Well, I thought I had all the parts I needed for the accessory and radiator upgrade. I may need to get some more of the smaller stainless braided hose or some more clamps, but everything I ordered is waiting for me to put it together. I thought I'd be able to remove all the stuff over the week and then put most of the new stuff together on Saturday. Was I wrong...
Before starting, I was concerned about the R12 freon in the car. Did some research, found out it is against the law to vent the freon and that you needed a certified person to use a special tool to extract it. I was about to make some phone calls to see if I could get someone to come to my house and do it, but decided to inspect the system first. It wasn't very surprising, since the system hasn't worked in years, that I found a big tear in the tubing next to the A/C compressor on the underside of the hose. The system hasn't had any freon in it for years and it's possible that with a new hose the system could have worked. I was hoping to have this kind of luck with the rest of the project.
Before starting, I was concerned about the R12 freon in the car. Did some research, found out it is against the law to vent the freon and that you needed a certified person to use a special tool to extract it. I was about to make some phone calls to see if I could get someone to come to my house and do it, but decided to inspect the system first. It wasn't very surprising, since the system hasn't worked in years, that I found a big tear in the tubing next to the A/C compressor on the underside of the hose. The system hasn't had any freon in it for years and it's possible that with a new hose the system could have worked. I was hoping to have this kind of luck with the rest of the project.
Once I discovered that there was no freon in the system, I went to remove everything from the car. First, I drained the radiator. Which has a lot of force coming out initially. So make sure your container is in the correct position. Then I had my wife help me remove the hood so I could get at the condenser and radiator. As soon as I removed the condenser, I hit a bad problem. The lower part of the radiator support is rusted through. The rust extends up the support about 8 inches. The support will either need a new section of metal welded to it or be completely replaced. The support luckily is just bolted onto the frame, which makes it not too bad to replace. I'm really hoping I can find someone to fix it cause a new one is $300.
Well, regardless of the rust, everything still has to come out. So... COMMENCE THE REMOVAL! Here's what I've got out so far... A/C condenser, A/C compressor with bracket, alternator with bracket, radiator fan with clutch, and several cooling hoses. Still need to remove the radiator with shroud, water pump, thermostat, A/C evaporator with ducts, A/C wiring harness and vacuum hoses, and coolant overflow tank.
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