Before I pull the engine....I need the a/c removed

[Dino]

I should have planned this better but you know how plans go, they change...a lot.   

So I have the car sitting on stands and it won't be coming down for a while.  Since I can't see how I'd be able to recover the r134a myself, I'll have to get the car to a shop.  That means fixing some things just to get it running, have the system evacuated, drive it back home and remove everything under the hood.  That bites but I don't think they rent those recovery systems out.

Once I have the system recovered I'll need to store the a/c parts, for several months likely.  Can I just unbolt the lines at the firewall and cap them so the entire system can remain connected as I remove it or should I cap everything seperately?

[DC_1]

That's very environmentally responsible of you for wanting to recover the refrigerant.....Myself I just gas it off into the air and kill off a little more of the ozone..

[myk]

Yup, kudos to Dirk.  I bet he lives cleaner than some of the greenies...

[ODZKing]

The receiver/dryer technically isn't supposed to be exposed to any kind of outside air or moisture, be careful with that.
But good for you going the extra! 

[Alaskan_TA]

Any competent refrigerator, freezer or home AC pro should be able to evacuate the system for you & they make house calls.

[Dino]

Thanks fellas, I figure I pollute enough driving this thing.   

Home service!  That's music to my ears!  I'll make some calls tomorrow.  That would make things a whole lot easier.     Thanks TA   

Bob I was just thinking of getting some caps and cap whatever I remove as soon as I do so.  I think it should be okay if the drier is only exposed to the air for a few seconds...I hope.  Or I'll just buy another drier, they're cheap.

[Pete in NH]

Hi Dino,

Do you need to take the A/C apart to clear the fire wall connections to get the engine out? If you have enough length on the compressor hoses you can very often unbolt the compressor and just flop it over on the fender well. If you can do that there is no need to empty the system.

[Dino]

Hi Pete, that would work but I should have mentioned I'll be painting the engine bay as well. 

I probably still could do so with the components installed but it would be a lot easier if they were out of the way.  Unless I can move everything up toward the windshield seeing the hood will be off... 

[Charger-Bodie]

Hi Dino,

Do you need to take the A/C apart to clear the fire wall connections to get the engine out? If you have enough length on the compressor hoses you can very often unbolt the compressor and just flop it over on the fender well. If you can do that there is no need to empty the system.

Even easier if you drop the engine out the bottom. Just lay a 2x4 from apron to apron and tie the a/c stuff to it.

Edit. I see you are need it all out of the way. I would see if any mech shops in your area would be willing to come by and suck it out.

[white]

R134a is considered "safe" by the government that's why you can buy it without a License, In theory it is safe to evacuate into the air? But in my opinion it has not been around long enough to know the long term effects to people or the environment. Glad you are doing things the proactive way, thanks for doing that. 

[Dino]

Yeah why take the chance?  You know how it goes, we vent it now and in ten years they figure out it makes your pecker fall off.  Let's not go there.   

Bodie if I could raise the car high enough I'd drop it from underneath, that woujld make it easier with these headers but I may end up installing manifolds anyway if I can find some for a decent price.  Anyone wanna trade?   

I'll call around for home service and if that doesn't work then I'll just have to get it running again.  I''ve done worse.   

[Pete in NH]

R134a is considered "safe" by the government that's why you can buy it without a License, In theory it is safe to evacuate into the air? But in my opinion it has not been around long enough to know the long term effects to people or the environment. Glad you are doing things the proactive way, thanks for doing that. 

According to the EPA it is illegal to vent any refrigerant into the atmosphere so, you wouldn't want to get caught dumping R-134A. R-134A while more environmentally friendly than the R-12 it replaced will be phased out soon in favor of R-1234YF, which is supposed to be even better. It's also quite expensive and will not be available to unlicensed people.

[Dino]

I just looked things over under the hood and the system has to go.  I can't do a decent job redoing the engine bay with it in place. I'll need a piece of inner fender though, got a nasty hole under the battery tray.   

[Dino]

Why I decided to do this on a 90 degree day I don't know, but the car is back together minus the fuel tank I don't have yet. 

[cdr]

check this out for freon recovery

https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=6&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0CDkQFjAFahUKEwiY_LXnrvrGAhWH04AKHae6AD0&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.reliableparts.com%2Fproduct%2Finv_2579983%2FRefrigerator-Accessories-461397&ei=_6S1VdiAJoengwSn9YLoAw&usg=AFQjCNEYr3sh5pDHRLsYq4ZNrN0VHghZrQ&bvm=bv.98717601,d.eXY

[Dino]

Missed your reply CDR.  That looks pretty cool, but it's a bit pricey for a one time use.  The shop charges near $100 to recover and recharge when I'm done.  I have a vacuum pump and manifold so I can recharge it myself for around $30 worth of refrigerant so I'll try another shop and see if they will just discharge it.  It'll be months before I'll be ready to recharge it anyway.

