Well since it was about 35 yesterday, I decided to take the Valiant to pick the little one up from school. When it got to operating temperature, I just left the fan on. To further test it, I turned the air conditioning fan to full and the thermostat to the coldest setting. In stages of course since I didn't want the embarrassment of being stranded. It all worked really well, and I left the fan on a few minutes after stopping each time to prevent the usual heat build up, which all too often leads to an embarrassing blowing off of excess pressure (and water).
Also during Friday I visited the wrecker and got a nice looking volt meter from a Magna (well, it was probably put together in the same factory). Have to put it on yet, but it tested OK. Should then be able to tell if we ever get a case of over voltage or if the alternator just dies.
I also picked up a different thermostat: One I had a threaded nut for. Although I haven't faltered yet with turning the fan on and off, it'd be nice if it were taken care of automatically. This will be a job for next week.
Drive safely, preferably in an old Valiant, of course.
Showing posts with label Air conditioning. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Air conditioning. Show all posts
Saturday, March 9, 2013
Monday, January 7, 2013
Hot weather and how to keep the old girl cool
When you have a classic car with A/C how do you keep it cool?
Here are some tips for keeping your car cool, from most easiest to less easiest ;-):
1. Clean your radiator, check your thermostat. I was amazed at how much rusty crap was blocking the radiator a few months ago. Clean it, as in take the radiator out of the car and tip it upside-down, hose it and buy some new concentrated anti-boil/anti-freeze. Also, very important to solder up any leaks or take it to get it fixed: Water leaks get worse due to the increase in pressure when it's hot. While you're at this, check your thermostat. If it works OK but your radiator isn't the best since they're all old and most have a few blockages, you can reduce the possibility of overheating by fitting a lower temperature thermostat. this makes the engine run slightly less efficiently, but I'd rather it use a little more fuel than break down at the first traffic jam. In Melbourne, very heavy traffic is a given and a nightmare for old cars.
2. Fit a better fan. The std fan for the Valiant 225 is a four blade. This is crap really, and at a recent (Bendigo, Nov 2012) swap meet I got a chromed hemi 6 bladed chromed fan (although the chrome has seen better days) for $10. This definitely made a big difference, but the car still overheats on really hot days (like last Saturday, 40°C). Bloody heavy fan but it pulls a lot more air through. It made a difference straight away, and the Val would definitely have failed on me before now if I hadn't done this.
3. Fit a shroud between the fan and the radiator, as close as possible to the fan. This forces more air to come from the front of the car into the radiator, rather than from around the engine bay. I modified a modern plastic one, pulled off a Volvo. Doesn't matter if you cut, glue, tape, screw etc. it together if you just want the effect.
4. Fit an electric fan. I bought one but haven't fitted it yet. It's the narrowest large diameter electric fan I could find ($60 ebay, sent from QLD) because the A/C compressor means there isn't much space. Electric fans have the advantage of efficiency: They don't operate when the water's cold and since it's not driven by the motor they don't take any effort to run (you get more horsepower and better fuel economy, and it gets better at higher engine speed like extractors). That said, they do require electricity, and when running, the alternator produces more drag on the engine. However, it's the best solution and the most difficult (I haven't done it yet). You'll need to completely remove the manual fan, of course, and possibly fit new screws (in case you need to put back the old fan which you should keep somewhere handy).
5. Check/renew your water pump. If your water pump is an older one or you have been a bit slack in putting the green inhibitor in the water it'll be corroded, and much less effective. It's easy to remove the pump and check this. If your pump is badly corroded, get a new one. I have a new one in the shed (hmm.. might start keeping it in the car - you never know) and they're not expensive or hard to find (auto surplus in Mitcham usually have them in stock, or even Repco). If your old one was corroded, you'll notice an immediate improvement.
Here are a few driving tips:
1. Is your car an automatic? If so, put it into neutral at the lights: Melbourne has the worst traffic and sitting at the lights is what overheats your car. Here's why: Your car idles slow in neutral, slower in drive, and it seems that although the faster idle creates more heat, the faster fan speed as well as the faster water pump more than makes up for this. I've tested it and in drive, my car overheats much faster than in neutral. If the traffic lights are known to take more than a minute to change, turn the engine off.
2. With aftermarket A/C you usually have a thermostat dial: When at the lights, turn it to warmer (less cold) and have the car in neutral. When not at the lights have it cooler.
