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Re: 88 Jeep Wrangler re-power
For about the last year I've been watching antifreeze leak onto the passenger side floor. Not a lot, but in a weekend of 4 wheeling it would definitely leave a wet spot. I knew this project would be coming, so I delayed fixing the heater core until it was all torn down.
The old heater core was the original 1988 one, and it was copper/brass. All the replacements are aluminum. This would be fine, but the new ones don't come with the bracket that the mounting screws bolt to. They rely it to "float" in the housing, and this didn't sit well with me. Especially since when assembled, I would have aluminum hose bibs coming out of the steel firewall, and with vibration that is guaranteed to be a pain in my ass at some future date! My solution was to duplicate the original bracket and weld it to the new heater core. I do NOT have enough practice TIG welding aluminum, and that is a goal that I have for someday in the future....but it seems to be holding (and more important not leaking).
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