AC Rebuild & 134A Conversion - Part 4

After work the last two days, I accomplished a fair amount on the Mustang.  I'm nearing the final point of both the AC and interior projects.  This is the best part of the project where everything is clean and you are bolting up restored or new parts.  

The first item to install was the condenser using the brackets I painted and new hardware from LMR.  Once it was installed, I mounted the radiator back in place using the new hardware the previous owner installed.  The installation of these wasn't a priority with everything else to do but I wanted them out of the way as I don't want any damage to the fins of either of them.

Next was the backets for the air compressor and the air compressor itself.  I did take some time to clean the engine block, power steering pump, and the new water pump but it didn't make much difference.  I did notice the new compressor seemed lighter than the original and found it is 2.8 lbs. lighter (17.3 lbs. for the original and 14.5 lbs. for the new one).

Things then started moving a bit faster as I installed the shroud, water pump pulley, fan clutch, fan, and then the serpentine belt.  I then put back in the radiator overflow tank, battery tray, and then the battery.  I replaced the flex loom on the wires to the compressor and coolant reservoir as they were in bad shape.  

The last part of this job is installing the three hoses and the accumulator.  All the hoses are double sealed in plastic bags to keep humidity out of the lines.  I'm hesitant to install them right this moment unless I can get them all installed quickly and get the system sealed.  

Initial Cleaning and Interior Projects - Part 5

I'm working through the last of the A/C and interior project simultaneously but will keep the posts independent.  Over the last few nights, I've been working through putting things together after work.  I'm getting really close and could have the car entirely back together by the end of this weekend.

In order to move the radiator enough to get the condenser installed, I removed the battery and battery tray.  This was a good time to go ahead and install a new negative battery cable.  The previous owner purchased a set of new cables but only put on the positive cable.  I'm not sure why but he was missing the retaining nut so I had to reuse the old one.  Otherwise, it was far easier to do now as the grown bolt was accessible from the top of the engine since a/c compressor and associated bracket are out of the car.

I then turned my attention back to the seats.  I cleaned the rust from the back feet a week ago.  However, there was some very light spots of rust to address on the front mounting points.  As with the rear mounting points, I coated these with Krylon Rusty Metal Primary and then some Matte Black paint.  Additionally, I soaked all the bolts in Evapo-Rust and coated them with the same paint.

I spent some time working on the passenger rear floorboard as it has some surface rust.  I originally tried to address it by using rags soaked in Evapo-Rust which was of some benefit.  I then coated the area with Eastwood's Rust Converter.  After allowing the Rust Converter to work overnight, I coated it with Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator to finish off the job.  

AC Rebuild & 134A Conversion - Part 3

In the evenings this week after work, I spent a little time daily working on the air conditioning system.

The Evapo-Rust did an excellent job on the upper condenser mounts.  They looked like perfect bare metal without any evidence of rust.  I expect with the light surface rust on the part and the lack of paint that this must have originally been installed as a bare metal part.  I then painted them with VHT engine primer (SP148) and then VHT engine enamel in flat black (SP130).  I'm going to use flat black on pieces which are not visible (like these) or others that I want to fade into the background rather than be prominent in the engine bay.

The next step was to remove the original compressor and associated brackets.  It appears someone wire wheeled the main mounting bracket but did nothing more an put it back on the car.  I soaked the lower bracket, nuts, and bolts in Evapo-Rust to get them all cleaned up.  The large bracket was too large to fully soak so I put in some time with 220 grit sandpaper to clean it up before coating it with VHT engine primer (SP148) and then VHT engine enamel in flat black (SP130).

The compressor in the car had the following Ford label on the back of it so I expect it is original to the car.  I'm not sure if it has any value or is worth keeping.  I don't expect to clean it up any but I'll probably store it in the attic just in case I want it for some reason later. 

I also soaked the accumulator/dryer bracket portion by portion due to its odd size in Evapo-Rust.  I then coat it VHT engine primer (SP148) but since it was originally satin black (along with the accumulator), I painted it in the VHT Satin Black color (SP139).  I also painted the two little nuts that mount it to the firewall with the same paint.  This bracket was the hardest to paint as it wanted to fish eye because of something on the bracket, that I couldn't see, that was seemingly hard to get off but it turned out good in the end.

There are little clips, three in total, that are used on the A/C lines.  They line connections should not come apart but it seems they are there to help avoid that.  Two were painted black and one was natural finish.  I ended up stripping the paint from two of them using some spray on paint stripper.  I then painted them like the rest with the VHT primer and flat black paint.

Lastly, I cleaned the power steering pump slightly and considered cleaning the exposed section of the engine block.  However, I think that would soon get out of hand and spiral into a longer project.  I'll do a quick clean with some Super Clean and a scotchbrite pad and call it good.  I'll then start work on putting everything back together.

