My air conditioning saga continues

Thread jumping here but just talked to my guy and he says the A/C in my Lifeliner is ALIVE!!!!! Removed the lower part of the dash to trace wires and had to rewire a bunch, charged it up, and away it goes.

[ame]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xos2MnVxe-c[/ame]
 
Good deal, Richard! Glad it will be running for your long drive. I know it would be a miserable drive without it. My '60 a/c ran great for the 3.5 hour drive between Ft. Wayne and Dearborn last week. We have become quite spoiled, I think, accustomed to having a/c in all our vehicles. In its infancy, a/c was a luxury, both in homes and vehicles. Things have a way of going full circle, as there was a time that a/c repair was pretty routine, but new EPA laws since the early '90's have changed all that. We're back to having a/c be a luxury, as your wallet well knows!

Personally and professionally, I think the EPA totally mishandled the entire problem. Assuming that R-12 is as "dangerous" as the EPA claims, we deal with dangerous chemicals all the time in this world. The answer comes with proper containment and handling, rather than completely replacing the chemical itself.

When vehicle air conditioning first appeared, the components were basically industrial grade, installed into a moving vehicle. Components such as an actual expansion valve were replaced by cheap expansion tubes. Hose assemblies were cheapened too, going from barbed fittings that can be reused with new rubber hose (R-12 only, R-134 requires Parflex) to crimped fittings that have no barbs beneath them, and easily subject to leakage. The list of component cheapening is almost endless. The workhorse GM A6 compressor (axial piston movement, 6 cylinders), such as your '73 has, was replaced around '78 with the pure crap R4 (radial piston movement, like the old airplane engines, only 4 cylinders) made primarily of aluminum. The A6 had its own oil pump and sump, just like a car engine. That's what the bulge is on the bottom of this compressor. The R4 has no such oil supply, but depends on the refrigeration oil to constantly travel through the system for lubrication. As soon as there is any restriction in the cheapo expansion tube, the oil flow stops, the R4 starts to self destruct. I can't tell you how many of these I've replaced for people over the years, and I kept a container of plugged, yukky, expansion tubes, as evidence.

Cars of the '60's and earlier '70's had suction throttling valves, regulating evaporator pressure so that they would get nice and cold, but not cold enough to freeze the condensing water vapor that was passing over the fins. Blah-blah-blah.... the list of cheapening to saved a penny during manufacture goes on and on, and of course continues to this day. I apologize for getting on my soapbox about this, but as a lover of old cars and true American ingenuity and engineering, the changes I've seen leave me very disheartened, especially with the short sightedness of the government that totally mishandles a situation.

On the good side is the fact that so many beautiful and wonderful old vehicles still exist and are lovingly maintained and exhibited. I smile when I see a raised hood and a nice OEM air conditioning system stands out. I know yours has been changed, Richard, so please don't take that as a personal slam. You did what you had to do.

I'm hoping that the former owner of your Lifeliner, Dave McCamey, will be able to visit us a bit during Hudson. Dave and I were good friends in earlier years, and it's incredibly sad to think how some thugs changed his life forever. Tom
 
I'm hoping that the former owner of your Lifeliner, Dave McCamey, will be able to visit us a bit during Hudson. Dave and I were good friends in earlier years, and it's incredibly sad to think how some thugs changed his life forever. Tom

Dave is supposed to be there on Saturday, July 16th for the day. It will be nice to see him again and yet with limited vision, hope he can get a glimpse of at leat two of his former cars.
 
I picked the Lifeliner up yesterday and the A/C is working, as well as one does that's been converted but it kept me comfortable. The temperature control head operates as it should even the defrost. Quite a bit of rewiring due to the idiot that jury rigged it last time and something with a fuse located on or near the evaporator that needed attention.

Far less costly than replacing the entire system but Paul and Tom have always said, "These are great systems and work great but you need the right person working on them". I think my mechanic had some fun with this taking him back to the old days. Too bad he didn't charge me what he would have back then.

Now that it is working Terri will be riding up with me, oh joy!
 

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You can't fool me.. That is you taking Whitey Bulger from one safe house to another.
 
Richard

I will be thinking about you and your lovely wife driving in the cool comfort of your re-newed AC while I am driving in a big BLACK Cadillac in the summer sun WITHOUT AC. :specool:

Great to hear it is working and your wife will be putting up with you again on a long drive to the annual PCS meet. :17875:

Looking forward to seeing yalll from the south,
Darren


P.S. Just think... next year, NO LONG DRIVE !!! :applause:
 
now if your nely found man can fix the olders system then yours over the phone I'll be happy. live we said the last time find a man willing to work on your car. glad you found him.
 
As Gomer Pyle would say, "Shazmmmmm!!!". Got the Lifeliner out for more work and heard a fan running in the rear. Turns out the rear A/C actually works on this beast-WOW! I have two units in the back and the A/C guy said one fuse kept blowing so I suspect it is for the other unit. Appears as if the fan is fronze on that one.

Paul always told me "DO NOT" disconnect the rear A/C. Hell it is cooler in the rear than up front so guess where Terri may be riding.

Probably!
 
Just make sure to strap her into the gurney securely, because you don't want her to roll out and hit the floor. I knew that once you found someone that knew what they were doing, that it would work again.
 
Just make sure to strap her into the gurney securely, because you don't want her to roll out and hit the floor. I knew that once you found someone that knew what they were doing, that it would work again.

We used to have a customary ride back in the day when the family gathered at Uncle's for Holidays etc. Usually after the adults had made several visits to the tavern set up in the embalming room we'd pile into the combo with one riding on the stretcher. The goal was to dump the passenger going over the woopsies on the county's rural roads.

As a newly entitled official driver, and the only sober one in the bunch, I was told to roll 'em boy... and I proudly did. Off we went and I had that '65 m-m rolling at 70 on the most famous area and was able to dump my old man.

Ahh...the memories.
 
Rear a/c

The rear units are separate entities with their own controls, simply Tee'd into the refrigerant lines of the front unit. As long as the compressor was running, and there was refrigerant, of course, the rear unit would be capable of working. They are much simpler, not trying to act as climate control systems, but usually only using a blower speed switch.

Years ago I owned a very nice '65 M&M combination that had factory a/c and rear a/c. I'll never forget a sweltering hot day in which the Ohio Chapter was gathering in Springfield. (Joe Ross was alive, then, and Dave McCamey was a vibrant and active member..... *sigh*) Many members from years ago will remember my dog Cindy. She loved to ride, and going to Springfield lay on a blanket in the rear compartment of the '65. The rear a/c worked great, actually better than the front. The complexity of climate control only made things worse. Ahhh........ for the simplicity of the good old days in which, if you wanted it colder, you turned the thermostat up. Or is it down? Tom
 

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