I had a mishap while pulling my engine tonight, and now my heater box has a nice chunk missing. How big of a problem is this? I took a pic but I can't post it. I can email it to somebody if they want to post it for me.

 

It depends. If it is just the cover of the box and you don't mind the patched look epoxy will probably fix it. If it requires replacing the box it's quite a bit of work but much easier with the engine out!

 

Fiberglass resin is your friend. You can get a kit at any auto parts store that comes with the resin, hardener and a sheet of woven fiberglass that you can cut to size. It makes a very strong bond. It's the same stuff that is used to repair boat hulls.
Easiest way I've found to apply it is cut your sheet, mix your resin and hardener. Apply mixture over broken area with a paint brush and apply the sheet. You can use a few layers if you wish. I'd also use rubber gloves. Burns a wee bit if it gets on the skin. Makes sure you press the sheet down so all air bubbles disperse. Just know your vents will smell like resin for awhile, but will eventually go away.

 

The fiberglass is a good idea, but I don't really want to mess with all that. I had to drop the engine in yesterday to get the hoist back to the rental shop today. Just the longblock is in the engine compartment for now.

Here's a pic of the damage. It's pretty bad.

 

That is pretty harsh short of replacing the actual box itself another option could possibly be making a sheetmetal cover for it.

 

Delete the AC evaporator core and the box, and put an aluminum plate over the opening.

http://www.burkhartchassis.com/fbodycomponets.html

 

I think that's what I may end up doing. Do you have any idea how hard it's going to be for me to do this with the long block in the car?

Thanks Fred.

 

I'm not sure, but I think you have to attack it from the dash side. Probably pull the heater core, then the AC evaporator, then the plastic box. But I don't know for sure. Someday, I plan to find out.

 

That's a nasty hole. I had a small hole in mine and it was hard to get to. If you leave it open, air will escape when you turn on your HVAC controls and you won't have a lot of airflow through the vents in the dash. I've done a dash swap and I'm pretty sure you'd have to remove the dash to get at that box. It's sealed to the dashboard itself at a large opening. There may be another way to get it out though. If you loosen the dash enough it may clear the opening. You can get to the evaporator by removing the rounded cover under the dash. You'll have to remove the heater core and maybe as a last resort you could seal that hole up from the inside after you get the evaporator out. I'm not sure how much access you'll have to it though.

 

You have to pull the dash to get that out. Have fun,

Re'

 

not too hard to pull the dash, easier then most make it out to be