Heater Core question...

[georgeramos]

Why is the new heater core made "thicker" than the old one? What a PITA to get the clips re-installed. The box isn't closing all the way can be the only explanation right? How about longer clips?



not really mad at you guys. thank you for having this stuff available at all!

[pwilliam]

Tough to get mad at these fellas. Never waited more than a half an hour to get an e-mail response from Csaba! Pretty great! I did have one experience where the shock mounting bracket on the lower control arm came detached....so i was driving around with my shock dangling from the shock tower. Went to Monroe and had them weld it back on in about 15 mins.

The important thing to remember about our great vendors is that they typically do not manufacture the parts themselves - so we can't ever get upset with them

[Ramzi]

George,

We've literally sold hundreds of these. In fact, if it were not for us having them reproduced they would still be wrong. We sent the original samples off to be reproduced which now are being sold by at least 3 other vendors..... so this is a major surprise.

What is going on?

And why not you contact us directly if you were having an issue? Seems a bit harsh to make a public statement before even giving us a call.

Ramzi

[georgeramos]

I was kinda joking. I thought this was why it said the heater box needed to be altered on your web site. (what is the alt BTW?)

I thought the heater core was always a PITA to change from what Ive read on here.

I did try calling at one point actually just to ask what that alt was. I really am not upset about it. I did notice the core was thicker than the one I pulled out so I thought the spec was slightly different, an early car spec??

[Ramzi]

George,

We take this Fiat thing pretty seriously and as I recall we have even taken your call on the Sat & Sun while we were at home during your over heating issue. So when you come out with a post titled "My first Autoricambi gripe..." we are going to take it personally.

Our web listing and your receipt clearly indicate that our heater cores are a direct replacement for 1973on Fiat 124. And if you look at our web site it also says "It will also fit earlier 124s, with minor modifications to the upper heater box". This is because the pre 1973 124 heater cores is slightly thinner... as you now know.

Im sorry you were not able to talk to someone about your situation before ...

[georgeramos]

Ramzi, I apologize for my poor choice of words. I think Ive always been clear in my posts that you guys and Mark are the go to vendors and even in my opening post i said i was not actually mad. Tongue in cheek but i understand your point and am sorry.

But back to the heater core question. Are the later boxes a bit deeper than the early ones? If so will they fit in early cars or will they mess with the radio console and/or center console fit. My hope in bringing this up in public on a forum is to add some detail and a possible solution to the issue so the next person doesnt have to go through the frustration. If we can come up with what that modification is and detail it here isnt that better than doing it over the phone? That is why I am here on the forum, to seek and to offer help to other Spider owners.

[Ramzi]

George,

As mentioned before.. the early core is slightly smaller than the post '73 version. When last I installed one 5 years ago I recall the only thing I did was to clip off tabs on the upper portion of the heater core box. And it was a relatively simple procedure.

[nibbes123]

Ramzi said it all. Auto Ricambi is by far in my opinion the only vendor that is on call 24hrs 7 days aweek. There was a problem I had with a part, called Ramzi and resolved it right away, even thou he was on holidays.

Thanks
Nick

[georgeramos]

Probably user error but...

Inside the heater box there is a fan shroud/funnel thing to direct the airflow and perhaps to provide a buffer between the fan and the core. I think this is where the tabs are that need removing. I tried putting the assembly back together without the shroud and got the clips on but it sounds like the fan nut is touching the core so i will cut the tabs off the shroud and put it back in the mix. Also one of the clip holes on the lower box broke off so i am gonna grab a replacement box out of a friends 79 and will see if there is any physical difference between early and later heater boxes.

[PhillySpider]

Wish I got the same support when I called AR . Bought their heater core "kit" only to find none of the seals match/fit and the faceplate profile on the short pipe isn't the same as the OEM pipe. When I called I was just told "we sell 60 a year". Asked for a return label to ship it back and told no. Said I'll pay shipping and it's the last time I'll order from them and was told they'd look at their pipes and call me first thing this morning. Ramzi, it's first thing...

[RRoller123]

Ramzi said it all. Auto Ricambi is by far in my opinion the only vendor that is on call 24hrs 7 days aweek. There was a problem I had with a part, called Ramzi and resolved it right away, even thou he was on holidays.

Thanks
Nick

Same here, on Sunday while travelling, no less.