Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

Many, and I mean many years ago, in the early 80's purchased an '79 Limited with a/c disassembled/missing parts. Did an install, took it for a ride and maybe 20 minutes into the drive, frost started coming out of the vents. Added a temperature sensor at the evap and the interior could be used as a freezer. So, at one time the a/c worked perfectly.

midnight mechanic

I looked at a/c dual gauge kits. They all have a large quick disconnect and cannot fit in between the condenser cold nipple and the pipe that comes out of the condenser.

Looks like I'm stuck using the sight glass.

BTW, is it normal for the passenger side floor to get hot??

GSLSEforme

THE only place to hook up a manifold gauge set on the car is at the ac compressor head at lo & hi side charge ports. As a previous poster mentioned,the sight glass(es) on your car are of no use for any refrigerant beside R12. Charge quantity of R134A is 85% of R12.
I don't understand the first sentence in your post.
Yes,pass. side floor & seat frame do get quite warm on cars still running cat converter,even without cat converter that area of car will get hot. Hard to hold onto pass.seat track mounting bolts hot.

midnight mechanic

Thanks.... So it gets hot. I was
about to replace the cat with a glass pack cherry bomb muffler or straight pipe.

What I meant in the 1st paragraph was the low side port is very close to the aluminum tube/pipe that goes into the compressor. There's no room for the modern quick disconnect. So I cannot use the a/c manifold gauge sets that are available now.

GSLSEforme

Possible to take a pic showing your charge ports and post here? The cherry bomb muffler would have a very short life from rotary engine hot breath. Cat converter does a big job of quieting exhaust,straight pipe would make exhaust louder which may be unwanted.

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

I bought my S model new in 78. It was a stripped down model w/o air with black interior, which was brutal here in the Alabama heat, so when I "restored" it in 93 I was determined to install air. I had hoarded several cases on R12 so I stayed with it, (still have several cans and one larger canister). I installed a larger condenser and some light window tinting to address the greenhouse issue. It blows snow ***** ever since, and I would never live without it again, Usually I am the only guy at the track, in an antique , with air. People there look at me funny when they are checking out my coil overs, rack and pinion and weber carbs and notice the compressor, they think I am crazy! but I don't care, got to have the air, as long as I drive it on the street anyway.

GSLSEforme

Have owned several 1st gens,some with,some without air. In my 20s ac didn't matter as much as horsepower,lol. My current 1st gen has working ac,cruise control. Nice to have for extended drives,fun rides,arriving without sweating when hot out. If i may ask,where did you source your condenser?

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

I remembered the company was in Texas, I did a google search and I believe it was Classic Auto Air, but I'm not totally sure, it was almost 25 years ago.

In my search I found several sources for universal condensers.

GSLSEforme

Do you recall if it was drop in or did you have to reconfigure mounting?

midnight mechanic

see how close the cold a/c port is to the tube going into the compressor

midnight mechanic

It was like that when I bought the car used. Also found a Las Vegas a/c shop business card. I bought the car in L A.

And I did the cherry bomb thing before when I was in NJ. The exhaust was quiet enough to fool the NJ cops who will pull you over for anything. After 2 years when I had to get the car inspected, I noticed the glass pack cherry bomb insides was trashed.

Qingdao

iTrader: (3)

Bend the hose so you can access the port.

midnight mechanic

"Bend the hose so you can access the port. " Bend an aluminum tube that experienced +27 years of hot/cold cycles? I bought the car in 1990.

It does look like it was bent after being installed. the flange bolt had to be more accessible that it is now.

rwatson5651

iTrader: (5)

I had to fab up new mounts, I adapted the mounts from the original condenser. I measured the space and ordered the largest condenser that would fit. It was very tight.

GSLSEforme

Was responding to rwatson5651 on condenser question.
Regarding proximity of lo side charge port to suction hose... previous to Ri34A fitting being installed,the oe R12 fitting underneath is much smaller and there would have been no clearance issue. Since whoever converted the car to R134A had to access lo side charge fitting to charge system,most likely removed suction hose clamp and bent aluminum line/hose enough to install gauge connectors,charged system,bent line back and reclamped as before. You could try doing that to get gauges hooked up,it's risky considering car's age. Were you my customer,i'd get permission from you to try that,but also give you this option: since this is in the diagnostic stage,likely gauges will be on and off more than once. How many times do you think you can bend that line before it splits And you have to get a replacement made? $$$
Recommend evacuating system(thru hi side),remove lo side charge fitting(R134a/R12 together as one)from compressor and source a brass 45 degree adapter to screw into compressor housing and reinstall your charge fitting into that so it faces away from suction line/bracket and you'll be able to connect/disconnect gauges easily as many times needed & in the future. This would be my preferred choice,imho.

GSLSEforme

Thanks,if you ever have that top rad panel off for any reason,could you snap a picture of that? I was very close to going down this road when i needed a replacement for my SE,but Ray bailed me out with a good used unit that was exactly what was in my car.

Qingdao

iTrader: (3)

Then don't add refrigerant.

When you work in the automotive field you'll find that sometimes you have to DO things or stuff will never happen. If it breaks, oh well; however, not tending to it at all gets you nowhere.


And yes after putting the adapter for the new style refrigerant connectors on my car I had to bend "an aluminum tube that experienced +27 years of hot/cold cycles" Nope didn't break.

midnight mechanic

GSLSE>> "remove lo side charge fitting(R134a/R12 together as one)from compressor and source a brass 45 degree adapter to screw into compressor housing and reinstall your charge fitting into that so it faces away from suction line/bracket and you'll be able to connect/disconnect gauges easily as many times needed & in the future. "

You are creative! Or I could screw in an extender into the compressor.

GSLSEforme

You'll need to source an adapter that is male pipe thread of appropriate pitch on one end and female on the other,recommend the 45 to keep it low profile. Do whatever works for you.

midnight mechanic

Added a small can of r134. The a/c was cooler at idle while the car was stationary. The compressor made a knocking sound when the freon was added. Is this normal??????

GSLSEforme

I'll reiterate the importance of reading system operating pressures...knocking sound you describe is not normal,indicative of overpressure and/or slugging ac compressor with liquid refrigerant.
Without knowing what's presently in the system charge wise,adding more refrigerant is a gamble imo.

midnight mechanic

That makes sense since I had the can upside down, and liquid was going into the low side. The knocking stopped when the can was empty.

Do you know if the threads on the high and low port threads are the same? The old r-12 quick disconnects that I saved from 2001 look the same.

As luck would have it, the weather forecast is only 90F for this afternoon and not 97F like it was yesterday. So that means the a/c is ok. If the a/c wasn't ok, then today's forecast would be much higher.

GSLSEforme

Threads for original R12 schraeder valves are same low and high side.