All my parts are scheduled to arrive today, it'll be nice taking the old girl out for a while again.   

[flyinlow]

Flyinlow's redneck recycling rig:

Take an old 30 lb. Freon bottle (empty) and vacuum it down as far as you can. Close the valve. Hook the gauge set to your car with the yellow supply line going to the empty tank.  Put the tank in a bucket with ice around it. Dry ice is great if you have access to it. Open the low pressure valve. The most of the Freon will go toward the cold tank. Some vacuum pumps can pump the Freon. I have an old refrigerator compressor I use for this. Caution do not subject the tank to more than 100 PSI. This is not a perfect set up but it gets most the Freon if you use a pump. If your system Freon is dry and not contaminated you could re use it.

[Dino]

Redneck recycling huh?   

A viable option but I'm only doing it once and I hate buying stuff I only need for 5 minutes.  There's a local mom & pop place that fixed my radiator a few years back for a ridiculously low price so I thought I'd check with them.  He said bring it in next week and I'll pull the freon while you wait, for free.   

I'll have to buy him a beer or two.   

[71 SE3834V]

Man you can't beat that deal unless he paid you to watch him work.

That reminds me.....I got some tools I need to put up on ebay that I used once for 5 mins. 

[ws23rt]

I have lot's of tools that I'm not likely use again.-- In most cases I bought those tools to save money by giving it a go to learn something new. ---I learned new stuff. --Got the job done.--saved money.--and have personal satisfaction.

Hmm-- It could be time for a garage sale.

[Rolling_Thunder]

R134a is considered "safe" by the government that's why you can buy it without a License, In theory it is safe to evacuate into the air? But in my opinion it has not been around long enough to know the long term effects to people or the environment. Glad you are doing things the proactive way, thanks for doing that. 

According to the EPA it is illegal to vent any refrigerant into the atmosphere so, you wouldn't want to get caught dumping R-134A. R-134A while more environmentally friendly than the R-12 it replaced will be phased out soon in favor of R-1234YF, which is supposed to be even better. It's also quite expensive and will not be available to unlicensed people.

I understand the EPA trying to do right by mother earth and all....     but think of all the CFCs that are released into the atmosphere after a car wreck / accident...    I mean puncture a line and the gas escapes...      random thought of the day.

The problem with CFCs is that specifically R-12 reacts with ozone (O3) and when the reaction occurs you get...    3 CFCs....   it is basically a replicating compound and thats why it is so dangerous to the environment.

[Dino]

Done!  This morning the good folks at A&B radiator vacuumed the system, the right way.   

I barely got out of there though.  The carb was leaking like crazy and now the starter is dying as well.  Not only is is spinning slow, it's also making noise as if it's got sand in it.  It has done its duty so it will be retired.  I wonder of that recent episode with the trans had something to do with its demise.

Anyway, teardown has begun.  The engine is almost ready to be pullled, transmission is coming out as well.

[71 SE3834V]

         

[Dino]

 


Thanks to Jeff here the engine was removed yesterday.  It's sitting on his engine stand (thanks for that), ready to be cleaned up.  It's a bit greasy...just a bit.   

This morning I went shopping for super clean, plastic sheeting to cover the engine stand and to lay under the car, and aircraft stripper.  I still have a can or two of easy off oven cleaner.  I'll use those on the engine first as the old flaky paint needs removing anyway.

I spent the rest of the day cleaning out the shed so I had room to store all the parts.  I also started cleaning up the garage so I have some room to work.  Once that's done I'll drop the trans.  I'll be starting a few new threads here soon.  One on the trans and one on the exhaust.

Jeff checked the timing mark on the damper which turned out to be good.  The valve stem seals apparently need replacing though so there's a little extra work to be done.  I looked at the pistons through the plug hole and tried to identify them online.  The po said they are TRW's and they just might be.  They have the cylinder number stamped in them as well as 0.040 so it looks like I'm running a 448 now.   

I removed the drain plugs so once I set the valve covers back on it's degreasing time! 

I have a lot to do to this car so I better get at it!

[71 SE3834V]

Ya might want to plug up the hole around the crank or put the damper back on. Thought of that on the way home but I was so frickin tired I forgot to tell ya.

(BTW Blaster is coming Friday @ 2pm)

[Dino]

I'll do that.  I need to remove a few more things from the engine but I'll make sure everything is plugged before I start cleaning.   

Looks like we'll be painting that hood soon!