Heater box and Heater Matrix
Working through the stack of parts that need to refurbished before refitting. I now have the heater box on the bench
Note to would be restorers, please don't slather everything with thick brushed on black paint, it looks awful, flakes off and doesn't stop the rot trapped underneath it.
Heated each of the fixing screws in turn, a squirt of penetrating fluid, and some carefully applied and controlled torque and the fixing screws came undone.
(Ignore the clutch; I'll cover that later)
With the side cover off, the matrix was revealed and could be slid out
It's all in good condition with minimal surface rust, but need to strip that paint off
Paint removed, it was given a rub down to remove loose or flaking rot
It was then given a coat of rust converter ready for spraying.
I bought this vehicle from another member of the D2BC club. This is an online forum dedicated to the LR Discovery Series 2. He had bought a Japanese import D2 and was "reluctantly" letting the Stage 1 go. After some discussion and some thinking about it, I drove up to his home and inspected the vehicle. I found several rot issues (no suprise) but was reasonably confident that I could do something with it. I mention this here because amongst the various extras that came with the vehicle is a replacement heater matrix. I had assumed that there was a problem with the existing one and so he'd bought the replacement.
This is the relevant quote from his own post on the subject:
I've also just bought a new heater matrix. A replacement one on eBay had a very good review on another forum so I've bought one the same - its supposed to be a high quality unit with a greater heat output and airflow than the std unit. It makes sense to do the swap while I'm flushing out the cooling system.
Needless to say, he never actually fitted it (or did anything much really). So, now that I'm taking the box apart and tidying it up, I have the existing matrix...
...and the replacement he bought in 2015
I've flushed water through the old one and applied a bit of air pressure but can see no leaks. Frankly, I can't see anything wrong with the original. So question is, do I fit this aftermarket replacement or keep the original? Anyone know if the replacement one is "greater quality", "greater heat output"? I almost feel compelled to fit the nice new part but I'd hate to discover later that it's inferior. Then again, I'd not be too chuffed if I have to replace because the old one turns out to be dodgy after all.
I'm putting this job to one side for now as I'd like a batch of parts for painting rather than keep doing things one at a time.
To be continued...