The A/C heats your coolant up in two ways:
i. Dragging on the engine, slowing it down and creating more work for it.
ii. The condensor (at the front of the radiator) is the hot part of the heat exchanger, and heats up the air before it gets to the radiator (it sits in front of the radiator).
If your car is overheating, choose all or some of the following to slow or stop it (depending on the circumstances):
* Turn off the A/C.
* Stop the car. The water temperature will appear to go up rapidly when you do this and the radiator may blow out some water due to the pressure.
* Turn on the heater. This will provide additional cooling, albeit at the expense of comfort.
When you stop the car whilst overheating, it will probably blow some pressure in the form of water and/or steam. This is normal and nothing to worry about. If you're wanting to just put in some more water either wait for the engine to cool down (like, an hour) or throw a cloth over the radiator cap and remove it (note: It's really dangerous to remove the cap from a hot engine) then with the engine running pour in some water. If you don't have the engine running, the temperature difference once you start the engine may crack the block or head.
So to summarise:
* Flush your radiator by removing it
OK, that's Mike's tips for driving in the heat. I didn't drive the Val today: Took the missus' Verada instead (mmm... thermostatically controlled electric fan). Told you I hadn't installed the electric one yet: Might do so this week.
Mike
Here are some tips for keeping your car cool, from most easiest to less easiest ;-):
1. Clean your radiator, check your thermostat. I was amazed at how much rusty crap was blocking the radiator a few months ago. Clean it, as in take the radiator out of the car and tip it upside-down, hose it and buy some new concentrated anti-boil/anti-freeze. Also, very important to solder up any leaks or take it to get it fixed: Water leaks get worse due to the increase in pressure when it's hot. While you're at this, check your thermostat. If it works OK but your radiator isn't the best since they're all old and most have a few blockages, you can reduce the possibility of overheating by fitting a lower temperature thermostat. this makes the engine run slightly less efficiently, but I'd rather it use a little more fuel than break down at the first traffic jam. In Melbourne, very heavy traffic is a given and a nightmare for old cars.
2. Fit a better fan. The std fan for the Valiant 225 is a four blade. This is crap really, and at a recent (Bendigo, Nov 2012) swap meet I got a chromed hemi 6 bladed chromed fan (although the chrome has seen better days) for $10. This definitely made a big difference, but the car still overheats on really hot days (like last Saturday, 40°C). Bloody heavy fan but it pulls a lot more air through. It made a difference straight away, and the Val would definitely have failed on me before now if I hadn't done this.
3. Fit a shroud between the fan and the radiator, as close as possible to the fan. This forces more air to come from the front of the car into the radiator, rather than from around the engine bay. I modified a modern plastic one, pulled off a Volvo. Doesn't matter if you cut, glue, tape, screw etc. it together if you just want the effect.
4. Fit an electric fan. I bought one but haven't fitted it yet. It's the narrowest large diameter electric fan I could find ($60 ebay, sent from QLD) because the A/C compressor means there isn't much space. Electric fans have the advantage of efficiency: They don't operate when the water's cold and since it's not driven by the motor they don't take any effort to run (you get more horsepower and better fuel economy, and it gets better at higher engine speed like extractors). That said, they do require electricity, and when running, the alternator produces more drag on the engine. However, it's the best solution and the most difficult (I haven't done it yet). You'll need to completely remove the manual fan, of course, and possibly fit new screws (in case you need to put back the old fan which you should keep somewhere handy).
5. Check/renew your water pump. If your water pump is an older one or you have been a bit slack in putting the green inhibitor in the water it'll be corroded, and much less effective. It's easy to remove the pump and check this. If your pump is badly corroded, get a new one. I have a new one in the shed (hmm.. might start keeping it in the car - you never know) and they're not expensive or hard to find (auto surplus in Mitcham usually have them in stock, or even Repco). If your old one was corroded, you'll notice an immediate improvement.
Here are a few driving tips:
1. Is your car an automatic? If so, put it into neutral at the lights: Melbourne has the worst traffic and sitting at the lights is what overheats your car. Here's why: Your car idles slow in neutral, slower in drive, and it seems that although the faster idle creates more heat, the faster fan speed as well as the faster water pump more than makes up for this. I've tested it and in drive, my car overheats much faster than in neutral. If the traffic lights are known to take more than a minute to change, turn the engine off.
