So I guess this means time for a heater core.

^^Agreed, it's just time consuming.

I never use the heater & rarely the A/C because it only gets used in the FL late fall, winter & early spring.
If you're going to remove the dashboard, might as well replace the A/C condenser, too.
It may not be hard to do, but all the old plastic will break.

I just had this condensation pop up the other day and I thought I smelled antifreeze, too. Sucks. Since all the NOS OEM Ford heater cores are unobtanium priced, what’s the go-to name brand for replacement?

Mustang5L5 said:

The fox market is just not that big to justify multiple manufacturers for some of these products having to compete with each other. For a lot of these parts, there's only one person making them. Different 3rd part shops buy them and repackage them under their own brand

I don't know for sure, but I suspect this is the case for the cores. Before i snagged a NOS core, i ordered 3-4 to compare and they all looked identical with the same stamps and such.

Click to expand...

That’s what I was afraid of. I suppose I’ll buy whatever brand looks the best in the moment and pressure test it before everything gets buttoned up. Maybe throw some extra solder on any potential weak spots. Make sure the old sealer is cleaned out real well and generous amounts of RTV to allow some flexibility? Any other thoughts?

The original heater core let go on my 89 GT last fall. I spent a couple weeks hunting for a brass replacement or someone to recore my original one at a fair price. Unfortunately, at that time, I could not source a brass one and the only rad shop in town that repairs radiators wanted a little over $600 to recore my original one. I could not justify that. I bought the best one Napa had with a lifetime warranty. It is aluminum unfortunately, but it was only $60. I think the 87-93 cars are easier to do than the 4 eyes so I am not worried if I have to change it sooner than later. I did source another brass one earlier this summer for the next time.

Perhaps this will help ?