Studebaker Avantis & Avanti II's - ( Avanti Shop Manual - Climatizer)

Drain the radiator down enough to disconnect the heater hoses on the engine. Then blow through with compressed air (lightly) to get all the anti freeze out of the core. You will, of course, have to have the heater valve open to do this. his prevents a further mess when disconnecting the interior side of the hoses.

By the steering column, just to the right is one single phillips head bolt holding the distribution plenum box to the firewall, and heater fan housing. Remove this bolt, and the body should be free enough to slide left and disengage the heater fan housing. The heater, the housing, and the motor all comes out as a unit.

On the right kick panel, is another phillips head bolt. It screws into a rubber well nut, just above the vent door opening. On the engine side, at the heater motor, are 4 7/16 nuts that hold the housing in place to the firewall. Remove these too. Disconnect the wiring plug from the motor. Lastly, back inside, remove the hoses from the heater core. (Some will still dribble, so place a catch pan under it). Make sure the bourden expansion tube is not damaged from the heater valve. The housing should be able to be wrangled inwards, and slightly to the left. Once it's free undo the wire control cable clip, and slide the control wire off the flapper, then you can remove the whole shebang from the car, and further seperate it on the bench, and remove the heater core. Don't forget to clean the filter screen. new gaskets are available,or they are easily made.

Installation is just the reverse. Be careful that the wire for the motor doesn't get pinched between the firewall and the housing when feeding it back through.

Brad Bez