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Chasers 66 408 Restomod / ProTouring Coupe

Sorry for the truancy but, we had our daughter about 3 weeks ago and time has been short. The other good news is the car is running and driving great! It handles like a gokart, the ride is great, power is great. The only thing I havent really sorted out is the AC. The compressor keeps throwing the belt. i think the bracket needs to be shimmed out a little. Hopefully i can play with that some this week cause it's starting to get really hot and I'd love to have AC.

I managed to get out to a show at the local Sonic on Friday night. Met up with @jcs67stang which was awesome. Nice dude. Anywho, here are a couple pics!
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20190712-200529.jpg
 
That is one good looking Mustang! Yeah, you've got to get that AC working/sorted out! Here in Houston, we could water our lawn with the amount of condensation being made from AC!! The humidity is horrible!

And definitely a big congratulations on your newest member to your family!! Does a car seat fit in the back seat of a Mustang? ;)
 
Thanks @Dne' !
I'm getting increasingly irritated at the compressor setup. I 'think' the culprit is an undersized bolt mounting the compressor to the bracket. I noticed that I can wiggle the compressor laterally which is inducing a several degree cant at the pulley. I'm really annoyed because this all came from March designed to work together. I'm going to see about getting a larger bolt today and hope that remedies the problem. If it doesnt, i'm going to shelve the March system and go to a CVF. I can still use most of the March setup on the convertible so it's not a total loss.

As for a car seat, much to my wifes shegrin, the car seat base that we have will work with lap belts :-D So those are going to be going in the car along with a dedicated base. Afterall, how am I going to shuttle the kid to daycare without a car seat in the mustang? Take my truck? Please...it's not nearly as cool.
 
When I measure mounting holes I get:

Sanden mounts: 0.4"
March Bracket: 0.39"
Bolt: 0.37"

I'm not sure 0.023" is enough to cause that much of a cant...guess i'll call March again.
 
REJOICE! While the support folks at March were absolutely worthless, I determined that the AC unit was indeed canting down when I tightened the belt. I hated doing it but I shimmed up the bottom bracket bolt with 2 washers to account for the angle change. Voila! The belt stays in position, is quiet, and everything seems good.

I tried to run the AC to verify that the compressor is working but it doesnt engage. My guess is that since there's 0 charge in it that the trinary switch is preventing it from running. I had kicked around the idea of putting a light charge in it to see if I can get it to engage but i feel like that's a bad idea... I'll double check all the wiring tomorrow and then finally see if I can get the car in to my mechanic. I'd like to have him verify:

* center the steering (wheel is a little to the right)
* wheel alignment (currently set at -1.25 deg camber, 3.5 deg castor, 1/16 toe)
* safety inspection
* purge, charge the AC
* verify pinion angle
 
One step forward, two steps back...

I picked up an AC vacuum pump and gauges from Autozone this evening. After reading the instructions, I got everything set up and ran a vacuum for 1 hour. It had a solid 35psi on the low side and 20 on the high side which all seemed good. Then I turned the pump off and watched the vacuum slowly leach away...thus, I have a leak. Along with that, I can hear a hiss coming from the evaporator / condensor assembly on the front of the car. I've tried tightening the trinary switch and changing the o-ring but alas...there's still a leak.

So tomorrow I'm going to disassemble / re-assemble the front lines and verify that everything is tight. If that doesnt work then I'll go on the hunt for a leak tester. It's something simple I'm sure of it...
 
Wellp...ran some dye through the system this morning. Even without the compressor pump spinning (i dont know how to override a trinary...yet) I found a pretty sizeable leak in the condensor(i think thats what it's called...big radiator thing)...at least I'm pretty sure that's where it is. I found the green die in between it and the canister. I then took a small sliver of paper towel to see which way the pressure was blowing and it seemed to blow outward from the evaporator. Price you pay when you're trying to make stuff fit in ways it wasnt designed I suppose.
Bright side...i dont see any leaks in the hoses i made...then again the compressor wasnt running so...

