GA interior heater radiator valve repair?

[75GC]

I'm trying to get my GA heater working for VIC rego. Radiator removed and pressure tested ok, but valve is leaking that controls hot water flow / temperature. I suspect this was the reason why the water pipes were cut off and isolated many years ago.
Any suggestions for repair or replacement? I have a spare parts GB but it had a different radiator design. I may still try to modify or adapt the GB valve if possible. I'm guessing there aren't many spare GA valves floating around...
Not sure of the specific leak point yet but I may try and solder it. Anyway, thought it was worth a question for other solutions to this problem. Thanks, Andrew

[fridgeGB]

Yep you won't find the same one anywhere. Repco, autobarn, CHEAPA auto spares, supercheap, will all have the same universal valve. I had to get one of those and just adapt it to make it work. Once u can get it mounted that's the hard part done. It will be a bit of a bitch to do, but once u have figured it out it will work a treat good luck

[shuggy]

Post a photo.

I used a XY Falcon tap from rare spares in my GD. Perfect match

[tandanus]

Heater taps for GAs are unobtainium.
Even the ones in the wreckers are no good any more.
And yes, GB is different.
The universal ones will work, but you might end up with a heap of pipe and right-angle bends under the glove box.
I did this on mine - it worked fine.
Getting the tap to match with the cable was a little tricky, then routing the pipe through the firewall was a hassle.
And the hot heater pipe smelled for a while.
But it can be done - just depends how much work you want to put in.
T.

[Billsy]

why not run it straight to the engine with a inline tap in the engine bay.
i did that for one of my cars for years, leave it open in winter and off in summer.

[75GC]

Thanks for the comments and suggestions. I plan to fit a new valve and adapt/modify. I'm thinking of starting a build page with all these little mods..

[geezer101]

If you're going to have a bash at a heater valve mod, why not pull the whole heater box out and reco it? Chances are it will be full of nasty garbage and the direction flap seals and case seals will be perished.

[tandanus]

^^^^^^^^^^
Great tip.
Chances are 100% I'd reckon
T.

[75GC]

Ha, yes, full heater box removed. And I did find a row of old (uninhabited) wasp nests inside the heater box! Rubber around outside air flap not in great condition but probably won't try to replace. Just a thorough clean.
I plan to post some photos soon showing what I plan to do with the heater control tap/valve. I found several heater taps at Rare Spares. Best match appears to be XY as suggested above, although different orientation and $84 seemed expensive to me. At least it had the same valve mechanism (in line) compared with all the other types which were ball valves and $46 each. Don't really mind what I end up with as long the heater works. Thanks again for the posts.

[75GC]

Thought I'd update that I managed to modify and fit the standard inline Super Cheap Auto ball valve in my GA and connected you the heater control lever. Comments were correct... it was a very tedious process, and I have a loop water pipe just visible below my storage shelf/heater unit, but it's functional and very effective. I'll have to post a few photos to show the final setup. One challenge was actually working out how to connect the heater pipes to the engine. Sounds easy right? But since my car had been disconnected I didn't realise it was completely missing the L shaped pipe from the front exhaust side of the engine, bends around the back, with supply to the inlet manifold and heater. So after a couple of failed attempts I worked out what I was missing, bolted it on, and hot water was flowing. Phew, glad that's over.

[geezer101]

For future reference you can replace seals inside a heater box on the cheap. You know that self adhesive door and window foam? Just clean the casing, cut the stuff to fit and press it down. Don't bother trying to cover the back of the air flapper doors, strip the decaying foam off the back of them and use the foam strip on the ledges inside the heater case -

[75GC]

Great tip, thanks. Not sure I can be bothered removing it in the near future but I may re-route piping one day to tidy it up, so could do what you suggest then.