D21 heater box replacement - cable re-connect?

[tstockma]

Hey all, my 86.5 D21 beater sat under the trees at my folks country place for 3-4 years...on resurrection day, slowly turned over the motor...and after each cylinder sparked one time, it fired and ran. Only problem: mice had nested in the heater box.

That was 2-1/2 years ago. The smell went away after about a year... However the mice pulled insulation down & the temp control has been blocked from anything warmer than "slightly warm" ever since, not very helpful here in Denver. (Several times, I've removed the fan & done what I could thru that opening.)

I've pulled apart a couple dashboards in the wrecking yard, looking at how bad the job might be to replace. (Plenty of heater boxes in the yard.) However...I gave up each time, because there's a fairly short control cable running from the back corner of the box to something on the firewall...and I don't see how I'll conceivably hook that cable up on mine, if I tear it apart.

Has anyone here ever pulled and re-installed a heater box? How can this one last cable (or first cable, when it's re-assembly time) be re-installed?

Thanks for any thoughts.
Tom in Denver

[AZhitman]

Hi Tom -

My least favorite task... but not impossible. It really comes down to getting your noggin down in there to see what / how it's connected to. Typically, the cable is hooked to a valve (to open the heater core) or a 'door' to divert air.

Look to see which control (from the driver's perspective) moves that cable. If it's the hot-to-cold dial / lever, then it;s gonna hook to a valve, typically in the engine bay, behind the engine, that allows coolant to enter the heater core. If it's the floor / dash / defrost lever / dial that controls where the air comes out, then it's gonna hook to a little lever on the side of the air diverter.

Again, it's going to be a function of removing the seats, crawling under the dash with a strong flashlight, mirror (and maybe even a camera ) to familiarize yourself with the controls. Have a helper move the controls while you feel the cable to its endpoint.

We have the Factory Service Manual here online, so when the time comes to do the work, we can link you to it.

[tstockma]

Thanks Hitman you give me at least some hope. The dashboard disassemblies I've done in the junkyard give me plenty of working room (they're pretty complete), the problem is getting hands back behind that box and hooking up mainly this one cable without sight...well I'll take another hard look in the wrecking yard maybe there's something I'm missing.

Wow I see Bluebirds and Roadsters in your .sig...I have a 66.5 SPL3111 still sitting out at the folks place under the trees, and a bunch of spare body parts & more stashed in a shed there. My father bought that thing new and I've put plenty of miles on it, still need to get that thing moving again someday too.

[AZhitman]

Yep, we love our Roadster... and all our other Datsuns!