I'm trying to make my budget to go to that event. Been wanting to go for years now.

 

Well,,,,, I just watched a chihuahua balance on a guys feet and wave.
How's you alls' day going?

 

Going well so far, bit too early to tell tho.

Jim

 

I woke up at 6 to make pancakes, they came out great btw.

 

hey jim! when didja buy the exploder?

 

Haven't bought it yet. Waiting for the SSDI to send me a check, but I am in the process of putting a security deposit on it, so the owner will hold it for me.

Jim

 

cool deal!

 

D'oh, hate it when that happens.

 

That is too funny.

Jim

 

Good afternoon to all of California...hope you rock the weekend!

 

well 3 year or so ago my ac compressor locked up on a cold winter night (remember those?) so i just unplugged the clutch and went on my merry way.

well i didn't want to rush into it fearing i might make a mistake... fast forward to Thursday and the bearing in the clutch took a dive and started growling at me (sigh...damn i murmured as i closed the hood 80 miles from home) i was going to just put a new clutch on the junk compressor to "get by a little longer" but the clutch was 130bucks and a new compressor was 145...hmm

so i had friday off, i made a list and gathered parts... new compressor, new drier, and new orifice tube, and a o ring kit. then i started to price out a few 12 Oz cans of R-134A.. holy fiddle sticks that stuffs expensive!!!!

called a few a/c shops to get a price for them to just charge the system....60 to 120 bucks is what i was told..hmmm....mmmmi begin to rummage around dads garage... i find the the golden ticket!!! 4 un opened 12oz cans of strait R134A and dad said i could have them woohoo!! all i need is a can of oil...

now the next problem....need to flush the system out. well brake cleaner cleans stuff good! but id need a few cans and they aint cheep.... alright, brake cleaner is mostly acetone, so ill just buy a gallon of acetone and flush away!

so today (Saturday) after picking up a few last items for this project i puller up under the tin car cover in front of the garage and get to wrenching. in 2.5hrs start to finish i had the old drier and orifice tube, and compressor yanked out, then evaporator flushed, suction hose between drier and compressor flushed, and discharge/ high pressure lines and condenser flushed, and last but not least put the system back together with new parts in 2.5hrs not too shabby for a sparky...

dug out dads vacuum pump and R134A gauges and got the system sucked down to 28-30in of vacuum, let the pump run for about and hour while i did other projects. closed up the gauges then turned the pump off and walked away for another hour to make sure i don't have a leak.

came back, no leaks! sticker said maximum charge is 2lb 10oz and a max lubricant charge of 9oz. cool, can of oil i bought this morning is a 8oz can of oil, and 2lb 10oz works out to be about 3 and a half 12oz R134A cans. i wire the new clutch to the battery and just as i energize the clutch i open the flow of oil to the compressor via the gauges. can of oil down i hook up a can of R134A, can of refrigerant down i move onto can 2 and 3 and 4.

all said and done job took 5hrs, and about 250 dollars in parts. not getting ice cubes thrown at me from the a/c vents, but its sure nice to "chill out" while driving.

so we shal see if it all holds together, fingers crossed.

p.s. only one picture...clogged vs. new orifice tube. you can see the pump guts making a solid layer on the tube.

 

Good deal Justin! Let's hope this recent heat doesn't last.

 

Admire you for taking that on Justin.
I'm about to finish an a/c installation in my '61.
Just in time it seems.

 

Good job Justin.

 

Haven't worked on an AC system in years, if I have a problem, I think I will pay someone to do it. Good job on yours though, saved yourself a ton of money.

Jim