The original fan blows air under the dash behind there so yeah it would blow air through that 'contraption' which would then heat the interior.

 

It's actually quite smart when you think about it

i found out about these heater tap prices when i found a (perfectly working) alfa romeo item in my car. i thought, WTF and went on the hunt for a NOS toyota item and found out why a previous owner had done the swap. needless to say, i still have the alfa part in there. if the core does break in my car i'll just rip it out and claim 'race car lightness' as a reason for not having it. :D