Heater "J" hook installation 70 E Body

I guess I got lucky, no bending necessary. If I remember right I just started the bolt and lifted everyhting into place, reached through the vent and hooked it in place, tightened the bolt and all is well.

Another part to run down, that I didn't know I was missing!

I am still struggling with this. Likely because someone in the past had over tightened the bolt causing a dime sized hole instead of the normal 1/4th normal hole. I am trying to use a larger washer to cover the hole and to provide the tension required.

Am I correct in assuming that the "hook" should be pointed straight back toward the glove box?

I may have to remove heater to properly repair the broken out hole. However is likely important that once repaired, I must be exact in where to drill new 1/4 inch hole,,,this will be difficult as I do not know exact placement now.

I've also tried using a longer bolt/actually a stud. This so I could set the hook and then use a nickel sized washer and then a nut on the stud"bubba fix". But this seems to throw the alignment off causing the hook to disengage.

Perhaps some can toss out some other ideas that I might try.

Maybe a battery hold down bolt it you can find one threaded to the bottom. Frankly I would find a replacement box and fix it right.

Fixed for now.

I took a 1/4 inch nut and screw forced it on the tip of the hook. This served to much better holding it in place so that it would not pop off while do the next steps. I did not wish to bend the hook and do believe that this even holds more securely

Then I took a 2 inch 10-24 bolt(same thread as the base of the hook) and shortened it by cutting the head off, leaving it about 1/2 inch longer than original bolt that screws into the hook.

I then screwed this now stud into the hook threads, holding it in place with a couple 10-24 nuts. I then placed this new assembly into the heater, and then holding it in place after getting it "hooked", I took 3/4 inch(larger than the dime sized hole previously noted where the plastic was broken out) square piece of scrap thin steel(almost like spring steel) drilled a hole in it, place it over the threads of the previously noted 10-24 stud, placed a nut on it,,actually 2 for insurance and cinched it up.

Wish I had been sitting on the shoulder of whatever engineer thought that he had a flash of genius some 40 plus years ago when designing this miscarriage. Likely thousands have cursed it over the years. What should be at most a 1 hour r&r on the heater can turn into several hours. I have no idea what a mechanic with a larger pair of mitts does when he finds that he cannot squeeze them into the vent to get this thing in place. As for me, I had to place duct tape in the back of my left hand to prevent cutting it up when squeezing it into this vent. A real pain when removing it,,,now I know what bikini waxing must feel like.

One day I will fix this all correctly, until then I won't let Galen G. look under my dash.

Thanks to all of you who chimed in with support.

By the way before I had read the posting tip on a battery hold down, I had purchased a 1 foot length of 1/4 inch threaded stock with exactly your thought in mind.

Had issues installing as well on my Cuda, I had a friend reach in through the removed screen on the cowl and hold the bar in position, while I tightened the bolt.

You bring back such fond memories.
Thanks.