What's the opposite of progress? Anti-progress? Un-progress?
Anyway, I digress.
The work we've carried out this weekend has not been entirely successful. We continued to strip the ducting away from the heater box;
IMG_2185-2 by
Chris, on Flickr
Which eventually led to the separation of the two halves, leaving the air con cooler in place;
IMG_2196 by
Chris, on Flickr
- The heater radiator in the bit in the passenger footwell
There wasn't much in way of evidence that the radiator has been leaking though;
IMG_2206 by
Chris, on Flickr
IMG_2214 by
Chris, on Flickr
And this is where the problems started. I've been told, by several sources, that the heater matrix is the same as the one from a Saab 9000. Which makes sense if you consider it - various parts on the car come from Alfa Romeos and the 164 uses the same floorpan as the 9000.
The matrix is the same size. But the outlet pipes are different. On the 9000, they leave the end cap vertically whilst on the matrix fitted to the car they are angled. In addition, the pipes on the original are different lengths, but they are the same lengths on the 9000 matrix;
IMG_2219 by
Chris, on Flickr
Some of these issues we had anticipated and dismissed as being easy enough to work around. However, the real issue is the pipe diameter of the 9000 matrix is smaller than the the connecting pipes in the car and smaller than the outlet pipes of the original matrix.
However and to complicate things, I do not believe the heater matrix is the original as it is dated Feb 1996;
IMG_2216 by
Chris, on Flickr
It also has a Fiat/Lancia/Alfa parts symbol on it, which makes me think it's out of a 164.
All of which means, if I had used the 9000 matrix, I think there's a good chance it would've leaked due to the pipes being too small. And I don't know what heater matrix it should have in it as the one in the car isn't original.
I've left it with my Dad who's going to do more research.