-routed the "plumbing" of the feed copper lines to exit horizontally through the firewall to connect to my heater hoses on my 5.0L

Tom

 

I had the same one in my M68 . I would be willing to part with the core . Send me a PM

 

Those are not aftermarket heaters. Those were the standard heater for the 48-50 trucks. That is the heater you got if you wanted a heater but didnt want to pay for the fresh air set up. The actual core has the same dimensions as the 41-48 car and has the same exact motor as the car. it is a reversible motor that has 4 wires coming out of it. All of those heaters also had a drain plug in the core. The trucks used almost the same switch as the car but instead of saying "indirect/direct" it said "defrost/heat" and the brackets look the same but the trucks switch and defroster cable are backwards from the car..

 

good info fifty- two. now if i can just get mine to spin slower (12v now) ill have a nice setup..... oh yeah, and some ducting!

 

Thanks fifty two. I thought they were standard equipment as they seemed so plentiful on the trucks up here.
Greg M-47

 

I was wondering about that. I ran my 6 volt heater motor on the bench with 12 volts and it seemed to run real good for quite a while and didn't heat up, or is it doomed?

 

well mine spins at what seems like waaayyy too fast. i haven't fooled with it much yet.

 

I used an after market 12 volt fan motor, so no issues with speed but..

could you put a rheostat (control switch) in power line to control the fan speed by increasing the line resistance (dropping volt ) if staying with 6 volt fan ?

Tom