Just bought some SSIs! Now I just need a heater.
 

Just won the auction for a pair of SSIs in seemingly good condition from eBay. Looking forward to putting those on along with an M&K twin outlet.

So it looks like I'll be moving to Colorado in about 7 months or so. That's all fine and dandy, I'm plenty excited about it, except the previous owner removed the heater from my car. So now my big car project will be scrounging up allllllll of those parts he removed so I'll be able to drive without freezing.

To be honest, I don't even know where to start. Can anyone give me any kind of parts list, or anything, maybe some links that would help me to have heat again?

not much heater to remove. cables pull a flap open in the rear heater valves and two hoses connects them to the exchangers. the SSIs provide GREAT heat, so you're almost there. maybe the engine mounted heat blower motor was removed. there's about $300 for a new one. used ones usually are worn out and can be noisy.

Oh thank goodness, I was afraid it was going to cost mega bucks. Since the SSIs are based on the older style exhaust, will I have to change anything over on my 78? Or buy any older-model heater parts instead of SC parts?

I've just done this on my '82 SC, although I decided to remove the engine bay blower and rely on the engine fan to supply the heat as per earlier cars.

I was a little apprehensive about removing the old system after reading various horror stories about the studs and nuts.

Although the previous system was fairly intact from an exhaust gases point of view the exchanger shrouds were rotting away nicely - I imagine I was leaving most of the available hot air behind me.

I spent a few hours with a small grinder just cutting it all off, which left me excellent access to the studs. I didn't bother soaking the nuts, I just heated them with oxyacet until they glowed cherry red, then span them off with a cordless impact driver. They virtually fell off, with the exception of two which I discovered weren't nuts but set screws. They came out with heat to the crankcase.

I went with the correct barrels and nuts on reassembly with SSIs, you have to be a bit ingenious getting a coupe of the nuts on.

It isn't essential to have the blower, as SSIs generate more heat than conventional steel exchangers, you may get away with just your SSIs and silencer with heater hose and the backdated heated ducts for either side of the engine fan.

i have just removed all of the heater parts in the front trunk area from my 78 sc. if interested in any parts let me know.

You should 'backdate' the heating system, the blower motor on the SC sucks anyway. If you open the levers and crack the front windows a bit, you'll get a really good draw of heat through the car.

Plenty of heat with SSI's and no blower. In fact, it really is too much heat once the car is warmed up. I usually only open the heater levers half way or less and then only intermittently.

Backdate the heat and toss that crappy blower motor. We've been having a cold spell in SoCal (yeah, who'da thought, huh?) with temps in the high 30s and the heater will melt my shoe if I leave it on full-blast after driving for maybe 3 or 4 minutes. It's honestly better than the heater in my MINI or the heater in my mom's Lexus.

Not trying to rain on your parade but Colorado has vehicle emission requirements. This requires vehicles to be tested. Considering you are planning to back date the exhaust, (basically removing the factory cross over pipe and catalytic converter) this may present an issue with the visual inspection.

I don't know how strict the actual testing of the emissions are--maybe someone from Colorado can chime in.

I am in NY (colder than Colorado). With SSI and M+K, and with no engine blower, plenty of heat.

I'm in CO. The emissions requirements vary by county. I'm in Araphahoe, so I'm subject to some pretty stringent requirements. On the plus side, once I passed the e-test, I could get a "collector" license, which allows me to skip the e-test from here on out (until the car changes hands again, and the new owner has to e-test).

I'll be in el paso county.

I think I'll ditch the heater blower. Hey, it's excess weight anyways. I'll also make sure to keep my old exhaust stuff, just in case I need to switch it all back for an inspection.

So looks like with my next paycheck my heater project will start. Hopefully I won't have any problems getting the old heat exchangers off. I don't have a torch, but my car only has 40K miles, and practically no rust anywhere, so hopefully the studs aren't too bad.

Oh, and by the way - I was under the impression that the SSIs are pretty interchangeable. As for the ones I'm buying, the owner said they came off a 2.2 liter car. They'll still fit, right? I just have to swap some oil lines?

Very true statement no blower needed!

Good for you, no emissions program for gas-powered vehicles in that county.

Those of us in the Denver metro area are subject to quite stringent emissions requirements, especially for model years 1982 and newer.

I was in El Paso as well and did have to have an initial emissions test. I have SSI's. 99.456% of technicians will not know the SSI's from an exhaust bearing. I was able to lean out the mixture and passed w/o a cat.

Just want to make sure I'm buying the proper model muffler, since the SSIs are essentially backdated exhaust manifolds:

MK-MNEB-22-T M&K Exhaust Stainless Steel Muffler - 2 in 2 out - Tips Polished, 911 (1974-89), 914-6

(Yes I do want dual outlet)