Kind of bummed but it is what it is.
 
Gee, I'm so sorry to hear you having irritating problems:( I wish I was there to help, I'm getting pretty good at doing stuff, especially AC.

Regarding your alignment, what kind of suspension do you have? When having camber at a -1.25degrees, must look like the wheels are leaning inwards! When you drive it, does the car pull to one side or other, or right down the road?
just chiming in to help;)
 
It's all good. It's all a part of the learning process. One of the central reasons why I like wrenching on these old cars.

I have a Street or Track suspension all around. The front is still the stock coil spring style that i intend to change to coilover this winter, moving the current one to the convertible. The wheels tilt inward a bit at the top but, unless you're crouched in front, it's not uber noticeable.
Driveability is great actually. It tracks straight, steers well, no bumpsteer (adjusted it out), the return to center with the EPAS works fine, and it corners better than anything I've driven.
When the heat breaks, I want to test 'extremes' with the camber. I'm going to set it to -.5 and see how it behaves. That would be the bookends to the camber I would want to run (-.5 to-1.25). What I really want my mechanic to confirm is that my numbers are right. I've checked it in several areas of my garage and it all comes out the same. Then i'll handle my own alignments.
 
Well my dear, sounds like you've got it under control, or by the horns anyway! I'm headed to the garage to bleed my new master cylinder, and see if I can get my brakes working again!
have a great day!
dne'
 
So...massive props to Vintage Air. I heard the doorbell ring at a little past noon today and, low and behold, there sits the condenser!
A few hours later the condenser and canister are swapped, system evacuated (1 hour per vintage air instructions...they actually say 45 minutes), leak tested (no leaks!), and charged!

I just got back from the grocery store. While it's a heat index of about 110 outside, the inside of the cabin was a much nicer temp! The car didnt get much hotter than usual either which was great! Granted, i was babying it some.

Next up, go through a sealing exercise to make sure the cabin is sealed. I noticed a faint exhaust smell after awhile.
 
I have to say that as nice as Chasers car looks in this thread, it is amazing in person. Wow! Now that the AC is all squared away hopefully we'll get to see more of his ride this summer. Just need to get the 'racing' baby seat for the back and you'll be set. Although it might be a good idea to eliminate any exhaust fumes from the cabin before putting baby in the back...mom's don't usually dig poisoning the baby...go figure.
 
Shazzam and Wowzers! That is one fine looking Mustang!!! I also like the blue lighting under your dash! very subtle and I like! You've more gauges than an airplane~ looks so neat!!

I need to pick your brain for a sec~ I'm in need of a shifter(the chrome part) and the boot. You have a T5? If so, where did you buy those?
 
Dne' said:
I need to pick your brain for a sec~ I'm in need of a shifter(the chrome part) and the boot. You have a T5? If so, where did you buy those?
Click to expand...
Dne' you can get various length Hurst shifter arms and boots from any of the normal performance parts houses. The key is finding the right length to match your set-up. You want to get one that fits you and your reach well. I'll see if I can find the paperwork on mine to give you an idea of a length that worked for me. Maybe others can chime in as well.
 
Dne' said:
Shazzam and Wowzers! That is one fine looking Mustang!!! I also like the blue lighting under your dash! very subtle and I like! You've more gauges than an airplane~ looks so neat!!

I need to pick your brain for a sec~ I'm in need of a shifter(the chrome part) and the boot. You have a T5? If so, where did you buy those?
Click to expand...

Thanks dude! I have a TKO600 which is pretty similar to the T5 just stronger.
As @Horseplay stated, you can get shift boots and plates from most anywhere. I think mine came from Summit for about $35. Word of caution, the chrome plate is really flimsy. I eventually want to have one cut out of billet because I'm not happy with this one at all.
I think this was it: https://www.summitracing.com/parts/huu-1144580
 
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