AmericanSavage

Also true.

aaaannnnnnd now this is happening to me…not under load. Only if I floor the gas.

The metal is definitely THINNER than OEM. Just be away of that.

On welding, I had one of those flux welders, and got so tired of it, I splurged for a Lincoln Mig/tig/rod welder so I could use gas for mig instead of flux, and man does the gas make a HUGE difference.

Hi everyone, I am back. Been working on the Harley, and then some other small projects as well as getting the new land cleared. So I have been thinking: one of these days I am going to remove the exhaust manifolds to get at the freeze plugs I have not replaced. I was going to buy a kit, and put on some deep exhaust, flowmasters or something and change to a dual exhaust. Figured that would be the right time to do it…all at once. The only kit I see is this one: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/wlk-89016 Advice any one? I do not even know if this will fit, though they say it will. Yes, I can cut and weld (well I can weld, I did not say how well I can do that!). Hope all is well. Looking forward to the move to another website here. Cheers!

Thank you Grumpin!

While I had the dash off, I decided to repair the tabs that hold the dash together—the instrument panel and the dash go through these tabs on the interior dash panel. They always break. So what did I do? I tried to plastic weld them a year ago, and that was a miserable failure. So, I went back to my surfing roots, and got metal mesh and wrapped that around a fiberglass MAT. Then I mixed the resin. It sticks to plastic very well. This is the result. After it all set up, I trimmed the patch with a dremel and painted them black. The tape is necessary to create a dam. Pics are shot through the front window. After the trim, I matched up the dash panel to the tabs, backed it with a small block of wood, and drilled the hole….slowly. Cheers! Hope this helps someone.

Thank you Grumpin! I am for the moment all within spec on pressures. What a relief. Started up the Yellow Rose today…..cold air blows, and it is a beautiful thing!!!!!

Went to Diesel Parts (they do custom A/C lines, hydraulics, etc…..) They said the line they created was not crimped properly. So they recrimped the line and gave me new o rings—no charge. They thought it was leaking from the top, and squirreling around the fitting and dripping on the metal line. Anyway, filled with 2 cans yesterday until the compressor remained ON. I stopped there. Pressure was 35 on low and 200 on high, steady. I have no sticker so I am guesstimating here. The 1979 truck with same setup at the pic-pull said 2.75 on it’s sticker. So I am thinking with the 80% that is correct? 80% of 2.75 is 2.2. If I have that calc correct then I am in the field of range. The proof of this is I went out this late morning and turned on truck and A/C. The compressor kicked right on and engaged and never cycled off like it has in the past. Cold air blew right away and consistently. I would say this is fixed…I hope. Time will tell! Have to say, I am quite a believer in the dye method over the electronic sniffer. Mine was blowing false positives all over.

Got the offending hose off, and underneath it is a horror show:

Found it! …or at least one, but I definitely found a problem—could not really see it until dark last night. There is a slight ever so slight leak at one of the lines made for me. I could see the oil slowly coming out, and the dye lit up that area of the line. I did not get a pic until this morning—I should have gotten a pic plast night, but anyway, here is the pic. Off to the A/C line guy today.

If I recall, you also will have to change the lines for the saginaw fit.

These are the days of our A/C lives…… So got the dye and a can of refrigerant today. Not even 1/3 of a can and the compressor kicked on and did not stop. Blew cold cold air the entire time. All the appropriate hose lines and accumulator immediately started sweating as soon as I put the can to fill through the manifold gauge suction side. Did a prelim check and I see no glow anywhere. Will check again at dusk/night. So obviously I am holding a charge to some extent. I have no idea what gives. The new can with the dye would be can 6, which seems like alot to me if I am not leaking. I also added an oring to the caps: checked for glow an hour later, nothing. Will check with light tonight and update.

Got the blend door installed today. What a PAIN! I had to unbolt the vacuum and use LONG needle nose to install the pin from cab side. Then I had to gently bend the door back into the opening. AND Then I had to use my hand threw the heating core to hold the hinge to screw in the bolts/screws. If you do not have a small hand fuggetaboutit. Tight fit and my hand is all bruised. I added large washers to the screws to provide more surface and not agitate the holes in the plastic. At any rate, here is short video of my test before putting everything back together. Also, A/C not empty but not blowing cold again after 3 days. UGH.

Update: After spending time on blend door repair (see other thread) Turned on truck today after 3 days….a/c is back to shutting off and on without cooling. I had two solid days of it working as expected, then the 3 days for the blend door. There has to be a leak. Also note that the sniffer does not work well. So I shall resort to dye at some point I think.