OK, so after a two week sabbatical on holidays across Europe, this morning it was back at it. In accordance with Griffith's recommendations, my next step should be installing the condensers. I have a new front condenser, a new rear LH wheel well condenser, and need to reinstall the OEM decklid condenser. Then it'll be on the the hoses - oh joy :-).
So this morning, I drove the car up onto my ramps to attack the front condenser replacement, which in principal is pretty simple, just pesky a little if you don't have the car very high (ramps don't give you too much clearance to move around - hope you're flexible :-)). I figured I could do this job without removing the crash bar, but during the process decided, for three bolts, it would save me some cursing thanks to my large sausage fingers and fiddling with the three 10mm bolts that hold the assembly up. Here are some before pics (I'd already R&R'd the crash bar a while ago, which made it simple to remove):
I had to spray some Liquid Wrench onto the bolts on the passenger side which have fixed nuts on the inside of the front trunk area as they were rusted in place and didn't want to break them off. Once loose, the assembly came down pretty easily, as did 31 years of dirt (be wary so you don't get it in the face). Once down just also be cautious of the four fan mounting self-tapping screws protruding downward into the area. While I didn't have any mishap, this could be quite a painful and rusty experience if you're not careful.
I first placed the new condenser on the three bolts slightly loose in order to ensure the fit and reduce the "holding it up while trying to secure the basket as well. It certainly would be possible to do it simultaneously, but as I didn't have much clearance, this seemed like a prudent move.
Once in place, I removed the passenger side basket bracket holding bolt (not sure what else to call it, in order to mount the protective basket. I had to put some newspaper into my 10mm socket in order to push the bolt out a little further to more easily catch the thread, as the cursing had started at this point. The addition of paper worked quite well. Once it caught the thread, I then slid the basket into place, and left the bolt a little loose while I worked the other side the same way. Once in place, I tightened all three bolts. You'll note that the support brackets are still a bit bent, but I don't have a vise locally, and wasn't quite sure on the angles to use (I think it should be two 90 degree angles based on what they look like, thoughts anyone?
As I haven't installed the hoses yet, I left the protective caps on the new condenser and packaged up the new o-rings that came with it for future install use. I then reinstalled the crash bar and tightened it up as well.
The last picture shows the location of the front condenser fan housing (I was able to remove it without taking the battery out, but will take the battery out for reinstall to ensure I don't break it. It has been removed at this point as replacing its motor is the next phase - you can see the new condenser through the hole in the tub.