2. With aftermarket A/C you usually have a thermostat dial: When at the lights, turn it to warmer (less cold) and have the car in neutral. When not at the lights have it cooler.
The A/C heats your coolant up in two ways:
i. Dragging on the engine, slowing it down and creating more work for it.
ii. The condensor (at the front of the radiator) is the hot part of the heat exchanger, and heats up the air before it gets to the radiator (it sits in front of the radiator).
If your car is overheating, choose all or some of the following to slow or stop it (depending on the circumstances):
* Turn off the A/C.
* Stop the car. The water temperature will appear to go up rapidly when you do this and the radiator may blow out some water due to the pressure.
* Turn on the heater. This will provide additional cooling, albeit at the expense of comfort.
When you stop the car whilst overheating, it will probably blow some pressure in the form of water and/or steam. This is normal and nothing to worry about. If you're wanting to just put in some more water either wait for the engine to cool down (like, an hour) or throw a cloth over the radiator cap and remove it (note: It's really dangerous to remove the cap from a hot engine) then with the engine running pour in some water. If you don't have the engine running, the temperature difference once you start the engine may crack the block or head.
So to summarise:
* Flush your radiator by removing it
OK, that's Mike's tips for driving in the heat. I didn't drive the Val today: Took the missus' Verada instead (mmm... thermostatically controlled electric fan). Told you I hadn't installed the electric one yet: Might do so this week.
Mike
Tuesday, January 24, 2012
AC guy, soul and conscience-free solicitors and damage repair
I won't be recommending the AC guy, because of a couple of things. He broke my heater core (green water leaked all over the new carpet), removed the gasket between heater box and air intake, then renegged on the deal that we had. He kept changing his mind about what he wanted and finally said the deal was off and he was unilaterally changing it so I had to pay him a heap of cash! If I didn't pay? He threatened to "send the boys round" to collect this fictitious money. He also refused to acknowledge the damage to the heater or the removed gasket. The gasket is actually a large piece that seals the air. Without it, the air box is effectively always 100% open! My 9YO daughter didn't approve, particulary returning from Bendigo through the mountains during Winter.
So with that, I now agree with my mate Dave, who has a '74 Charger. He said he has never found a mechanic in any field who does things properly. I'd thought he was just cynical but every time I've not done something myself, I've been disappointed.
I dropped the car in a few weeks ago to have the wheels balanced and was extremely nervous when it took longer than expected. It was almost certainly due to the floor guys not knowing about the Val's left hand thread on the passenger side and turning the impact driver up to 11. The nerves were because this will damage my rims. The spot where the nuts sit when tight gets thinner every time someone does this and you will eventually have to throw the rim away or risk the wheels falling off while you're driving.
So now the damage from last October is finally being fixed. The one week in December at the repair shop started but when they finally got round to starting it (on Wednesday. It had been sitting doing nothing for Monday and Tuesday!) they hadn't contacted the bumper bar people and I had to go get the car and re-book it (sigh). So, last week it was finally booked in again. Nothing by Friday, so I contacted them. They had decided to keep it for another week because the aforementioned bumper bar repairer were dragging their heels! Of course, they hadn't thought to let me know I would be without my car for another week. Who would really miss their car an extra week anyway?!? This is almost three weeks they've needed to fix some very small damage. Thanks a lot Dave, you were right again.
Had an accident on 19th Dec in my GFs car. A taxi performed a rapid left hand turn from the right turn lane of Spring St, Preston. Pretty obvious whose fault it was, since I was going straight ahead and the driver was definitely familiar with the post accident procedure. Received a bill yesterday from a solicitor for the damage to the taxi, three days lost wages and their expenses in issuing the threat to pay. They stated it was 100% my negligent driving that caused the accident (apparently I caused him to put his indicator on then violently accelerate into my rear wheel arch). My GFs insurer said that this solicitor represents the taxi company, who has no insurance (really. I thought this would be necessary, given the number of accidents they cause) and they were very aggressive in pinning the blame on the innocent party. Occasionally they also win in court. This would obviously necessitate their side lying about what happened and where it happened. Really, you see it on the news and on drama series, but do people really do this for a living and sleep at night? Sure the AC guy lied about quite a few things, but that was mostly about his ego, and the money he demanded was part of this, since to him it meant he was therefore right about everything. These solicitors know they are lying. They know they should just pay up. They know I am the victim already, yet they are OK with suing me for thousands of dollars and making me pay for the repair of my own car too. Yes Dave, I'm sure you knew about this too but I don't feel great about it.
