55 fairlane heater control cable question
 

anyone out there know the exact length of the heater control cable for the Magicaire heater control in a 55 Fairlane town sedan? thanx ahead of time TiGuy

Re: 55 fairlane heater control cable question
 

Well.....there are THREE cables from the Magic-Aire System control. The top cable goes to the thermostatically controlled water valve located inside the entrance to the cardboard heater register. The second tier has two cables. One opens the right air damper at the fresh air intake duct and the other one opens/closes the defrost damper bellcrank located inside the metal heater plenum housing. They're all different lengths.
Possibly some of the repro parts suppliers catalogs give the lengths they sell.
Once upon a time, they sold all three cables in a kit.

Re: 55 fairlane heater control cable question
 

Ya that's the one i need.. for the water valve.. my valve is located in the engine compartment on the left side by the hood hinge.. its over 3 feet long .. i replaced the cable that broke with a longer one but its still too short to reach the end of the water valve.. i can keep making them longer till it reaches .. it just would be nice to have the mesurement so i can make it beforehand.. i saw those kits but they are around 75 bucks.. and i don't need the other 2 cables

Re: 55 fairlane heater control cable question
 

There were two types of controls used in '55/56:
1) the el cheapo vacuum control type has a vacuum thermostat valve located inside the heater register, controlled by the temperature cable. It has a vacuum hose that runs to a water valve located on the top front of the engine intake manifold.
2) the deluxe system has a capillary tube temperature control valve, requiring no vacuum and it also is located at the entrance to the heater plenum. It is also controlled by the temperature control cable. For this system, there is no water valve on the manifold, but a 90 degree elbow for the water hose feeding the system.
Regardless which system you have, the control cable is about the same length, which I wouldn't think would need to be longer than 3 feet.
If you have something different than either of these two, it is probably a handyman special fix.
The 55 Ford car shop manual has an excellent description and illustration of these factory systems.