Introduction

[Tmack]

I'm an old guy who likes fast cars and has drag raced a 65 GTO which I bought new. I recently bought a 65 Catalina convertible which is in good condition but has small problems. I'm trying to get the heater controls to work correctly.
This a non AC car with vacuum controls to operate the heat-defrost valves.
It has one push button which says REAR. What should this do? Also, there is a three outlet vacuum valve on the side of the heater control. Which one is for the engine vacuum and where do the other two go? There is a vacuum module
(activator) on one end under the dashboard and another on the fire wall by the
fan motor. I think the valve may be plugged as I can only get one path through the valve to work.If anyone has experience with this problem, please give me your advice.

 

[melsg5]

I would think REAR is for the rear defogger. Did you look at the rear deck area and the trunk to see if it has a rear defogger?
If there are no hoses connected to the controller you need a copy of the 1965 Service Manual available from sources such as www.amesperf.com .

 

[Kraig1957]

I'm an old guy who likes fast cars and has drag raced a 65 GTO which I bought new. I recently bought a 65 Catalina convertible which is in good condition but has small problems. I'm trying to get the heater controls to work correctly.
This a non AC car with vacuum controls to operate the heat-defrost valves.
It has one push button which says REAR. What should this do? Also, there is a three outlet vacuum valve on the side of the heater control. Which one is for the engine vacuum and where do the other two go? There is a vacuum module
(activator) on one end under the dashboard and another on the fire wall by the
fan motor. I think the valve may be plugged as I can only get one path through the valve to work.If anyone has experience with this problem, please give me your advice.

I'll attach a couple of pictures, should be worth a couple thousand words.

They are from the 1963 shop manual. I also have the 1964 supplemental manual, but it didn't show any changes from 1963 to 1964 for the heater.

 

[Tmack]

Thanks for your reply and drawings. I have a convertible so I have no rear defroster as shown on one of your drawings. I guess the button does nothing. My latest problem is the vacuum actuator for the heater air inlet on the firewall. It will not open without a little help from my finger, but once it is open it will stay open. I have 18 inches of engine vacuum and the actuator for the defroster works OK. The spring tension on the air inlet door seems a little stiff but I don't know how a person could have messed with that without taking it apart. Is the actuator bad? Did anyone ever have this problem?

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[Kraig1957]

The thumbnails are for both sides of the firewall. The first diagram is the passenger compartment side, the second diagram is the engine compartment side.