So with that, I now agree with my mate Dave, who has a '74 Charger. He said he has never found a mechanic in any field who does things properly. I'd thought he was just cynical but every time I've not done something myself, I've been disappointed.
I dropped the car in a few weeks ago to have the wheels balanced and was extremely nervous when it took longer than expected. It was almost certainly due to the floor guys not knowing about the Val's left hand thread on the passenger side and turning the impact driver up to 11. The nerves were because this will damage my rims. The spot where the nuts sit when tight gets thinner every time someone does this and you will eventually have to throw the rim away or risk the wheels falling off while you're driving.
So now the damage from last October is finally being fixed. The one week in December at the repair shop started but when they finally got round to starting it (on Wednesday. It had been sitting doing nothing for Monday and Tuesday!) they hadn't contacted the bumper bar people and I had to go get the car and re-book it (sigh). So, last week it was finally booked in again. Nothing by Friday, so I contacted them. They had decided to keep it for another week because the aforementioned bumper bar repairer were dragging their heels! Of course, they hadn't thought to let me know I would be without my car for another week. Who would really miss their car an extra week anyway?!? This is almost three weeks they've needed to fix some very small damage. Thanks a lot Dave, you were right again.
Had an accident on 19th Dec in my GFs car. A taxi performed a rapid left hand turn from the right turn lane of Spring St, Preston. Pretty obvious whose fault it was, since I was going straight ahead and the driver was definitely familiar with the post accident procedure. Received a bill yesterday from a solicitor for the damage to the taxi, three days lost wages and their expenses in issuing the threat to pay. They stated it was 100% my negligent driving that caused the accident (apparently I caused him to put his indicator on then violently accelerate into my rear wheel arch). My GFs insurer said that this solicitor represents the taxi company, who has no insurance (really. I thought this would be necessary, given the number of accidents they cause) and they were very aggressive in pinning the blame on the innocent party. Occasionally they also win in court. This would obviously necessitate their side lying about what happened and where it happened. Really, you see it on the news and on drama series, but do people really do this for a living and sleep at night? Sure the AC guy lied about quite a few things, but that was mostly about his ego, and the money he demanded was part of this, since to him it meant he was therefore right about everything. These solicitors know they are lying. They know they should just pay up. They know I am the victim already, yet they are OK with suing me for thousands of dollars and making me pay for the repair of my own car too. Yes Dave, I'm sure you knew about this too but I don't feel great about it.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Engine Removal
This procedure is pretty straight forward.
Take photos as you go: There is nothing more valuable than a digital camera (I mostly used my mobile's camera) when doing this, unless you have a photographic memory.
| Transmission: You don't have to remove your transmission (I have an auto) but you do have to either suspend it with strong wire or rope to the car (the wiper motor is pretty strong) or put a jack underneath it, or both, and also push the torque converter away from the engine and keep it there: If you don't do these things, the front of your trans will drop onto the floor, possibly damaging the mounts and the torque converter will separate from it, releasing about four litres of transmission fluid, also on the floor. This warning is more to avoid the mess than the expense and inconvenience. |  |
Distributor: You will need to remove this, as it can very easily be damaged when the engine is moved. Mark the plug leads before removing the cap, as leads sometimes fall out. A pencil or ball point pen will do, unless you have black leads (if you do, use liquid paper) . I also put the engine on TDC with #1 in firing position then took a photo with the dizzy cap off. My photo of this was a bit rubbish, so I won't bother posting it.
Air conditioner: Does not have to be disconnected. Just un-mount the compressor and hang it to the side, out of the way.
Alternator: Take a shot of this before removal. If you connect anything incorrectly on your alternator, it will be disastrous.
 |
 |
Monday, November 7, 2011
Lots to write about.
My employment finished up a little while ago (over two months) and I've busy with the car. Took the engine out in September and re-sprayed the whole car in November. Other little jobs include replacement of the idler arm, front indicator switch, master cylinder seal replacement and, well, more than I can accurately recall. There has been a lot going on, but the car is now very much more driveable than two months ago. It also looks pretty good now, too. I did the master cylinder yesterday. The problem now is that I have too much to write down. Luckily I got photos of all the big jobs.
