Thread: Replace heater core quicker than the radiator - D1 & Softdash RR

As the title says, i reckon it was easier to replace the heater matrix/core than it ir to R&R the radiator. I would estimate it would take roughly 45min to get the core out and about 30min to get it back in if you we're going with the standard setup, however i decided to rid my car of the leaking o-rings problem, so i cut the alloy heater tubes under the dash and had them silver-soldered to the new heater core by my radiator bloke, thus i took me slightly longer.

All this hoo-haa about removeing the whole dash and it being a 10HR job is BS.

1) Firstly, Remove the cover under the steering column (the one you pull down to get to the fuses),

2) There is a metal bar that runs along the bottom of the dashboard that is connected at the drivers side by a bracket with 3 bolts and another bracket on the trans tunnel with another 3 or 4 bolts, remove these bolts and remover the brackets and bar from the car (you may want to loosen the bolts holding the bar to the brackets to make it easier to remove.

3) I found it easier to remove the centre console as if gives you a little more room to work and see what is going on, remove the square plastic trim arounnd the gear lever (auto) by pulling on the rear endge upwards and out at the same time, if manual, again remove the boot along with the handbrake boot and t?c lever boot. there are two phillips screws in front of the T/C lever, there are also 2 in the cubby box, and one below where the window switches are, (you have to remove this panle by removeing the 4 screws, You will also have to remove the clip and clevis pin fron the handbrake lever, disconnect any wiring required (cig lighter/window switches/heated seat switches etc) and remove the console.

4) Now you should be able to see two alloy pipes and at the end some funny looking clamps which hold the pipes to the matrix, remove the two clamps carefully, and very, very carefully pry the pipes away from the core, take extreme care here as if you are rough, and the pipes being alloy, they will easily distort and never seal again,

5) Now you have the pipes off, grab hold of the core while you're 'better half' lighltly pull's away the bottom part of the dash enough so you can slide the core out and 'rip' it out of its home, and when i say rip - they are very tight in there, i had to use some multi-grips on where the pipes go on and yank the core out of the heater box, which ended up completly stuffing the core if it wasn't already.

6) Go to you local radiator joint and they will have a book on replacements, the replacements are usually copper/brass instead of alloy which is fin unless you want to do what i did and cut the pipes off and have them silver'soldered to the core. Pick the right one, order it, pay for it, pick it up and refit in the reverse order.

7) Make sure the pipes are fully into the core and the orings seated properly before you tighten the clamps as you will stuff the core or pipes or both and make sure they are in flush and seated properly i can't stress this enough, i have heard of people having to buy 2nd cores becasue they damages the first one putting it in.

8) Reassemble the car and you are done.


In my case, i cut the pipes off at a suitable length, which where then fitted to the core and using some 16mm heater hose and some clamps to rejoin the under the dash, some people arn't to keen on this idea but it suits me so that's whay i did it.

(NOTE: MOST LR PLACES AND SPECIALISTS WILL TELL YOU THAT YOU CANNOT BUY THE CORE SEPERATLY AND IT IS SOLD AS PART OF THE HEATER BOX ASSEMBLY - THIS IS NOT TRUE, YOU CAN GET JUST THE CORE ON ITS OWN.)

im doing ths right now bought a heater box out of a d2 on ebay for $40 the core is the same in d1update as d2

ok so it was a prik of a spot but im little so it wasnt to bad, found it to hard to get the pipes to clamp back to the core so i cut them and put them on outside the car and im going to use some heater hose to rejoin them took me 4hours but still need to put the heater hose on