Ceramic Heater Installation

Over the past few weeks I removed the A/C and heater housing and put in a ceramic heater. The weather here is mild in the summer - low humidity and temperatures rarely above 26C (79F) - so the decision to remove the A/C was made long ago.
Here is a photo of the plenum before the ceramic heater was put in. Taking it out meant removing the steering column and the entire instrument panel. Not fun, but certainly a learning experience.




Here is the original insides. There was evidence of a mouse having lived in there! It apparently come in through either the external or internal intake (recirculation intake) and made a comfortable nest next to the A/C evaporator. I don't know how long it had been abandoned. A spray down with bleach-water was in order, followed by a thorough vacuuming.




Following several examples of what others have done, I purchased an in expensive ceramic heater from local hardware store for $30. And promptly disassembled it.




The actual ceramic heater element is quite small compared to the heater core from the PT Cruiser. It is mounted on a plastic fan housing. I decided to keep the housing, sans fan, and mount it in the location previously occupied by the evaporator.












Once it was all back together, the baffle that shunts the air to the non-existent heater core was permanently closed. I plan to repurpose the dash knob that had been attached to it as a thermostat instead,




The wires go out through the evaporator drain. I'll orient the drain tube upwards when it is finally installed. The openings for the evaporator and heater core were plugged.

Transmission Adapter

Here are some photos of the transmission adapter I had manufactured. It's one of the more expensive parts being put into the car.

Since the original donor vehicle had an automatic transmission, I had to purchase a new clutch disk. These are surprisingly hard to find for a PT Cruiser. Most parts dealers only want to sell an entire clutch along with the disk. It's understandable why - the effort involved in removing the transmission from the vehicle is so great that the added cost of replacing the entire clutch would be worthwhile. Not so any longer. We've had the motor and tranny in and out more times than I care to remember during the engine mount fit checks.

The clutch disk was intended for a Dodge Neon, which has the same transmission as the PT Cruiser.