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This is the old condenser, with the new Receiver/Drier I installed when I thought this was going to be a simple A/C system recharge...
The new condenser came from Cold Air Products in Fort Worth, via The Parts Place. Except for the return line, it was pretty much a dead ringer for the original. As others have reported, the return line on the repro R12 condensers is 2 to 3" too long, which if left that way, would place the Receiver/drier too high to mount in its ring clamps. An email from me about this issue to Cold Air Products went unanswered, which leaves me to believe that they either a) don't speak English, b) don't care about Oldsmobiles, c) don't care about anybody, or d) are too busy making new parts for Chebbies to worry about me. At least their stuff is made in the USA, and aside from that long line, looked very nice and was packed well. This was my creative solution to dealing with the extra line length. After installation, this line is nearly impossible to see anyway, so I didn't even bother painting over the bare aluminum where the line clamp used to be. The extra bends brought the line back down almost 2".
Since the system had sat since last autumn, even though sealed up and lightly pressurized, I decided to install another new receiver/drier. For $16 I think it was (Rock Auto), it was cheap peace-of-mind. I did remove the yellow 'Made in China' sticker from this one. Although it does sit just slightly higher than original, it's still secure in its clamps. In this photo, I haven't yet connected any lines to it.
Incidentally, while rebending that line, I reaffirmed to myself that the correct way to do this is slowly and gently, with your bare hands. That tubing is very soft and bends easily, and being the least bit careless, or trying to re-do a bend is likely to result in a kinked line. So my advice to anybody who needs to do this is to put away your tools and work slowly with just your hands, massaging the line into shape. It's actually easy to do if you just take your time.
New Sanden-style compressor (Parts Place) and new lines from Classic Auto Air all installed. I've also replaced the old, beat up and non-original heater hose with a new molded hose from Fusick's. And while I had the valve cover off, I replaced the old grommet and the vent filter with new items (both from Fusick), and cleaned and repainted the steel connecting tube.
I've also installed the refurbished main pulley. No belts installed yet, though. I didn't need them yet, and they'd just be in my way. Before I installed the new heater hose, I did mask off and repaint the oil filler tube, which looks a whole lot better now. Somehow I managed to avoid any overspray onto the rest of the engine. Now I need to find a new 'QJ' decal for it somewhere.
The guys at Classic Auto Air were great to deal with, by the way, and the hoses themselves are first rate. Their hose set normally comes with a flat foam rubber sleeve on the muffler. I didn't care for that, so I also ordered an OEM style muffler sleeve with the hoses. They apparently read my mind, and installed the OEM-style sleeve onto the muffler before shipping, which saved me some (maybe a lot of) time and probably saved my neighbors from several new curse words they had never heard before.
The compressor came filled with PAG oil and labeled for R134a, but both The Parts Place and the manufacturer verified that it would be fine with R12 and mineral oil. I drained the oil from the compressor, refilled it with the same volume of Delco 575 refrigerant oil, drained it again, and then refilled it again. Actually I let it drain overnight each time to ensure that it was as empty as possible. The compressor originally had 5.5 oz. of oil in it, so that's what I put back in.
The compressor is made in China, but appeared to be manufactured with some care. The pulley rotated very smoothly and easily. Time will tell how it will hold up after the clutch is engaged. It does weigh about half of what the A6 weighs, and I have to say, it truly was a perfect-fit swap. Although all the bolts on it and supplied with it are metric, they fit the SAE holes in the Olds brackets without any issues. The only thing I had to go out and buy was a longer metric bolt for the clamp bar that holds the hoses onto the compressor.
So here it is, everything installed except for the belts and the new radiator. Before I set the condenser in place, I replaced the rubber spool condenser mounts, since the original ones were hard as stones.
Nice work. Makes me realize installing A/C in my non A/C 70 S will take even more time and $$$.
Thanks much.
I don't know if I would have attempted to assemble a system from scratch if this had been a non-A/C car, although it certainly should be possible to do that. Classic Auto Air sells entire systems for our cars but I don't know if it's easier, better or cheaper to go that route. I'm sure some CO members have done this. The guys I talked with at CAA were very pleasant and helpful, and seemed very knowledgeable.
For some reason (probably my anxiousness to move along with this project), I didn't take any pictures of the new radiator... but it's a 4-row made by U.S. Radiator. The quality was very good, and it was very well-packaged for shipping and arrived with no damage at all. All of the dimensions I checked matched the old 2-row radiator (aside from the core thickness, of course) except for the height, which was about 1/2" taller.
