Zimm63 Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 As part of the process of getting my AC working well, it occurred to me that installing the heater valve may help as it would keep hot water out of the heater core when I wasn't actually using the heat. There is no valve in place now. I have the correct valve. and the screws are in place to mount. From what I can see, I need to make a stiff wire to connect the valve actuating arm to the cable end post on the heater door actuating arm. Is that correct, and is there anything special about hooking that up? I do need to find the right screw to secure the wire on the heater valve arm, but that should be a hardware store item. Second, the bend from the outlet side of the valve to the inlet side of the heater core is a pretty sharp bend. I would guess that the original used a formed hose. Is such a hose available? If so, where? If not, how have others set this up so as not to restrict the flow? Once I get this fixed, then I can move onto why the vacuum motor isn't opening properly and allowing airflow through the ducts on the dash. It used to work, but doesn't now. Little bit by little bit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telriv Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Zimm63, To find out IF the heater valve being open is the culprit use a pair of needle nose vise grips & block one end of the hose going into or out of the heater core. DON,T put to much pressure on the hose, just enough to block the coolant flow. Feel the hose to see IF it's still hot when fully warmed. Then you will have the answer to your question WITHOUT spending any $$$$ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zimm63 Posted April 22, 2019 Author Share Posted April 22, 2019 Thanks Tom, hadn't really thought of it that way. I have a brand new valve (correct valve) and figured I would just install it. There is no valve now, and hasn't been one since I owned the car. Gone into the mists of time, I guess. Still have the question about the hose. The link wire is pretty obvious, unless I am missing something. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cannon Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 You are correct, the original heater hose was a molded 90 degree turn. I have the original hose here that i took off of my car. I intended to go into my local auto parts store and find one off the shelf that would work, but have not yet done that. I figure I can cut one or both legs shorter to match the original, if I had to. If anyone finds a hose that works, please post the year, make, model, engine size that it is off of so others can use it. Right now I have regular heater hose in there. It is a tight turn but it does not kink. You should be able to get the stiff actuating wire that you need from a '63 parts car. When this hot water valve sticks in the closed position, you will break the pot metal lever inside the dash when you push the Heater Temp knob that actuates it. It happens all the time. I installed a vacuum actuated hot water valve that closes when I have air directed to the dash vents. That turns the hot water off when you don't want heat. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telriv Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Jim, On my '64 W/O A/C I used heater hose that had wire in it. You could bend it & twist it any which way & it wouldn't kink or collapse. I don't know if it's available today as I did it almost 40yrs. ago. It's still on the Riv. today. A question Jim. Since rear trans. mounts are not easily available What can be used as a replacement///I've heard something??? about a Jeep mount.. Is that correct??? AND, if correct what year & model??? TIA Tom T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 TH400 mounts are available. The last time I did one, I wound up buying one for a later model Buick (I think) and drilled a couple of different holes in the transmission cross member. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Riviera63 Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 (edited) 6 hours ago, Jim Cannon said: You are correct, the original heater hose was a molded 90 degree turn. I have the original hose here that i took off of my car. I intended to go into my local auto parts store and find one off the shelf that would work, but have not yet done that. I figure I can cut one or both legs shorter to match the original, if I had to. If anyone finds a hose that works, please post the year, make, model, engine size that it is off of so others can use it. Right now I have regular heater hose in there. It is a tight turn but it does not kink. You should be able to get the stiff actuating wire that you need from a '63 parts car. When this hot water valve sticks in the closed position, you will break the pot metal lever inside the dash when you push the Heater Temp knob that actuates it. It happens all the time. I installed a vacuum actuated hot water valve that closes when I have air directed to the dash vents. That turns the hot water off when you don't want heat. Jim, My 1963 Pontiac Tempest LeMans with the 326 V8 had heater hoses that had that had a 90 degree bend in them. After I sold my car I got rid of any Tempest Lemans stuff I had. They were available from NAPA, 5/8" and 3/4". I had the part numbers at one time but, probably went with the other stuff. The numbers they give now are NBH H112 for 5/8" outlet and NBM H111 for inlet 3/4". I don't recall if those are the same numbers or not. They do not show a picture of the complete hose. Those numbers may be correct as it mentions in the description cut to length 4". I think this is referring to the small portion just before the 90 degree bend. I will see if I can reach out to my Tempest Lemans friends and get an answer about the part numbers. Bill P.S. I found a picture where you can see both of the hoses coming from the heater box and the 90 degree bends. Edited April 22, 2019 by Riviera63 add pictures (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telriv Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 Yeah Ed, I should have put in the original post this is for a '63 DynaFlow. It's rough getting older & having to put up with the old age C'S/Seaesses. Tom T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 22, 2019 Share Posted April 22, 2019 I found a mount that would bolt to the dynaflow in my 63 that had a stud on the bottom. One hole in the center of the cross member and all was good. But that's been many years ago. