last time I went to do mine I wasn't really thinking and got coolant ALL over me so I reconnected the tube and went into shower and haven't been back to it since LOL

Good work on that its NOT a fun job, make sure you give your coolant a good flush while you're at it... sometimes rust and all kinds of things will buildup in the radiator.

Most people simply put a hose in and let the stuff go all over their yard not exactly eco friendly but who really cares?

 

Don't bother with insulation, if you get the foam stuff, it could burn. The hose may get some rubbing from being too tight but should not be a problem.
To others: run the un-cut hose into the two holes from the engine compartment, hook the ends to the completed heater box and install the box. Now lay in the hoses to their fittings and then make the cuts. If done right, you will complain that the hoses are too long - a good thing.
Jim

 

No, it wasn't a fun job at all, and took much longer than I had anticipated. First off, I pulled the hoses off the engine side without draining the coolant and ended up with about 2 gallons of coolant all over the engine compartment, garage floor, and myself before I was able to hook-up a loop cable.When that was cleaned up, I was able to get the heater box out of the car after removing the center console,passenger seat, and moving the AC unit out of the way. The heater core was filthy and all the foam seals had completely deteriorated into ash. This along with all the rust was a jobin itself, and then painting, applying all the new seals, and getting the box back in the car made for a long day...broken up over two days...

Anyhow, its not the most difficult job in the world, just messy and time consuming...

 

Couple of ideas while you're at it...Here's a photo showing a close routing of the hoses along the edge of the intake manifold. The hoses are zip tied together and neatly tucked. Also note the round plastic device in line towards the back. That is a vacuum valve. In the photo, you see the vacuum diagram attached to the carb. When the engine starts and the carb pulls a vacuum, it actuates the valve, closing off hot water to the heater core. The advantage to this (duh) is that it cuts off the flow of hot water through the heater core inside the pass compartment. Even with the newly rebuilt heater box, the 180 degree water adds radiant heat to the passenger compartment. Using a cut off valve reduces this cabin heat. In the winter time, I jus unplug the vacuum line and cap it Then the water flows through the heater core normally.

The valve is a mid 80s Ford pickup unit.