Help me decide... Delete heater system?

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Joined
Sep 13, 2016
Messages
91
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Location
Michigan
My Car
71 Base 6 cylinder, and 72 Base 351C
Hello, looking for opinions, lol. My 72 Mustang project is back onto my "To do" list.

Car is completely apart. Dash assembly is now out, as I am going to upgrade to an American Autowire harness. I also pulled dash structure, as the passenger cowl is rusted out at the heater box like normal. Driver side is actually really nice, so planning on just fixing passenger side from bottom.

I will only be driving this car during the summer, it will be more a toy than a daily driver, although I would LIKE to drive it quite a bit during the spring/summer/fall seasons. I also plan on keeping this car, no plans to ever sell it, and not keeping it original. Making it what I like, not for anyone else. It's a Grande couple, but getting rid of the vinyl top, changing grill to a Mach I type, adding rear spoiler, ect. So don't care about resell value, just making ME happy, lol.

Looking at all the stuff I could get rid of, I am seriously considering doing away with the heating system entirely. That would simplify everything greatly, getting rid of all the ducting, fan, and heater core assembly. And, fixing the cowl would be easier, I could just plate/seal off the round duct that goes into the heater box, instead of grafting in the factory hole that is rotted out.

The only downsides I can see, would be I would also need to block off the hole in firewall from deleting the heater box, no biggie. And in the spring or fall, not having a defroster, although I could use an universal 12 volt unit on the dash, just to keep the windshield clear when it is chilly. But again, it is more of a warm weather car to play with, so maybe would only need that some mornings in spring or fall.

I am 80% leaning toward doing this, just looking for opinions. Has anyone else done this, and if so are you glad, or wished you hadn't? Is there anything else I haven't thought of that I should consider? Thanks!
 
I used lexan to form a cowl repair from the inside

I used butyl strips to seal the mating surfaces and pop riveted it in.

Inside the cowl I used a product called eternabond. It is the permanent version of flex seal used in mobile home roofing. It has a 15 year uv rating.

I went classic auto air for hvac. It is an all the time recirculating system so they send a block off plate for the factory hole.

Like you I went AAW. I am pleased with all my choices so far.
 
I repaired the cowl from the bottom on two cars. With the dash out, it's fairly easy. For the latest one, since I work in sheet metal, I made an oversized plate with a round hole and a ring that I welded to it to recreate the vent hat. Trimmed the plate to fit the hole and welded it in place. Sealed with seam sealer and Rust bullet on top.

IMO, put the HVAC system back in. It's simple and having warm air on those cool fall drives is a good thing.
 
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