Manual heat controls in an '83 SC?

[tirwin]

Can someone tell me whether an '83 SC had one or two manual levers for heat control? I am thinking about changing from the auto controls to the lever style. Looks like the auto has a servo that only controls just the one lever. Is it as simple as adding the lever with the red handle and a different shroud over the e-brake? Or is it more complicated than that?

[cmonref]

If you have a single lever in your autoheat, then you should use a single lever for heat. That lever will control both heater boxes. But your lever is installed to rotate freely as the autoheat system moves it up and down. If you just remove the autoheat, the spring on the heater boxes will return the lever to the down position as soon as you let it go. The manual heat had a different center bolt and a different combination of washers, plus the addition of friction washers, which would hold the lever wherever you left it. I used PET and studied the heater control system and figured out what different parts I would need to do this conversion. You'll need to do this study for yourself so that you will be able to put it all together in the right order on the shaft that mounts the lever.

[mack6820]

my 83sc has 2 levers

[brads911sc]

Auto Heat - 1 lever. Manual heat - 2 Levers. The cables were different. Even the heater flapper box was different. Like Brian noted. This is going to require abit of study and may require some NLA parts unless you can tweak the auto heat setup.

[Scott R]

It's very simple to convert to manual levers, just get a set from the classified, any set from like the 70's forward will work. Get some metal wire from the hardware store, that's all the heater cables are. You do not need new flapper boxes or anything for that matter, just the metal wire and the levers.

[javadog]

Actually, you do need more than just the wire and the levers. Post #2 sums it up pretty well. A little studying of the parts diagram really helps here. It's probably easiest to just buy a complete, used handbrake assembly to get the parts.

JR

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by javadog

Actually, you do need more than just the wire and the levers. Post #2 sums it up pretty well. A little studying of the parts diagram really helps here. It's probably easiest to just buy a complete, used handbrake assembly to get the parts.

JR

Yea, I meant get the levers and manual console.

[tirwin]

Thanks, fellas! I will study the PET and try to make a decision.