OK, have to go now - since writing this I remembered that I have to seal the LH tail light and replace the bulb before it rains again.
More very shortly, I promise!
P.S. Bendigo swap meet is on this Saturday. See you there.
OK, have to go now - since writing this I remembered that I have to seal the LH tail light and replace the bulb before it rains again.
More very shortly, I promise!
P.S. Bendigo swap meet is on this Saturday. See you there.
Sunday, November 7, 2010
A/C Compressor is in
Yes, it has a compressor! This is the most difficult part of the installation, and was accomplished by handing the tricky bit over to the professional.
The tricky bit is the bracket that holds both the compressor and the adjustment wheel. This was constructed by my local Valiant specialist (Brad at Val Wreck - 97209770). The bracket had to be manufactured because firstly there weren't a lot of slant sixes with A/C compressors (although Brad assures me there were a few VEs fitted with it) and secondly even if there were, they weren't fitted with my extractors, which could get in the way. Pictures will come later.
The bottom pulley used was taken from a hemi: The diameter is perfect but the holes don't match up, so he had to drill two new ones (I think the hemi has four, but the slant only has three). I also had to re-route the fuel line a bit, since the compressor would otherwise have squashed it. This is hopefully only temporary, though, as I intend to put multi point EFI on it when I get around to it.
The next thing on the to-do list is installing the new heater/evaporator. One change I have to make there is that since there is no control for where the air intake is sourced from, I have opted to take the easy road: I'll be blocking up the normal air intake from the plenum and have recycled air only. Making it source the air from the plenum is much harder, and switching from plenum to recycle is more difficult again. That's not to say it's not a possibility for the future: I'm a big fan of a quiet car, and everyone knows that when you switch to recycle you're turning up the noise by about 400%. I tried doing this job last week, but only then discovered how hard it was going to be to include the outside air and replaced the old core. When the old core comes out this time, it will stay out.
One little problem we had was that the fan was too close to the new compressor and would have smashed it to pieces if we'd started the engine with it in place. The fix was a combination of two actions:
1. We put a slightly longer spacer on the water pump. This gives the bonus effect of pulling more air through the radiator and thus making the cooling system more efficient.
2. Cut outs in the fan. We cut out "L" shaped pieces from the fan blades. This matched the original fans, so we didn't feel bad about it.
One other job from last weekend was that I reverse flushed the coolant. Due to several leaks and a broken radiator early this year I never got around to replacing the antifreeze. The result is very brown looking water, and rust isn't the sort of thing you want washing through your nice new system or causing your radiator to block. Cooling is extremely important with an A/C system because:
1. Your compressor is a drag on the motor and causes more heat to be generated.
2. Your condenser (the small radiator at the front of the water radiator) gets cooled first by the incoming air, leaving warmer than normal air for the water cooling.
3. You will be using your A/C mostly on hot days.
Brad said to try it out as-is and keep an eye on the temperature gauge. This is how I tend to do this sort of thing anyway. Obviously if the temperature rises too much I will tweak the system by, for example, adding a fan shroud, which improves the effectiveness of the cooling. It already has a cool thermostat so there's little to no danger of overheating during this testing.
The next option would be a seven bladed fan from a CL or CM. If it's still too hat we'll be looking at an electric thermo fan. Another bonus here would be that it is more efficient, since it doesn't come on at all until needed.
Well, that's all for now. Photos later.
The tricky bit is the bracket that holds both the compressor and the adjustment wheel. This was constructed by my local Valiant specialist (Brad at Val Wreck - 97209770). The bracket had to be manufactured because firstly there weren't a lot of slant sixes with A/C compressors (although Brad assures me there were a few VEs fitted with it) and secondly even if there were, they weren't fitted with my extractors, which could get in the way. Pictures will come later.
The bottom pulley used was taken from a hemi: The diameter is perfect but the holes don't match up, so he had to drill two new ones (I think the hemi has four, but the slant only has three). I also had to re-route the fuel line a bit, since the compressor would otherwise have squashed it. This is hopefully only temporary, though, as I intend to put multi point EFI on it when I get around to it.
