Aug 17: heater core failed with the typical soaking of the passenger carpet. Daughter and I set about to remove the original AC/heater core box. Unfortunately, the copper tube extension from the box to the firewall would not separate from the tubes internal to the box. The copper extension tube assembly enters the box on the passenger front, upper portion of the box, attaching with 4 exterior screws. The tube mates with internal tubes from the heater core/water valve and seals with o-rings between the tubes. We could not separate the tubes, they were basically fused together, likely from age. The box was damaged in our attempt to remove the extension tube, which was eventually cut so the box could be removed.

Fortunately, I had kept a complete 70B body AC/heater box core as a backup for a 70RR hardtop I once owned which had A/C. We decided to rebuild that and install in Charger as they are virtually identical.

It was at about this point that my daughter decided she wanted to pull the engine and repaint the engine bay. Given that the car had been repainted, with a new vinyl top, the original engine/bay was a bit of an eyesore, made more so by etching damage from battery acid. Original owner said this occurred while parked at an airport as someone attempted to steal the car. The engine had 50yrs of grime which, along with a few oil and trans leaks, made for puddles under the car when parked. So she decided to have the engine rebuilt while removed.

PS...should mention the engine had never been out of the car.

Orig: