^yeah that is solid advice. The screws and the resistor element generally rust in them and they are fragile. Don't ghetto fix it and bypass the heater core. This is one of those jobs that is a nuisance to do but the consequences are worse - like funky old coolant in the cab (smells awesome, ruins the carpet and underlining and turns the floor pan into a swamp...) and continuously running the risk of a cooling system failure.
Check this out - https://www.ebay.com/itm/For-Dodge-R...YAAOSwc6Zb~ocd (for Gen 2 but might be compatible with a Gen 1)
There may be a compatible heater valve but the universal ones I've seen online will take some modifications and different hoses to get them to 'sort of' work.
Bookmarks