The next thing on the to-do list is installing the new heater/evaporator. One change I have to make there is that since there is no control for where the air intake is sourced from, I have opted to take the easy road: I'll be blocking up the normal air intake from the plenum and have recycled air only. Making it source the air from the plenum is much harder, and switching from plenum to recycle is more difficult again. That's not to say it's not a possibility for the future: I'm a big fan of a quiet car, and everyone knows that when you switch to recycle you're turning up the noise by about 400%. I tried doing this job last week, but only then discovered how hard it was going to be to include the outside air and replaced the old core. When the old core comes out this time, it will stay out.
One little problem we had was that the fan was too close to the new compressor and would have smashed it to pieces if we'd started the engine with it in place. The fix was a combination of two actions:
1. We put a slightly longer spacer on the water pump. This gives the bonus effect of pulling more air through the radiator and thus making the cooling system more efficient.
2. Cut outs in the fan. We cut out "L" shaped pieces from the fan blades. This matched the original fans, so we didn't feel bad about it.
One other job from last weekend was that I reverse flushed the coolant. Due to several leaks and a broken radiator early this year I never got around to replacing the antifreeze. The result is very brown looking water, and rust isn't the sort of thing you want washing through your nice new system or causing your radiator to block. Cooling is extremely important with an A/C system because:
1. Your compressor is a drag on the motor and causes more heat to be generated.
2. Your condenser (the small radiator at the front of the water radiator) gets cooled first by the incoming air, leaving warmer than normal air for the water cooling.
3. You will be using your A/C mostly on hot days.
Brad said to try it out as-is and keep an eye on the temperature gauge. This is how I tend to do this sort of thing anyway. Obviously if the temperature rises too much I will tweak the system by, for example, adding a fan shroud, which improves the effectiveness of the cooling. It already has a cool thermostat so there's little to no danger of overheating during this testing.
The next option would be a seven bladed fan from a CL or CM. If it's still too hat we'll be looking at an electric thermo fan. Another bonus here would be that it is more efficient, since it doesn't come on at all until needed.
Well, that's all for now. Photos later.
Wednesday, October 27, 2010
Aircon update
Well, there are sporadic outbreaks of Summer now. Even though the temperatures aren't soaring in the open, the sunlight is obviously much stronger, and the cabin of the Val heats rapidly now.
It seems I haven't done due diligence on the evaporator/heater. That same model is $157 from a professional custom AC specialist. Rather than try and take it back with a lie (e.g. I changed my mind, it doesn't fit, etc.) I'll just take the near $100 hit. Own fault really, but learn my lesson, people. I've found that ebay holds very few bargains these days. The other day I couldn't find a particular computer CPU for less than $279, but it was $199 in a local shop! Sellers also complain about ebay's massive increase in charges over the past ten years. I've all but abandoned it now for other, sometimes more traditional, methods.
Speaking of which, the custom AC professionals in question (frozen air Keysborough) were recommended by a work associate. Franck spoke to me for ages about exactly what my options are regarding this. Being able to work on my own car has great cost benefits. Well, OK I knew this but it applies even more when doing AC work. Franck took the wind out of my sails a bit by telling me of all the things that can go wrong with putting second hand stuff into your car. Hope returned when he let me know how cheap the parts are! A brand new AC compressor can cost as little as $200, a condenser (the radiator bit) is only about $120 and of course the evaporator is about $157. The difficult and therefore expensive thing is mounting this cheap compressor on the slant. Brad from Valiant Spares will be doing this for me next week, at $750 - $800 estimated cost. Hoping to get the whole thing up and running perfectly for around the $1700 mark. It's ebay for the Ford parts now :-(
Oh, and one more thing, You can get all of the brackets for a DIY job. See http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/air-conditioning/170-225cc-six-cylinder-chrysler-compressor-mount-kit-306.php for details. This will save you a heap of money. Unfortunately I am a bit "time poor" now. The brackets and pulleys are extremely expensive to have made otherwise, as they'd be a one-off (and cost about $500!).
It seems I haven't done due diligence on the evaporator/heater. That same model is $157 from a professional custom AC specialist. Rather than try and take it back with a lie (e.g. I changed my mind, it doesn't fit, etc.) I'll just take the near $100 hit. Own fault really, but learn my lesson, people. I've found that ebay holds very few bargains these days. The other day I couldn't find a particular computer CPU for less than $279, but it was $199 in a local shop! Sellers also complain about ebay's massive increase in charges over the past ten years. I've all but abandoned it now for other, sometimes more traditional, methods.