Initial Maintenance - Shifter Work

One of the things I immediately noticed when driving the Mustang was the shifter.  It is a replacement LMR short throw shifter which is a fine upgrade but it missed the mark in a few ways.  Most importantly, the shifter was just slightly out of comfortable reach.  Additionally, it was too short of a shift and didn't feel smooth when you shifted.  When the center console was out of the car for the carpet work, I decided to improve these items.

The issue with the shifter itself is that there is almost no angle to the actual shift lever.  Rather than attempt to fabricate something, I decided to look at other shift levers that are available.  I found a Steeda Tri-Ax which I ordered from LMR.  The shifter arrived and was exactly what I needed.  It weighs almost nothing, is slightly taller for less of a short shift, and moves the shifter back 2.5" and about an inch closer to the driver.  The following is a picture of it from the side compared to the standard LMR short shift lever.

I also decided to remove the entire shift mechanism from the transmission to have a look inside.  I found there was no lubrication on the guide plate.  While some transmission fluid will make it into that area, the plate should be lubricated with some white lithium grease.  I went ahead and added quite a bit of lithium grease, cleaned the shifter plate, put it back in with Permatex Black Ultra RTV, and then set the shift stops to ensure they are correct now that it might be mounted ever so slight different than before.  

AC Rebuild & 134A Conversion - Part 2

This evening, I had enough time to loosen the radiator mounts and slide it towards the engine enough to pull out the existing condenser.  I was quite surprised to find out how large is was compared to the one I just purchased.  It seems that is normal with the new approach taken with condenser construction now.  All comparable models I could purchase all look the same.

The upper condenser brackets fit the new piece perfectly.  However, they are lightly coated all over with rust as are the U-nuts and bolts that mount them.  There is a little rust on the accumulator bracket too.  I stopped at AutoZone on the way to dinner and picked up some Evap-O-Rust that I'm going to use to clean them all up.  I'll then put a light coat of paint on them to keep looking nice until I can find some reproductions that look right.

I've researched adding a trinary switch into the system so that I can use it to trigger a fan instead of using the compressor clutch trigger.  This would require having a shop modify the discharge tube that I just purchased.  That is possible and I'm tempted but before when I did this on the '67, the trinary switches were not good quality and kept failing.  After considering it a bit, I'm just going to use the compressor clutch trigger if I add an electric fan later.  It will have the fan on anytime the A/C is running but that is a decent safety measure.

I'm going to let all the hardware soak overnight and paint it tomorrow after work.  

What's Next?

My intention is to update this post sporadically but not retain historical versions.  It is a bit of a to-do list that I just carry forward, update, and change the post date so it generally remains new the top of my postings.  I can then quickly and easily reference it when I have some time or am about to make an order.

Second Set of Keys

Swap Negative Battery Cable

Hatchback Struts Don't Hold

Driver Door Weatherstripping

Glove Box Light

Headliner Repair

Windshield Wipers

All Bushings

Steering Rack Limiters

Steering Rack Bushings (Energy Suspension 4-10103G)

Transmission Mount

Transmission Bushings (Energy Suspension 4-1102G)

Sway Bar Bushings (Energy Suspension 4-5108G - 1.25")

Sway Bar End Links

AC Rebuild & 134A Conversion

I've had to pause the effort on the interior as I wait for some Eastwood paint and Second Skin sound deadening to arrive in a few days.  While waiting, I'm going to get started on the air conditioning system.

As I mentioned previously, the former owner stated the A/C has not worked since he purchased the car in November of 2022.  He had not attempted to do any work to it to understand what was wrong.  I tested the system by pressing on one of the Schrader valves a few days ago and there is no refrigerant in the system.  I decided that since I didn't want to go through guessing at what was wrong, I'd take this time to replace critical parts and perform a 134A conversion.

In an effort to get the system working again, I purchased mostly Four Seasons equipment except for the condenser since I couldn't find one anywhere.  The specific items I purchased include a Four Seasons compressor (FSS-58388), Four Seasons accumulator/dryer (FSS-55278), Four Seasons liquid hose line (FSS-55602), Four Seasons high pressure hose (FSS-55703), and Universal Air condenser (UAC-CN3554PFC), a Motorcraft 134A A/C Clutch Cycling Switch (YH-513 / E35Y-19E561-A), and the two manifolds which bolt to the top of the new compressor (LMR-6888748 and-LMR 6888747).  All the Four Seasons items came from Summit, the condenser from AutoZone, and the rest from LMR.

I removed all the hoses from the system this evening.  I sprayed PB Blaster into the AC fittings and after waiting a while pulled them using a Lisle (#39400) disconnect tool.  There is one particular fitting near the firewall and accumulator that everyone complains about taking forever to get loose.  I suppose I was lucky as it came out without any trouble.  I then removed the fan shroud, fan clutch, fan, and serpentine belt.  I stopped for the evening at that point not sure if I would remove the radiator or try to sneak the condenser without damaging the radiator.