A lot has been going on recently, and most of it hasn't been tail chasing. Figured out the cause of Eagle's problems (brakes, obscured by intermittent behavior and other needed maintenance items that were compounding the problem), though I've still yet to correct it. It's driving and stopping, so I've been keeping going.
I gutted the AC system from Gremlin as a result of discovering it had leaked all it's refrigerant away, as well as that it had at some point been converted to R134a, and that I was tired of it trying to kill me. The last time that I pulled the engine, the condenser was damaged in a number of places and the hard lines to the evap were bent. I figured those were plenty of excuses to delete the million pound York and keep the bay clear while I focus on getting this thing running.
You'd be wrong think I'm not going to have AC, despite not presently having all the parts to make it happen. I've come up with what I think will be a pretty good solution that will give me a system with a smaller footprint in the engine bay, as well as being cheap to set up and maintain. The compressor I'm basing the design around is from a '95-99 Dodge/Plymouth Neon. I'll get into detail about why in a future update.
Unfortunately, climate control components were not all that had been claimed by the previously-mentioned garage disaster. During one of the several moments where the AC system grabbed hold of the moving engine, Gremlin decided to make it clear that the power steering solution that was in place was not to it's liking and beat the hell out of the reservoir with a hood stud. Just to make sure that there would be no chance for recovery, it also broke the aluminum cradle for the pump assembly.
As a result, I decided to switch to a Type II pump. I had initially moved to use the pump from a Grand Cherokee, but this was complicated due to my v-belt setup and need to be a cheap ass. I found a solution, but it's not a simple yard grab, so I'll be providing a full run down of parts and such once that's finished.
We've also got the engine back in, flexplate and reinforcement ring installed, trans bolted up, rear suspension mostly in place (again) and I'm now going inside because I'm done smoking. Time to install the driveshaft and make sure this damned axle is properly positioned, once and for all.
No comments:
Post a Comment