Speaking of which, the custom AC professionals in question (frozen air Keysborough) were recommended by a work associate. Franck spoke to me for ages about exactly what my options are regarding this. Being able to work on my own car has great cost benefits. Well, OK I knew this but it applies even more when doing AC work. Franck took the wind out of my sails a bit by telling me of all the things that can go wrong with putting second hand stuff into your car. Hope returned when he let me know how cheap the parts are! A brand new AC compressor can cost as little as $200, a condenser (the radiator bit) is only about $120 and of course the evaporator is about $157. The difficult and therefore expensive thing is mounting this cheap compressor on the slant. Brad from Valiant Spares will be doing this for me next week, at $750 - $800 estimated cost. Hoping to get the whole thing up and running perfectly for around the $1700 mark. It's ebay for the Ford parts now :-(
Oh, and one more thing, You can get all of the brackets for a DIY job. See http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/air-conditioning/170-225cc-six-cylinder-chrysler-compressor-mount-kit-306.php for details. This will save you a heap of money. Unfortunately I am a bit "time poor" now. The brackets and pulleys are extremely expensive to have made otherwise, as they'd be a one-off (and cost about $500!).
Thursday, October 14, 2010
Putting the EFI on hold for now
Here is the reason:
1. Mating the Ford item to the Holley slant six manifold was impossible (well, without a further $600 or so) and wouldn't have looked very good.
I have decided to go about it differently. The Ford already has an inlet manifold. Is it possible to modify this to go straight on to the slant? I believe it is, but since the inlet holes are spaced differently (ford holes are uniform, slant six holes are not) it would be no easy task. I want to cut the metal separating the Ford manifold and make an Aluminium mount that will bolt to the slant on one side and to the EFI manifold bit on the other. Either way it will almost certainly require a new fuel rail. I'm going to halt it for now, though.
2. It's getting warm in Melbourne.
The Val isn't the most inviting car in the Summer. Last Summer I painted the roof white (well, off-white) to cut down on roof heat which worked really well. Also tinted the windows, and in a large wagon that's not a trivial task. Finally, when the roof lining went on earlier this year, I had the upholsterer add some extra insulation.
After all that, I know it will still be unbearable when it gets over 30, so it's time to get the Ford's Air conditioning unit on and working.
In preparation, I bought (from ebay) a brand new after market heating and cooling unit for $255. This fits under the dash and in theory will attach to all existing heater outlets. This means you don't have a large and very obvious looking unit right there at your passenger's legs. It just replaces your original one and adds an evaporator and (hopefully) quieter fan. Haven't heard it yet, and have no idea how difficult it will be to fit.
Disadvantages include that I will be losing a face-level outlet. You can buy these but I chose the hidden option instead.
It will be a while before I can get around to fit it, but will keep you informed of course.
1. Mating the Ford item to the Holley slant six manifold was impossible (well, without a further $600 or so) and wouldn't have looked very good.
I have decided to go about it differently. The Ford already has an inlet manifold. Is it possible to modify this to go straight on to the slant? I believe it is, but since the inlet holes are spaced differently (ford holes are uniform, slant six holes are not) it would be no easy task. I want to cut the metal separating the Ford manifold and make an Aluminium mount that will bolt to the slant on one side and to the EFI manifold bit on the other. Either way it will almost certainly require a new fuel rail. I'm going to halt it for now, though.
2. It's getting warm in Melbourne.
The Val isn't the most inviting car in the Summer. Last Summer I painted the roof white (well, off-white) to cut down on roof heat which worked really well. Also tinted the windows, and in a large wagon that's not a trivial task. Finally, when the roof lining went on earlier this year, I had the upholsterer add some extra insulation.
After all that, I know it will still be unbearable when it gets over 30, so it's time to get the Ford's Air conditioning unit on and working.
In preparation, I bought (from ebay) a brand new after market heating and cooling unit for $255. This fits under the dash and in theory will attach to all existing heater outlets. This means you don't have a large and very obvious looking unit right there at your passenger's legs. It just replaces your original one and adds an evaporator and (hopefully) quieter fan. Haven't heard it yet, and have no idea how difficult it will be to fit.
Disadvantages include that I will be losing a face-level outlet. You can buy these but I chose the hidden option instead.
It will be a while before I can get around to fit it, but will keep you informed of course.
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