RS2000 Heater Restoration

[Timmeh]

Seeing as this is a minor sub project to my main RS2000 Turbo Project, and I'll end up asking for advice specific to this item, I've started a thread on it.

So, I had the heater removed form the car, and was bored so decided it was time to get it working. I knew already that the coolant lines had been disconnected and put onto the carby instead, leading me to suspect the heater core had a hole in it somewhere. I also knew the fan didn't work, and neither did the air deflectors.



Above: First step was to crack open the heater, by removing the two clips around the fan, and pulled the thing apart. First thing I noticed was the amount of dust in the thing, good thing the fan never worked or I would have been blasted in the face with dust and other assorted debris.



Above: The fan speed resistor just slides out once the assembly halves have been separated. Although in this case, the resistor separated as well, it's good for a laugh and that's about all. So I'll make my own at work, test out what speeds I might want and just go with it. I am not sure if you can buy replacement ones of these or not, if anyone knows where I can, it would be easier.



Above: The assembly split apart. On the left, the fan assembly, just pulls out. To the right, the first airflow director, then the heater core under that, and you can barely make out the second airflow director to the far right under that. The air deflectors had some sort of thermal insulation on them that was totally deteriorated, so I cleaned them of it.



Above: These are what the air deflector pivots look like. They seem to just be cheap plastic pieces, one has seized in place so I'll see if I can free it, if not, I'll have to manufacture something myself I guess.



Above: My test rig, costing me a whole $4.35 in parts. I thought I could put some pressure into the heater core to test for leaks, which I suspected would exist.



Above: So I did it...



Above: And sure enough, there was one, where the two fittings joined the core. So I'll take it to work and clean it up, and weld the seam. I'll also take the fan in and test it out, see what sort of resistance values I want for the different fan speeds, and go from there.

So I have a few jobs to do to get the heater serviceable, but that's all part of the fun. If anyone knows anything about either the resistor values, or if anyone sells replacements, that'd be handy. If not, I'll sort something out!

Tim

[The MaDDeSTMaN]

I could sell you an entire heater system that works if you would prefer - I've got two of them...

[Timmeh]

Where's the fun in that? :monkes:

If this heater core can be repaired easily, and I canmake up some fan speed resistors, then this one will be ok. I am not sure how much a heater assembly goes for, if you could PM me how much you would want for one, coz I may need one, that would be great.

Ta.... until I know this one is beyond dead, I'll see how I go repairing it.

Tim

[DavO]

when repairing watch the top bit of the fan, i pulled mine out and we made up a new resistor board cause the old one was just gone (broken to the point of the resister spring part was the only bit left pritty much) so made a new 1 and put that in and it worked, however while putting casing back together snaped the top bit of the fan (gg me : ) so only worked for about a week in the car before the fan wires became dislodged from there connections and cbf pulling it out again atm to fix that.

just a tip :voldar02:

[Timmeh]

Thanks, yeah!

Do you remember what resistance the resistor for the Lo fan speed was, by any chance?

We've figured out the fan draws 4 amps at 12 volts, has a 3 ohm resistance when running, so I am going to make up another 3 ohm resistor capable of dissipating about 50 watts to put in its place. Ford don't sell them anymore, suprise suprise, so I'll make my own.

Still trying to weld up this heater core too, had one go, but didn't completely seal it, so doing more work to it.

Tim!

[Timmeh]

Ok, after two attempts, the heater core is sealed. It required some grit blasting but it's ok now. I am thinking of manufacturing a bracket to give the coolant lines some support before they attach to the heater lines, I can see how the design puts stress on the heater core fittings, which is where the heater core leaked.



I have all the pivots working on the assembly as well, so I will need to just replace the deriorated insulation on the air deflectors, find the appropriate resistor for the Lo fan speed setting, and it's all ready to go back together!

Tim

[Timmeh]

Alright! After a bit of work and playing around, I have a 100% serviceable heater assembly.

First I needed to manufacture a resistor pack to give me my two fan speeds. I spent a ridiculous 30 cents on each ceramic resistor (how will my budget survive), and using my skills learnt at work, made a new robust resistor pack. The fan now has two speeds - Fast and Faster - and is sure to suck in kittens and small children that wander too close.



Once I was sure the fan was working properly after cleaning the contacts, I scrubbed back the deflector plates, gave them a hit of paint, and applied new foam to them. While I don't care too much about the insulation side of things, any rattle caused by them would drive me insane. I also lubricated the hinges with graphite powder.



Right, I have got everything done, putting it together must be easy, right? Putting everything in place in one side was easy enough....



But getting the other half on was a nightmare! You need 6 hands and double jointed elbows to get all the bits aligned... after much work and patience, I had my serviceable heater assembly completed!



Like everything I build for my cars, this will survive a nuclear war, and I can be assured it won't let me down!

One small step for man, one even smaller part of my RS2000 restored...

Tim