The harbor freight blast cabinets work very well if modified. There’s lots of YouTube vids on the mods

I'll give it a look. Thanks.

Air Conditioning Delete
 

*NOTE If anyone of the future ever wants the high-res files of any of my pics for reference DM me*

One of the first notes the mechanic made for me when I bought the car back in 2014 and took it in for it's first oil change was "Disconnected A/C Compressor due to wear and bad bearing." I have never had working A/C in this car, admittedly I haven't driven many miles, but the idea of really "needing" it hasn't came up. Humidity is in the 20%-40% range where I live in the hot months. I always held onto the idea that I wanted to keep everything as original as possible for value sake, but, at this point without intention to sell I started thinking about removing it all together to clean up the engine bay, as the condenser with bent fins and a rusty compressor with a noisy bearing were kind of eyesores to me.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667973353.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667973353.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667973353.jpg

Once I got the scissor lift set up and went for my first raise, it was immediately apparent the AC lines were directly in the way of the best jack point to lift the car safely on the floor seams at the edge of the floor. I tried to work around it but there just isn't another great option that wouldn't put the lift arm more inward than I wanted. I had one line running under the passenger side that I could just barely avoid, but on the driver side I had 3 lines running from the (aftermarket?) drier smack dab in the way. I tried to just move them out a bit, but realized the 36 year old lines were closer to steel than rubber and would not budge at all. Finally I got sick of not moving forward, sick of analysis paralysis and decided to just pull the trigger and remove it all.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667973353.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667973353.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667973353.jpg

I started with the lowest hanging fruit, taking off the rear condenser first, then the compressor, and on to the driver side long line. As I have seen others comment on, getting that driver line through the back of the engine bay was nearly impossible. The way it was bent, and the fact that it had absolutely zero flexibility left in it, was causing more damage than it was worth. I screwed up the cruise control vacuum line, broke a plastic T fitting, and was putting more force than I wanted on another rubber line that I am still not sure what even is. Seeing the horrible condition the hoses were in, I knew there was just no chance anyone would ever reuse or have use for these, so I got out the hose cutters and started cutting. All in all I made about 5 cuts, but in hindsight I should have just cut it everywhere as the hoses ended up in my garbage can a few hours later. I ended up cutting off and saving all the fittings, hardware and components incase I change my mind and want it back some day, but I put the chance of that happening at close to zero.

The smugglers box was a bit of a hassle. I took off the electrical connection under the passenger foot board, but honestly I don't think I needed to as it didn't lead to anything connected down there that I could see. Once I wiggled out the blower, I was able to move on to the front condenser and that was simple as could be.

Something that caught me off guard was the green slime that poured out all over my garage floor. I was not expecting any sort of liquid in the lines, so after a quick panic moment wondering if I somehow cut something I wasn't supposed to, I searched and found out it was dye, assuming an attempt by the PO to find a leak. Hard to see here but these were full. The passenger long line was dry.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667973353.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1667973353.jpg

All in all I got out everything except the compressor bracket, which I will get out at a later date, and the weight of the removed was 52 lbs+front condenser blower not pictured. Honestly sitting all of it out on the floor next to such a small car was mind blowing. I don't know why I sweated it so long, it felt amazing to pull all that crap out.

I mentioned previously that I started a thread to identify a noise I am hearing with the clutch, more on that in the next post.

Kevin

The hoses and the drier are trash but everything else is hard to replace. I’d box it up and keep it,even just to pass it on with the car. Pull the temp control tube out carefully. Right down to the condenser and little bracket, and the application specific nuts and bolts for the compressor bracket.

The green fluid is compressor oil mixed with it dye for leak detection. It is supposed to be evenly distributed but if the car hasn’t run in a while.. 🤷*♂️

Kevin, I did the wooden ramps for a year or so. It gets pretty annoying having them in the way all the time. I use my "work" bay as a place to park my daily driver every day. I finally got annoyed enough to get a pit for the lift.

I know my limits and skill level. I don't know beans about concrete work. I asked a home builder buddy about a crew to do the pit.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668006318.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668006318.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668006318.jpg

They did a great job of placing th pit where I wanted it. I had some 1.25 inch PVC pipe to use as conduit. So I put the pump on the wall and it is out of the way.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668006470.jpg

I can lift the 911 to the top of the lift range. The El Camino has to stop or it will hit the light for the garage door opener.

When I am done with the lift, I lower it down, and put a piece of 1/2 inch plywood over it. It is pretty much gone and nothing is in the way.

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668006608.jpg

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1668006608.jpg
It is really handy to have a lift for other items of maintenance besides a car.

I love having my lift in a pit.

GH85 I will absolutely be stealing this when I build and move in the next few years, as only a month in I already dislike the ramps. The camber of the wheels while lifting and lowering move them so it is a constant battle to keep them in place.

Yep, and they are just always in the way even when the lift is down. I hated that pump being in the way all the time as well. With the conduit, I ran the hydraulic lines and a piece of 12-3 electrical line so I have a ground fault electrical outlet in the pit. It is great for a soldering iron, drop light, or heat gun. I have that controlled by a switch, so I can kill all power to the pit when not in use.

The only downside to the pit is leafs and debris fall in, but a shop vac makes easy cleanup. And any dropped screw or nut goes to the center of the pit. :confused:

When I replaced the fuel line through the tunnel, I just sat on the edge of the pit, and my feet were in the pit. When doing a transmission oil change, I have to use a piece of plywood across the back of the pit to rest the catch tray to catch the draining oil. No big deal at all.