Well, this is what happens when I am not really clear about what I want to do.
I'm calling it an early night, I left the car a mess, need to go back to it with a fresh mind tomorrow.
I got the heater box out. Probably should have waited, don't have the money for a new heater core right now. Don't know if it really needs one, but I'd just as soon replace it now.
I did find that the blower motor has been replaced. That was why the wiring for it in the engine compartment was funky.
I took the motor out and no signs of critters, or even anything except dirt. This car is covered in dirt, but since it sat for who knows how long here in the desert that isn't surprising.
The box came out easy enough. The real pain was the defroster vent. It was just sitting loose in the dash, so I thought "Let's get it out of the way, how hard can it be?". After trying for quite a while to maneuver it, I finally had to take the dash support off from the trans tunnel. I can't wait to try to get it back in place.
I took the yellow box out that seems to be 74 specific. It just has a connector and a small circuit board that has one IC and a whole bunch of resistors and capacitors, plus a few other things. I am going to try real hard to eliminate it from the car, 40 year old electronics like that don't fill me with confidence. I might have to get into the wiring harness again.
And a strange thing. I had noticed a while back my driver's fresh air vent duct was shot. Came apart at the ribs. But looking at the passenger side tonight, it seems really solid. Makes no sense to me.
I'm going to need a new heater control eventually. This one is really bent up along the face plate. And I found the reason why the temp control cable wasn't on the lever. Seems there is a metal bracket that holds the two cable housings motionless and also attaches to the control near where the cables attach to the levers. Mine is broken at the temp control side. A previous owner tried to fix it with baling wire, but that won't hold it enough. I imagine I can make one out of sheet metal, the hard part for me will be to get the ends curled over to hold the cables.
Page 36-14-2 figure 2 of the 1974 Manual (I can't seem to copy that page) shows this being two separate pieces, one for each cable. But mine is one piece, or was until it broke.
Not the first time I have found a difference between the manual and my car. The control that is in that figure doesn't look like mine, either.
I think tomorrow I need to concentrate a bit more on general cleaning and putting parts back where I got them from before I forget where that was. I try to keep hardware in baggies with a 3x5 card stating what they are for, but we are a bit low on baggies right now.
Thanks,
Russ