i need help with an '85 Calais heater core

[Tei]

For starters, i know so little about automotive repair, i'm a disgrace to my gender.

That being said, i have an '85 Cutlass Calais with a leaking heater core. The leak was confirmed by my mechanic (who's also my brother) and told me it needed to be replaced. No problem. i went to the nearest auto part store and ordered -to my knowledge- the only possible heater core i could buy on the market. Every store -local, online or otherwise- has offered me the same exact part with the same exact model number.

After 3 weeks of waiting, getting the wrong part, re-ordering it, paying a pointless restocking fee and waiting for my mechanic to check it out...the sucker won't fit.

For one, the "hoses" on the new core are solid pipes. The same appendages in the old core are rubber hoses. There's virtually no room to squeeze the one end up through the firewall to attach to...wherever it needs to go...and one end of one of these "hoses"/"pipes" are too big to even poke through the hole already provided. The end of the larger hose also looks bigger and i'm not sure if it'll even attach to...wherever it goes. i can't SEE where it attaches without crawling under the car so i can't check to be sure.

i just want to know if i'm wasting my time or if there's something i missed. i can't find a heater core for sale anywhere that actually looks like the heater core i removed from the car in the first place (for instance, with rubber hoses). Even the parts for '84 and '86 models are the same exact part. Do i need to drill a new hole through the firewall?

[Tei]

Well, we found what the problem was. it probably helps to install your parts RiGHT SiDE UP, huh? For the record, we still needed to drill the hole. it's a mystery as to why though.

[xeroinfinity]

Welcome to AF !

If your old heater core had hoses then the new one should be exactly the same size and everthing.
The core should have metal pipes that stick thru the firewall then you attach the hose(s) under the hood.

Hope you got it in, winter weather is on its way.