Build Thread Finally! 89 Notch 2v Swap Progress Thread Project: 89mach1

SSeater said:

LMAO @ alice's restauraunt reference... Thought i was the only one that did that..

I wonder if anyone else caught that...

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Nope,....You an me Allen. I'm a "Where's Waldo?" writer. I do this stuff all the time, and I have yet to get a comment about the goofy assed reference to something pop culture that I included in my answer.

Either that, or everybody just doesn't find me as funny as I do.

In typical fashion for me, I set aside other, important tasks ( read,.....work) today, so I could play some more w/ my obsession in the basement. The plan was to pull the side panels, cut them for the vents, clean them, paint them, install the duct hose, and reinstall them.

Is that what I did?... Did I follow my "plan"?.......

No,.... that would've made more sense. That, would've been way more productive. Had I done THAT, then half of the day wouldn't be in the trash can right now. But THAT'S not me. I decided to build the enclosure for the sub instead.
So I take some rough measurements, go and buy a 2' x4' piece of 1/2" MDF, drag out my table saw, and air stapler and proceed to build a beautiful wooden box. Because the area I chose to put the sub was tight, (behind the drivers' side rear tire) my box was complicated to build, full of compound angles and the like. I get it all done by noon, having started on it at 7:30, and......... it don't fit. It will never fit. OOHH it "fit" the space I built it to fit, I just couldn't close the trunk with it in place. ( didn't compensate enough for the lift strut coming down on top of the box.

After I beat it w/ my 12lb sledge, I stopped, composed myself, and went to McDonalds to eat. Suffice it to say, "my enclosure" is now "enclosed" in my trashcan.
While I was out, I fell back to plan A. I bought another quart of my.... (what was the term somebody here described it as........Oh yeah..) "Whore house red", vinyl paint and proceeded to clean and prep the panels for a repaint. Then I cleaned them again, and again, as they had been wiped repeatedly by me w/ Armorall. I pushed the car out and painted the first one, then the second, only to be rewarded by a quarter sized school of fish eyes around one of the screw holes.

But I got the vents installed, and got one side back in but only had enough duct hose to do the one (didn't order enough)







Open:



Closed. ( Notice fish eyes around screw hole)



Installed. two vents each panel. The rotate 360 degrees as well.

Almost a month since I last reported this progress. Between waiting for parts, work, honeydoos, and vacation, it has take this long to accomplish this little bit.

The trunk was my last accomplishment. Upholstering it while waiting for the AC parts to come in. Since then I've got all the hoses custom built and installed.
It pays to know people. I cant imagine how much it would've cost to have these hoses built had I been a newb, but, since I've lived in this city for over 20 years I managed to do alright. The AC system required 7 hoses: 3 -10's (1 long -10; 1 med; 1 short.) 3 -6's ( 1 long -6; 2 med). and 1 short -8.
NAPA wanted to charge me $100.00 a hose. A local rod shop wanted 100.00 for all of them. Because I knew a dude, I got them for 1 dollar an end (or 14.00)

Originally, I was gonna run the hoses under the car, but after jacking it up and looking underneath, space was a premium. I decided to run the hoses in the passenger compartment,..under the carpet.


-6 down the driver's side



Out the driver's side bulkhead,..



Over the top of the fender,..



into the drier. Out of the drier,...



into the condensor.


The -10 ran down the passenger side, and out the bulkhead,..


And just like the driver's side, ran over the fender,..


To another bulkhead fitting w. a low side charge port built in. (means I gotta get under the fender to charge the A/C, but how often do I have to do that)?



The bigger dilemma was how to get the 4" discharge hose adapted that came out of the evaporator, to the (2) 2.5 hoses that went to the vents installed in the quarter panel trim. The kit came w/ these stupid vents that were supposed to mount on top of the package tray that looked like ass,...so I adapted them to combine the 2 into 1 that I needed to make the rest of the system work.







All of the hose were intended to "friction fit",..but I wanted it to be permanent. I used some big-assed aluminum bailing wire as a tourniquet of sorts to keep it locked where I wanted it.



The trunk "partition" that sealed the trunk fully collided w/ the evaporator after it was permanently mounted. I had to build this angle to allow the extra clearance needed for the evaporator to get by.. While I was at it,...I prewired the amp to the board.



There is clearly something going on in this picture besides the month's worth of pollen, and sawdust that has accrued over the last 45 days that the car has set. But that is the point of the pic.

Noobz347 said:

Beddy niiiiiice.

Oh... and your camera lens is dirty.

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Well hello Noobz. I was wondering what happened to you. For a while there you and me was like peas and carrots,.... then you just disappeared. What happened to you? It's been tough not having a your keen eye to point out the obvious things that don't need pointing out.

Kinda like Adams post above that obviously belonged in a different thread.
( You gotta know he's looking for it, saying I know I replied to this damn thing)

jrichker said:

Very nice work, it shows evidence of thought and skill.
Something you may find useful if you don't already have a means to pull a vacuum prior to charging the A/C system...

My current vacuum pump is a refrigerator hermetic unit (motor & compressor in one unit). It was a freebe from a local used appliance store. I bolted it down to a piece of plywood & soldered a 1/4" flare fitting on the suction line. It works great, pulls 29" of vacuum in about 10 minutes or less. I have used it several times and have had excellent results.

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Well I appreciate that Jrichker. The Autozone has their free loaner program and the main store has an evac pump and manifold ga set that I'll use when I get to that part (friday, I think) I tested the blower motor today after wiring it up, and it will really do the job, once there's freon in the system.