I searched high and low for new radiator side and top seals before determining that they actually are just rubber cowl windlace, cut to appropriate lengths. The moment of truth was sliding the radiator into position with crossed fingers, and hoping that I'd attached those lower support brackets in the correct location. It was a very snug fit, and I had to lube the side seals to get the radiator to slide down into place.
As it turned out, my placement of those lower brackets could not have been any better. If I had placed them any more forward I'd have had clearance issues with the condenser. Any further back and the shroud would have required modification.
New rubber mounts and a new 4-row top plate from Fusick, and the radiator was in.
The new radiator hoses came from Parts Place and the bore sizes were perfect. The lower hose needed some trimming at both ends. The upper hose really needed at least another inch of straight section at the radiator end, but it did fit. It's not a great fit, so I'll keep an eye out for one that looks better.
I wanted to use the original style double wire hose clamps, and bought a set from Inline Tube. Although those did look like the originals, the quality of the Chinese parts is so poor that they are virtually unusable. Complete junk. So I bought some constant torque clamps from McMaster-Carr. I've forgotten already, but these are either made by Breeze or Ideal, and although they are a little bulky and certainly don't look factory, I like them. Very easy to install, and they still look better (and will work much better) than plain worm gear clamps. I used them on both ends of the upper, lower, and bypass hoses. The price was about the same as the Chinese-made repro trash from IT.
My old fan shroud was not in great shape and one of the bosses at the top (where the top plate fastens) was broken, so I ordered a new shroud from GM Parts Direct. I don't know if it's a genuine GM part or a reproduction, but the new one is a dead ringer for the old one. I did need to add shims between it and the top plate as the factory Assembly manual details. I bought a shroud installation kit (Fusick, I think) which came with new clinch nuts, shims, and bolts, all nice stuff.
I used 3M trim adhesive to install the bottom seal to the radiator before it was slid into place, and the same seal and adhesive on the top before installing the new top plate. That could not have been any easier or neater.
With the new cooling system all installed, I filled it with water, checked for leaks, and finding none, I decided it was time to fire the engine and see if it even still ran. The last time it ran was almost 11 months ago, after all...
With a new fuel pump and the new fuel line and hoses, I only had to crank the engine for about 5 seconds before it fired up. It ran just fine, to my great relief. Since then I've charged the A/C system (more on that later), so the engine has been started several times and run quite a bit. The issues of long cranking after sitting for a few days are completely gone now. Even after a week of sitting, the engine fired up after just a couple of revolutions.
I have a lot of little odds and ends to still complete, but here it is, all buttoned back up...
The front end of the car is still raised up on jack stands (I knew I was going to be getting under the car often while doing this stuff), so I'll leave it there until I get the oil changed and investigate some transmission fluid seepage. I'm hoping that the tranny fluid is just coming from the pan and can be remedied by snugging the bolts or at worst, replacing the pan gasket. If it's something other than that, I'll have to figure that out before winter. I did pick up some Marvel Mystery Oil and Valvoline VR1 for this oil change. Hopefully the MMO will help to remove some of the remaining valve train sludge.
But this weekend, one way or another, it will be let down off the stands and roll out onto the road again for some real testing (and a thorough washing and waxing).
Here's something I had never noticed before (although I don't know how I could have missed it). I finally noticed it when I put the refurbished air cleaner back on.
The previous owner changed out the original distributor for an HEI. Obviously the HEI is significantly larger than the original distributor, so I have this condition:
The air cleaner housing can't sit level or seal to the carb because it hits the ignition wires on the distributor before it's fully seated on the carburetor.
I could find a smaller air cleaner, but I am not going to go there. As I'm seeing it, my best solution is probably to install a spacer between the manifold and carburetor. If a 1/2" spacer is enough, I probably wont create any other issues.
Does that seem logical, or am I missing something?
Is there another, different (and better) distributor that would be smaller (like the OEM size)?
So I finally thought everything was finished. I hadn't yet given the A/C system a full charge. I gave it 2lbs of R12, which should be about 50%. Enough to check things and to make certain I had no slow leaks. I hadn't found any leaks (I added some fluorescent dye with the system oil to make leak checking easier). I checked my timing yesterday to make sure nothing had changed. Everything looked fine. And if course, I ran the engine for quite a while in doing that.
Today I decided to finish charging the A/C system. About the time I was finishing that, I noticed a large puddle behind the passenger front wheel. This was too big a puddle to be condensate from the evaporator. Turns out it was coolant, and it was running like a faucet from the condensate drain area.
