Well,,, i am finally getting to the end of detailing out the engine/ engine compartment on my 64 riv.... got the new radiator in today and hooked up..... it was a bear.... the A/c compressor is very close to the upper hose, which is , by the way , the gosh awfullest , jake leg mess you have ever seen....:eek2::Brow::rant: It had to be 90'd down then 90'd over toward the thermostat housing , UNDER the A/C belts and then the Thermostat housing had to be fabbed up with a 90 to the right.... What a mess.... This thing looks like hammered horse puckey....:Brow: but,,, I could not figure any other way of doing it.... without spending a ton of money....:rant: probably will wind up redoing it and still spending a ton of money....:rant: Any way, got the oil and filter and zinc additive in it, and the coolant in.... still got to hook up the trans vacume modulator, put the battery in,, install the dist cap.... and fire up the engine and set the timing.... let it warm up and check everything out.....and put the hood back on......
You have to know that without any mention of zinc additive, you'd never hear the end if it. :laugh::laugh: X2 :gp::gp::kodak::kodak:
PIX! Nailhead upper hoses with the right-side high-mounted compressor are a bear. I'm not happy with the two-piece hose in my Buchev pickup either. I do have the angled Riv upper hose outlet in stock, but at some point I want to replace the bombproof but extremely heavy Frigidaire compressor with a new, light Sanden unit. That's still a ways down the list, though.
Well,,, anything is better than that butt ugly fuel filter bracket that Buick made..... the funny thing is , it is made out of a stop sign.... i mooched a stop sign that the city had taken down... just the right thickness of tempered alluminum....:Smarty: and,,,, was free.... it has the red ,reflective stuff on the bottom side....:laugh::laugh:
Yeahbutt, Rhett, it took a half a pound of clamps and a lot of cutting and grinding to come up with that contraption.... I probably will refine it.... but the A/c clutch only clears the elbow about a 8th of a inch.... i would rather have a half inch or more..... figured out a trick for making a 1.5 in. hose fit on a 1.75 inlet... just smear dishwashing liquid soap inside the hose before you start cramming it on..... :Smarty:
Considering what you had to work with, I couldn't have done any better myself. If you want to go a step further, I think you may be looking at welding/brazing pieces of mandrel bent tubing together for the sharp turns just like custom headers are fabbed, but you'll still need to try to get an upset on the end of each tube where the hoses have to seal for the sake of keeping decently high pull-off forces. I don't envy you, that's a tough routing, but keep up the good work!!! Devon
Doc, I've got a couple of questions for you. 1) Is your new radiator the same height as the OE radiator? On my '64 Riviera the top tank sits high enough that the hose goes over the belts and doesn't come close to the comperssor pulley. 2) What did you do with the fuel return line? The Rivs equipped with a/c had a single inlet dual outlet filter. The larger of the two outlets goes to the carb, the smaller of the two is a return line back to the tank. Did you block off the return line? If you didn't you've got some extra venting going to your tank. Ed
Great work Doc. I really like that stop sign fuel filter bracket. Hope you dont mind if I try and make one somewhat (and by somewhat I mean exactly) like yours.:laugh::laugh::laugh::laugh: Looks great and Im happy to see your making progress. Hurry up and get that car done so you can show us the whole package.:kodak:
William, Doc's fuel filter bracket works great with his Holley carb with the fuel inlet on the driver's side. If you're running a stock AFB, you'll have to do a U-turn with the fuel line to get it back to the passenger's side of the carb.
Ed,,,, Yep, the radiator is the same height, but it is about 8 in. wider... 4 in. on each side.... and that put the nipple where it is... I had to go under the belts,,, over was not possible, at all,,,, I am thinking about shimming the front motor mounts up just a smidg to get that compressor a little more clearance... also thought about grinding some off of the shoulder of the clutch... cant grind the fitting much at all.... or,,,, do like Dev said and build a pipe by cutting and welding .... The gas line has been blocked/ modified, when I put a electric pump back at the tank..... ---------- Post added at 08:01 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:51 PM ---------- I made one bracket , and used the thermostat housing as a pattern,,, forgeting that the bolts are cocked at a angle on a nailhead,,, then when i went to put it on it was cattywhompass.... that is apposed to sconchways:Brow::laugh: so.... I had to make another one.... and put the cattywhompass into the bracket to make it set straight.... but,,, here is some details on the bracket... I went to tractor supply and bought the stainless steel u bolt.... and it just fits over the filter... I put a slot in the bracket under the filter so that the flange on the filter fits into the slot,,, this locates the filter on the bracket face... then located the u bolt holes location and drilled them.... then polished it all up and sprayed it with clear lacquer...:Brow:
