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By Nat Santamaria - 12 Years Ago
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Hey guys. I have a 57 Tbird with a 312.
I just pulled the car out of storage and took for a spin. Ran great. However I smelled antifreeze when I parked her. Popped the hood to see the Heater Valve leaking again. It was the exact same problem I had last year to the day. I replaced the Heater Valve with new one last year. Does anyone make quality parts anymore? I know I can bypass the heater but I like the idea of heat on these cool days.
Any suggestions?
Thanks
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By charliemccraney - 12 Years Ago
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I had something like that happen with my truck. It turned out that a nut that holds the valve together needed to be tightened. No leaks since. Is the bird anything like that?
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By pegleg - 12 Years Ago
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I have one from Concours I thought was leaking. Passenger version. Turned out the heater core was the culprit. If it's the same as the bird, do as Charlie said and check all the hoses also if you didn't replace them last year. My valve has been in the car 6-8 years now without any more trouble.
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By chiggerfarmer - 12 Years Ago
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If your valve is the one that goes in the intake manifold in front of the carburetor like mine, I went thru two of the NOS ones in 3 years and finally installed an inline one in the heater hose and sort of hid it where it wasn't in plain sight. It does NOT work anywhere nearly as well as the original as far as temperature adjustment, but gives me a functioning heater until I find someone selling good quality new ones. You have to buy a valve that is normally closed and uses vacuum to open.
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By bird55 - 12 Years Ago
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I can agree with the comments here. I've chased this issue for several years and seen other bird owners do it too. That particular valve (to Bird) is either a repop (unknown origin) or (NOS) each of which haven't lasted more than a year. Either from laying on a shelf or inactivity on the car or cheap production. As most things tbird they are expensive AND they leak  . The inline version is a practical solution for most of our use. Functional but not perfect or original.
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By Nat Santamaria - 12 Years Ago
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Thanks guys. I have bypassed the unit for now so I can still drive the car. I will decide what to do.
Thanks
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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I had to move the outlet is interferred with the McCullouch supercharger. I found a vacum control unit that mounted in the hose and works great. Its sort of buried under the fender. Chuck
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By Nat Santamaria - 12 Years Ago
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57 Tbird
Does anyone know how the vacuum operates the Heater Control Valve? Does the vacuum OPEN the Valve to allow Heat or does the vacuum keep the valve closed.
On the dashboard heater control lever is it the top or bottom lever that controls the vacuum.?
I ask because I have found an inline heater control valve that operates on vacuum. There are 2 models - vacuum keeps coolant flow off and the other one, vacuum allow coolant flow.
I want to be sure I order the correct one.
Thanks
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By Hoosier Hurricane - 12 Years Ago
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Nat:
Vacuum opens the valve. the upper lever controls the vacuum.
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By Nat Santamaria - 12 Years Ago
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Hey Moonshadow.
Can I ask you where you got that heater valve?
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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I picked it up at the local parts store. I don't have the car here now to check the numbers. Chuck
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By Nat Santamaria - 12 Years Ago
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Hey Moonshadow.
You mentioned you found an in-line Heater Valve that works well. Any pics of it or can you tell me where you got it?
Thanks
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By MoonShadow - 12 Years Ago
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The car is in Maine at Y-Block Bills getting painted. Maybe he'll see this and post a picture. As I recall the most difficult part was finding one that was vacum opened. Chuck
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By wlj1943 - 12 Years Ago
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Nat,For your 57 'BIRD, the engine vacuum is applied to a temperature sensing King Seeley ( Ford's favorite vacuum control supplier) valve mounted in the heater plenum next to the discharge side of the core. This valve links to the temperature lever on the heater control and the output of this valve is what modulates the heater control valve on the manifold. It is a crude thermostat, but when working, works well. The T'bird heater assembly came from the Ford medium duty truck, so it works very well in Alaska. Casco (www.classictbird.com) makes a kit to convert the troublesome vacuum system to straight manual control; I used it on my old 57 Bird and it really worked quite well. Under sixty dollars, your heater control looks stock, good instructions. Be aware CTCI judging would most likely deduct for non-original if you show your Bird. Took me about 2 hours to install. NOS heater control valves are likely all gone now. Hope this helps.
WJ
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By wlj1943 - 12 Years Ago
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Nat,PS: Mopars from the 60's and 70's used a manual heater control among others. Most AP stores carry a universal, but you would have to fabricate some, and do the boden wire control. The kit had all the stuff necessary.
WJ
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By Lex - 12 Years Ago
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Mine is only about 3 months old and it started leaking this weekend. Thankful that the Bird holds 5 gal of coolant or I wouldn't have made it home. It came from CASCO. I saw where someone contacted them about the problem and they said there was only 1 manufacture for them no matter who you bought them from. Mine has stamped on it a company from Chicago but I bet it's made for them in China. I found a NOS one on ebay for $139.00. I'm taking a chance that it is still good.
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