The heater hoses at the firewall are not leaking. I can't find any cooling system leaks anywhere. So the only thing left in my mind is the heater core. The passenger side carpet is bone dry.
How is this possible? And why would this happen only when I run the A/C? I'm pretty flummoxed at the moment.
Could the heater vacuum valve in the intake be leaking? You have a few small cap distributor options. There are chinese no name options from places like Olds Rocket parts. The other options are Pertronix Ignitor 2 and 3 distribtors and the MSD small cap variety. Looking good, there is always more to do on our olds cars
I'm still trying to decide the better route to resolve the carb/air cleaner/distributor issue. By far the cheapest solution would be a spacer under the carb. A new, smaller distributor would be a pretty easy fix, although much more expensive... and I'm not at all dissatisfied with the distributor that's on the engine now, so a change would only be justified by provided the needed clearance.
I've decided that the simplest and best route to address my air cleaner/distributor clearance issue is to use a spacer/riser between the carb and the air cleaner. It looks like a 3/4" tall spacer should be plenty. I'd need to replace or modify the air tube between the valve cover breather and the air cleaner and use a longer air cleaner mounting stud, but those are very simple things to do. Having just refurbished my ugly old OE air cleaner, changing it now is not an option I want to even consider.
Strange thing is, it appears that nobody anywhere makes a spacer/riser for the 3" (3-1/16") neck Rochester 2 bbl carb, which is what I have. I was under the impression that that carb is the one a lot of circle track racers are required to use, so I thought such an item would be readily available. It definitely doesn't appear to be so. Looks like I'll need to fab something from aluminum or phenolic.
I know most of you guys have Quadrajets, but have any of you ever looked for or found an air cleaner riser for the Rochester 2G series?
I've decided that the simplest and best route to address my air cleaner/distributor clearance issue is to use a spacer/riser between the carb and the air cleaner. It looks like a 3/4" tall spacer should be plenty. I'd need to replace or modify the air tube between the valve cover breather and the air cleaner and use a longer air cleaner mounting stud, but those are very simple things to do. Having just refurbished my ugly old OE air cleaner, changing it now is not an option I want to even consider.
Strange thing is, it appears that nobody anywhere makes a spacer/riser for the 3" (3-1/16") neck Rochester 2 bbl carb, which is what I have. I was under the impression that that carb is the one a lot of circle track racers are required to use, so I thought such an item would be readily available. It definitely doesn't appear to be so. Looks like I'll need to fab something from aluminum or phenolic.
I know most of you guys have Quadrajets, but have any of you ever looked for or found an air cleaner riser for the Rochester 2G series?
Have you thought about using a carb to manifold spacer? That may even give your engine a little more pep while achieving the clearance you need because of the HEI.
Great pics BTW. I enjoyed your thread. I am in a very similar situation with my 70 cutlass supreme 350. Everything i touch just seems to need to be cleaned, painted, replaced, or tightened. Keep up the good work.
Have you thought about using a carb to manifold spacer? That may even give your engine a little more pep while achieving the clearance you need because of the HEI.
Great pics BTW. I enjoyed your thread. I am in a very similar situation with my 70 cutlass supreme 350. Everything i touch just seems to need to be cleaned, painted, replaced, or tightened. Keep up the good work.
A spacer under the carb was my first thought. But then I'd also need to put spacers under the idle solenoid and the throttle linkage, which both mount to the manifold. Not a deal breaker though, and all the spacers I could easily make from aluminum or phenolic. I assume I'd need to retune the carb, too, but I think I could handle that. I guess I haven't yet completely ruled out that option.
Thanks for the kind words. It does seem like everything I touched needed attention of some kind. Not completely surprising though. Still, I didn't plan to be replacing or refurbishing practically everything between the front of the engine block and the grilles, and then some. Maybe this thread should serve as a warning to those who suffer from MAWitis... But I can say that in the end, all the work was worth the trouble.
Awesome thread! I'm in this process with my '69 S as we speak and I've you've provided a ton of usefull information. Thanks for the explicit pics and write up. Good luck with the rest and I look forward to hearing about it.
tb
Good to hear, thirstybob. It's very satisfying to know you've found some useful info. I'm not sure how well this process would have gone without the help of the great guys on C.O. This is the greatest forum on the web!
Good to hear, thirstybob. It's very satisfying to know you've found some useful info. I'm not sure how well this process would have gone without the help of the great guys on C.O. This is the greatest forum on the web!
I agree with you. This forum is the best! Here is my progress for today.
Many parts ordered last night.
August 22nd, 2016, 05:22 PM