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telriv Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Ed, Do you remember what it was originally for??? Or even better yet a part #??? Tom T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 (edited) No I don't. I didn't do it myself. But the mechanic who did it told me what he'd found and showed it to me and told what he'd be doing to mount it. Looked good and worked well. If I remember correctly, this is what it looked like. A Google images search turned up this picture. The vendor was OPGI. So you know it can be found elsewhere for less money. https://www.opgi.com/riviera/BR01890/ Edited April 23, 2019 by RivNut (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
telriv Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 Ed, It says right it's for a TH400 NOT a DynaFlow. They have it wrong as fitting '63-'66. We ALL know that '63 was the last yr. for the DynaFlow & '64 was the 1st yr. of the TH400. So that does me no good. ANYBODY have an answer??? Tom T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RivNut Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 I said "If I remember correctly, this what it looked like." I wasn't trying to infer this was the one. Should have just posted the picture and not the link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldGerman Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 (edited) On 4/22/2019 at 2:14 AM, Zimm63 said: I have the correct valve. and the screws are in place to mount. From what I can see, I need to make a stiff wire to connect the valve actuating arm to the cable end post on the heater door actuating arm. Is that correct, and is there anything special about hooking that up? I do need to find the right screw to secure the wire on the heater valve arm, but that should be a hardware store item. Hello Zimmer63, you are correct, the cable attaches to the door actuating lever. From there a small stiff rod connects to the heater valve actuating lever. I found a picture, but it is not that good to see the details. Maybe somebody else has made a closer picture. My heater valve is currently out for repair and I temporarely swept in a plastic VW valve (Golf, Polo, Jetta). I did not connect it to the rod. I need to open the hood to adjust. Frank Edited April 23, 2019 by OldGerman (see edit history) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 On 4/22/2019 at 7:09 AM, Jim Cannon said: I installed a vacuum actuated hot water valve that closes when I have air directed to the dash vents. That turns the hot water off when you don't want heat. How well does that work? While the original valve is infinitely adjustable, vacuum valves are binary (they're either open or closed). Does that affect your ability to control the temperature? It seems that you might also lose the ability to directly unheated air through the floor vents and/or defroster. Is that correct? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cannon Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 12 minutes ago, KongaMan said: How well does that work? While the original valve is infinitely adjustable, vacuum valves are binary (they're either open or closed). Does that affect your ability to control the temperature? It seems that you might also lose the ability to directly unheated air through the floor vents and/or defroster. Is that correct? It works just fine. In '65 they went to a vacuum-operated on/off valve like this. Buick over-engineered the heater system with this valve. They are adjusting the flow of hot water AND the percentage of air that goes through the heater core (with a blend door). You don't need both. The Temp knob and cable swing a blend door open and closed to put more or less air through the heater core. This controls the temperature out the floor vents and up to the defrost, not the variable hot water valve. There is one vacuum line going to an actuator on the firewall that I put a T-fitting in to bring vacuum over to the hot water valve. It has vacuum on it only when you want air to come out 100% from the dash vents. The hot water valve is normally open, gets pulled shut by this vacuum line when you want air only from the dash. All other ties the valve is open. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KongaMan Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 On 4/22/2019 at 7:09 AM, Jim Cannon said: You are correct, the original heater hose was a molded 90 degree turn. I have the original hose here that i took off of my car. I intended to go into my local auto parts store and find one off the shelf that would work, but have not yet done that. For a long 5/8" hose with a 90° bend: Continental 63109 (31" long). https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=1333445&cc=1179929&jsn=403 (1989 Jeep Cherokee, 4.0L). There's another hose for the same vehicle (from the thermostat to the tee) with a bend on each end that's 5/8" at one end and 3/4" on the other. I don't remember which end is which. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jim Cannon Posted April 23, 2019 Share Posted April 23, 2019 2 hours ago, KongaMan said: For a long 5/8" hose with a 90° bend: Continental 63109 (31" long). https://www.rockauto.com/en/moreinfo.php?pk=1333445&cc=1179929&jsn=403 (1989 Jeep Cherokee, 4.0L). There's another hose for the same vehicle (from the thermostat to the tee) with a bend on each end that's 5/8" at one end and 3/4" on the other. I don't remember which end is which. This is great! I will order one. It does not need to be 31" long, but that's OK. Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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