1956 Super Heater Core leak?

[NorthernFirepower]

Good evening all,

 

So I've been wrenching on my new to me '56 Super to prevent the few leaks I bought it with. One of them was replacing the water pump that was leaking out the weep hole.

Picked up a reman from Flying Dutchman, replaced the old one, buttoned everything up tonight and took it for a shakedown and was happy to see no water running down the front of the engine anymore. That's the good news.

 

Bad news, while I've always wanted a sauna...didn't expect it to be in the form of a classic car. Noticed heat coming from the dash for the first time (had rad cap loose driving previously to prevent pressure in the system). After locking up the car for the night, it's pretty apparent that the heater system is adding some humidity in the cabin...(All windows are fogged up)

 

So, my first guess is I have a heater core that's leaking but before digging into all that I wanted to check with the community and see what your opinions of the culprit may be.

Edited August 10, 2021 by NorthernFirepower (see edit history)

[old-tank]

Heater core or Ranco valve.  Check for wet on passenger floor.

[SpecialEducation]

Yeah, heater core is tough to get to, but ranco valves fail far more often. 
 

Trust me, a new old stock valve is not what you want. The rubber seals on the inside rot away whether they are in a box or in a car... lol

[NorthernFirepower]

I was lookng up what a Renco valve looks like when paging thru the manual last night. Came across this gents adventure of rebuilding one in the following page.

 

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/tech-ranco-heater-valve-repair.1159159/

 

To say the least...I'd rather try and find a replacement if that's the culprit. (And def not a NOS)

 

I'll take a closer look in the RH side tonight where the heater core is located as well as the floor like mentioned. Worse case I plan to pick up some 3/4" ball valves and block off the heating system temporarily.

 

Does one have to remove the RH fender to service the heater core?

Edited August 10, 2021 by NorthernFirepower (see edit history)

[JohnD1956]

2 hours ago, NorthernFirepower said:

Does one have to remove the RH fender to service the heater core?

 

No. It can be done with the fender on.  The heater box and core is attached with bolts that are accessible from the interior side of that kick panel

 

[JohnD1956]

When I did mine I stuffed the bottom of the fender with an old comforter so that the box would not drop too far. It was a one person job that way. I did take the blower motor off for extra room to slide the box out and in. I also used rope style window caulk bought at Ace Hardware to seal the core diverter inside the heater box and the box itself back to the cowl.  

[NorthernFirepower]

After realizing it's definitely the core itself that's leaking, I took the temporary path forward of routing the feed hose direct to the return line cutting out the heating system. Getting ready to tuck her away for the winter, changed water out for coolant now that I can trust the rest of the cooling system. Now to prevent the Dynaflow from leaking out 3qts of fluid while on level ground Lol.