Another piece of mis-information cleared away. Don't know where I got it. You're right. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phasmatodea
Actually, yes! I'm using three leaves currently. I think after this week I'm gonna add a fourth. That means a lot coming from someone with a car like yours, thanks! I'm not getting rid of it. That was a moment of grief and shock-induced insanity. And at the time I thought the damage was a lot worse. Also never dreamed I'd be able to straighten it out myself as much as I did. I'm fixing it after I get this AC thing done, and scrub all the funk from this trip off and out of it. And put a fourth leaf in the rear.
Here's your vacuum cannister: DORMAN 47076, about $9 at rockauto.com. I never have time to go to the salvage yard, and this was just as cheap as I could get a used one for. It is more compact than the stock one and held 20 in of vacuum fine. I also got my heater core and expansion valve from them (interestingly, the expansion valve is marked for R-134, which is good in my case), so the shipping charge was spread across all of them. Just make sure all the parts you put in your cart ship from the same warehouse or you get dinged for each separate location!
I have a three day weekend ahead of me, so the project is back on! In the morning I'll go to Pull-A-Part and score a condenser or die trying. After that... Clean everything, paint what needs it, cut/drill the firewall and begin the install. Right now I have everything spread out neatly in the garage. Every single piece I need for working AC is either in my hand or will be this weekend. It could conceivably be blowing cold by Sunday night. We'll see! I need to take apart the main housing and get that cleaned up, insulated and repaired. I've popped all the little clips off, but I haven't got it open yet. I could eventually figure out that puzzle on my own, but since I have you fine folks to consult here, why take a chance? So... How does this thing go together? What's holding it besides those clips?
Are you sure you got ALL the clips off? When I did mine, I remember there were a couple of clips that were hidden.
two clips right above the kick panel. they are agaisnt the body and very hard to get to with everything bolted in place.
It's out of the car, so I can clearly see all the clips. I just didn't want to force it open if I've missed anything.
as i said when i did mine for a heater core it was sealed with some sort of adhesive.... but that was in my 70 which had a/c.
Pull-A-Part mission complete. I have a nice vacuum canister, one of the round plastic ball type. Got what I believe to be the biggest condenser that will fit, from an S10 Blazer. Has the right fittings in the right places too. Got my tensioner pulley from some random Ford/Lincoln/Mercury tank whose name escapes me. Autozone shopping list includes a belt, heater control valve, a bit of vacuum hose and possibly a T fitting, some random screws and whatever else I discover along the way. I think I have sunburned my eyelids.
Argh. Another snag. The condenser I got fits fine and has the right fittings, but said fittings are on the lower passenger side. While I was standing there in the junkyard delirious from the sun it made perfect sense to flip it over and have the fittings pointed right where they need to be, but now that I'm thinking straight, I realize gravity is a law I can't break. Liquid needs to be on the bottom, so you can't flip a condenser upside down. Looks like I need to go back...
Oh, but I did make some progress. I have the heater/AC box all cleaned up and ready to go in. Man, I don't see how anybody can replace a heater core without removing this entire box, and even then it's not as easy as it should be. It's like it wasn't even a design consideration. If you have an AC car and your heater core pops, my suggestion is to keep a good jacket in the car.
