Need picture of a 1962 GT Hawk outside firewall heater ducting.

[royvaldez]

I am confused in the difference in the firewall of a 1962 VS 1963 GT Hawk heater ducting? Please send or post picture. Please look at picture. Are the holes located on the passenger side firewall correct for 1963 GT Hawk?

[JGK 940]

In a nutshell: in 1963, the primary heater core moved from under the passenger's seat to the engine side of the right front fender. White car is actually a '61 from eBay but setup is the same for '62 (and all other C and K bodies going back to 1953) - heater temperature control valve is mounted on the firewall, but hot water is routed from there under the floorboard. Champagne car is Dick Steinkamp's '63 - heater control valve now sends hot water to the black enclosure to the car's right of the right-side rocker cover. Setup's a little clearer in red car picture, also from eBay. In '62s, fresh air from the passenger's footwell vent is blown through tubing into and up through the heater core under the seat into the car. In '63 & '64, fresh air from the passenger's footwell vent is sucked through the heater core on the fender and blown through tubing into the car via a plenum and vents under the dash as is the case in almost all modern cars.

These are the best pics I could come up with - HTIH.

[JGK 940]

I am confused in the difference in the firewall of a 1962 VS 1963 GT Hawk heater ducting? Please send or post picture. Please look at picture. Are the holes located on the passenger side firewall correct for 1963 GT Hawk?

Hole closer to the fender - to the lower left in this picture - is correct for a '63: that's where the "dryer hose" from the heater core box on the fender (not present in this picture) feeds into the squirrel-cage blower for the Climatizer. The second hole, above and to the right in this picture, looks like the mounting position for the defroster fan motor from '62 and earlier, but the only reason I can think of for it to be open on a '63 would be as a pass-through for A/C tubing. Try a PM to StudeRich: he'll be able to tell you for sure.

[StudeRich]

Early '63 with '62 Firewall

Yes Roy it APPEARS to be an early 1963 GT Hawk with a '62 firewall. The more inboard hole is the '53 to '62 Defroster Motor hole and was factory plugged on early cars.

Someone has drilled a hole in the block-off plate for some aftermarket Accessory or whatever.

In a previous post I did mention that we had an early '63 Hawk here just like that.

I was amazed that the factory had that many left over '62 firewalls that they used them up on the '63's. Possibly because there must have been too many to put in the parts Depot to sell in the next two Centuries!

The outboard hole was added for the '63 4 in. inlet air duct hose to the under dash air distribution box.

Update: If that black painted far right side of the firewall is a SEPARATE piece of metal from the White left side, my guess is, the car has been hacked. That would NOT be original!

[royvaldez]

Thanks Rich, I will have to look at that. If they hacked that part, It will be a easy fix by using a donor car. At least for me.

[royvaldez]

StudeRich, I went and looked at the part you wrote. It turns out the person who had it before me, he put some type of aluminum insultation on that side. I thought I took all of that off. It turns out as you wrote with the word hacked turned out to be not hacked. What a relief.