Junkyard Heater Core Searching Adventure

Today I went to the local automobile recycler and repair facility.
I have never been to a junkyard before... it turned out to be quite an adventure.

If you dont know where a heater core is found in an automobile I suggest you do some research, I had not known where they were located until today. They are located underneath the dash air vent on the passenger side. When opening the hood of the automobile there is some plasitc-like housing with elecrical wires and copper tubes going in it, thats where you'll find one.

I was looking for a heater core with the approx dimensions of 2"x6"x9" roughly, something that would fit 2 120mm fans side by side.

I had only an hour to search for the perfect heater core cause the place closed earlier on saturdays(I got up at 12:00, it closed at 2:00).

Anyway, I came out with a perfect chevette heatercore. (I will post pics soon when I figure out how to.)

Things you should know:

1. Bring lots of tools when you goto these places, heatercores on some models of cars are a pain in the *** to get.

2. Heater cores are worth looking for in these types of places, if the car was takin care of properly when it was in use, the heatercore should be in great shape. Weathering on the car shouldnt be a concern, the heatercores are protected in a plastic housing, they will be kept well preserved in most cases.

3. This will save you money, and it is an excellent adventure if you havent done anything like this before. I am going to bring a friend next time to help.

BTW. I only paid $25 CDN for my heater core.

SWEET!

Junkyards rule!

Junk yards are cool but I don't think I would spend the time or money going after a chevette heater core. Mine was $15 (Am)new from auto zone. And it comes with a warantee

Unfortunately Canada lacks AutoZone or any substitute.
A lowest price for the new heatercore from friend mechanic would be about Cad$40.

On the other hand metal recycling places tend to have piles of heatercores in all sizes imaginable. They usually let them go for about 5 bucks cash. Ususally, if you explain that you need a working one, they let you get away with a couple or more of them for that price because they not sure if they work and they buy them for 40 cents a pound from auto scrap places.
My best find so far was an aluminum one where i could feet exactly four 80mm fans on each side. I am not a big fan of leds and all but with a right person this would turn a great looker with impressive airflow.

I have just tested it running it for 30 minutes in a closed loop.
It doesnt leak! yay

Nothing really nasty came out of it either.

Its so easy to find the heatercore on a Jeep Wranger. I've never used a Jeep heatercore for watercooling, but I drive one, so that's how I know. You just look inside and it's there

Yep thats where i got my Heater Core. And it was only $6

Yea, some vehicles it is easier to access a heatercore than others. Jeeps and Vans and some trucks its easy to find them. Most cars on the other hand... pain in the butt :/