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Evil Penguin Wagon

Be sure to use 95/5 silver solder as well as refrigerant grade (type K) copper lines. Type L copper plumbing will just burst.

No flux required for brazing, just clean it up good and bright with some emery cloth.

Evacuate the lines for a good long time for a deep vacuum. If you have a digital micron gauge, use it.

Charge based upon refrigerant line pressure and superheat, not low side line temperature.

Be sure to locate your condensing unit where there is unrestricted airflow. DONT locate it tight to the house or enclose it because it is 'ugly'.

Do yourself a favor and get one of the precast condensing unit bases. Much better than having it sitting in the dirt rusting.

have fun!
 
ErikS said:
Did you get builder prices on the condenser and handler?
Click to expand...

The A/C business is sort of a racket... No local A/C supply companies will sell to me, even though I have my EPA Cert. I ended up just getting the lowest internet price I could find from a place in Florida.

Sort of stupid really... Goodman builds the units about 5 miles from where I live, then ship it 1200 miles to the bottom of Florida, then ship it back, just because the local place won't sell to me.

The secondary pan arrived so I got the air handler up in the attic and also got the small slab poured for the condenser unit. The line set came in from eBay (made in USA), now I am waiting on a bunch of duct stuff from Home Depot online.

 
Crazy! Mother in laws house has been without central air for some time. Let me know if you want to make a few extra bucks ...
 
DNAsEqUeNcE said:
Some details on your torch/machine setup? I have a few ideas on how to combat a big bead.
Click to expand...

Late 80's(?) Miller transformer unit I got about 12 years ago. wp26 air cooled torch. The $1000 package deal for the welder came included the water cooler unit but I never got a water cooled torch so it is just collecting dust..



I should take an intermediate level class on tig welding but I am lazy?

Making progress on the A/C install

 
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DNAsEqUeNcE said:
Have a picture of the face? Seems like the first machine that I learned on. I do like that machine.

Here's a torch that seems compatible with your machine:
http://www.usaweld.com/20-Series-Water-Cooled-Miller-TIG-Torch-p/watercooledsyncrowave.htm
Click to expand...





This is what it looks like.

If I make any changes I am probably going to just sell the one I have and get a newer inverter unit from Lincoln, but I think the real issue is my lack of ability & lack of practice, not the machine...
 
Last few weeks have had some distractions..

Got my mother in law a new set of wheels:




the combine got repaired:



Old primary shaft on the bottom...New on top


corn and soybeans are in the grain bin:


the mopar is ready (hopefully) for the dyno:



Cat delete:



So back to the wagon....
Because I cut so much out of the core support, I put in a few braces to hopefully keep the grill and related stuff from falling apart:


Some real progress should happen in the next few weeks.
 
And the rest of the cold side is done except for the clamp at the throttle body. I am a bit worried about that since the stock throttle body doesn't have much of any lip on it, it seems like it may pop off pretty easy.

I suppose it isn't "correct" but I am not going to use a BOV, the car has a moderately loose converter, so I don't think it will be a problem.



Also got a really nice A/C mounting bracket, fit perfect and looks like it should put the a/c compressor high enough to clear everything else.



Compact Sanden compressor should be here in a few days.
 
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I was pretty depressed about having to buy a ding dong knockoff sanden a/c compressor, but accidentally found this beauty on ebay for cheaper than the china junk. Only $96 to my door! It is 200 cc displacement, which should be pretty close to the old A-6 GM compressor that was used by Volvo, so hopefully it works well with the stock evaporator.







Election Day Update: It arrive several days early! And it really looks like a good quality part.


And even better, the mounting worked out perfect, no clearance issues anywhere.

Despite pushing the engine back as far as possible and moving the radiator forward more than 1 inch, it is starting to get full under the hood... :(










I had to travel for work two weeks in a row, so I didn't get much done lately.

Replaced the "ebay rebuilt" water pump that had a bent pulley, plugged some holes in the firewall insert and installed heater hoses.




Also got some 14mmx1.5 and 16mm x 1.5 to #6 JIC adapters for the rack. I am not sure how well these are going to work since they are really designed for an o-ring seat but the rack just used copper washers with the banjo fittings. I put a small o-ring inside each copper washer to keep them centered. I won't be surprised if the pressure side leaks…


I also relocated the power steering reservoir because the return fitting was pointed straight at the down pipe. In hindsight I may have been better off just plugging the regular return and putting a bulkhead fitting somewhere else in the reservoir, but I hacked up the bracket so no turning back now.




The return is still going to pass pretty close so I am going to put some fire sleeve on it.

I also found out that the LS3 Corvette steering pump fitting is behind the pulley in a really tight spot. I got this short flow regulator from Detroit Speed, but I am a bit concerned about the size of the flow regulator hole… it is bigger than the OE vette one and may result in steering issues. It is also very difficult to install…



The clearance with this fitting installed is still ridiculously tight, I believe it will probably "wear" in a bit more clearance on its own…





One good thing about having to replace the ebay water pump was I had a test part for the steam vents. LS steam vents are often a disputed topic for internet experts, as well as some people with amazing real world results. Matt Happle @ Sloppy has used cam & valve spring only 200K mile LQ4's to make 700 rwhp & 140+mph ? mile passes (at over 3000 lbs) with the steam ports just blocked off, so they can't be all that critical, however GM would never have added that much cost, complexity, and potential leak points if it wasn't really necessary.

I have seen many people just add a hole somewhere in the top of the w.p. and connect the steam vents, but that really doesn't make sense, since that area is on the discharge side of the pump and would be at relatively high pressure.


To get the maximum flow from the steam ports, they should be routed to the lowest pressure area in the system, due to the inlet side thermostat setup on an LS motor, the lowest pressure is not in the radiator, it is in the short section between the thermostat and the impeller on the suction side.



I wasn't sure how thick the casting was in that area, so after confirming the area with the most clearance to the belt, I did a test on my junk ebay pump.



Plenty of threads in the casting.





So I did the same on the the good Gates pump I just installed.

 
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Punch list:

1. Fuel pump & fuel lines: planning on a 450 walbro and ⅜ stainless tubing, plus a replacement fuel tank since the current one has a huge dent from backing over the curb by some previous owner...
2. ECU & Harness: MS3 Gold + 4L80e controller should be on order tomorrow due to EFI Source Turkey Day 10% discount
3. Wastegates: two 38 mm Tial @ $260 each (ouch)
4. driveshaft: Waiting on $55 used 1350 joint yoke that will hopefully fit my 1031 rear axle, then $200 and i will have a driveshaft
5. some sort of transmission cooler under the intercooler
6. new 175/75R14 front tires to replace the dry rot leaking ones
7. 225/60R14 BFG rear tires (assuming they are even available)
8. $$$ fuel injectors, fuel rails, regulator
9. PPP shifter (60+ day backlog, so I should order one about 30 days ago…)
10. Wife says that the dump in front of the right tire is "unacceptable", so some sort of full length exhaust with flap or something is going to have to happen.

Then wiring the dash, convert to digital speedometer, find front seats that don't stink like a dead animal, and a bunch of other stuff…

then 20 min test drive, then pull motor and change to JFR Triple 12 cam and increase piston ring end gap to .028 top .030 bottom and change valve springs and head bolts and oil pump and timing set and and and and and and…
 
I paid for the ms3 gold from efi source today, it has lots of programmable outputs, I am thinking about running the stock 2" exhaust plus a 4" electric dump set to open above 50% TPS
 
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