I finished renotching the frame and the compressor fits like a glove now. One of my main objectives has been to maintain accessibility to OEM parts in this build what with so many pieces coming from a donor 4th Gen F-body - because who wants to try and service a car with one-off parts while out on a road trip? Not me. I want to be able to call up any jobber and get bits and pieces with relative ease and little delay.
With this in mind we are using a hybrid system of F-body and G-body AC parts. The main lines coming off the compressor are factory F-body - these will likely be the main failure point down the road - and are easy to find. I spliced in the hard lines from a Grand National from the Receiver/Dryer and the Condenser using the F-body connectors. This allowed me to integrate the 4th Gen Pressure Valve. Interestingly the Evaporator already had the "blue" Ford hi-flow orifice tube in it - so I kept it as it only had 5000 miles on it and was clean. Also, I decided to use the OEM style condenser vs. the Spectra replacement since it is rumored to exchange heat better due its size, volume, and fin density.
Mocked up the heater lines, I want to put a mechanical bypass valve in place later on - probably just use a ball valve and brass tees.
I also built some double flare to -6 AN adapter fittings to connect the F-body trans cooler lines to the aftermarket bits. Nothing to crazy, just some drilling and tapping.
And one header is hung using Stage 8 locking header bolts, I imagine this thing will try and rattle them free.
With this in mind we are using a hybrid system of F-body and G-body AC parts. The main lines coming off the compressor are factory F-body - these will likely be the main failure point down the road - and are easy to find. I spliced in the hard lines from a Grand National from the Receiver/Dryer and the Condenser using the F-body connectors. This allowed me to integrate the 4th Gen Pressure Valve. Interestingly the Evaporator already had the "blue" Ford hi-flow orifice tube in it - so I kept it as it only had 5000 miles on it and was clean. Also, I decided to use the OEM style condenser vs. the Spectra replacement since it is rumored to exchange heat better due its size, volume, and fin density.
Mocked up the heater lines, I want to put a mechanical bypass valve in place later on - probably just use a ball valve and brass tees.
I also built some double flare to -6 AN adapter fittings to connect the F-body trans cooler lines to the aftermarket bits. Nothing to crazy, just some drilling and tapping.
And one header is hung using Stage 8 locking header bolts, I imagine this thing will try and rattle them free.
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