My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[friskyfrankie]

No swamp ass is a good thing and worth it. I find myself running the A/C even just to get rid of the humidity.

Agreed! I run it all the time and usually never touch the controls.

[Arquemann]

Well, there was a mild chance of swamp ass for like 4 days after the AC crapped out. The summer weather decided to fuck off for 2022 about two weeks ago, temps dropped 10-15 degrees C. From 20°C in the mornings and 25+°C during the days, now it's below 10° in the morning and barely above it during the days.

I'm getting the Caprice's AC fixed aswell, best to keep the humidity down as much as possible during the winter. I had a bit of a problem with the Volvo 850 and windows frosting over, on the inside...
With the Caprice's interior being the size of a small cathedral, it's not going to warm up completely tooooo fast during the winter.

[gadget73]

wonder if they have the names mixed up. The evaporator is in the dash. Its almost impossible to get anything into it because it has to get past the orifice tube with its fine screen and tiny opening. Condenser sits out front with a direct path from the compressor. Any trash coming out of the compressor as it eats itself goes right there.

the evaporator does condense water though, so I have seen people confuse them based on that.

[Arquemann]

wonder if they have the names mixed up. The evaporator is in the dash. Its almost impossible to get anything into it because it has to get past the orifice tube with its fine screen and tiny opening. Condenser sits out front with a direct path from the compressor. Any trash coming out of the compressor as it eats itself goes right there.

the evaporator does condense water though, so I have seen people confuse them based on that.

I don't think there's a mix up, the finnish word for evaporator core literally has the word "inside" as a part of it. That's what they said on the phone atleast, I believe they'd know what they're talking about.

[sly]

I've always flushed the evap when rebuilding the systems on my cars. There has been some garbage that's gotten past the orifice tube each time, but nothing like what's been described requiring a day of soaking to get free.

[Arquemann]

Got the car back now, about a 700€ ouchie... Oh well, atleast I've got cold AC and damn if it's quiet, the engine and clutch fan drown out pretty much all noise the compressor makes. Great!
They were kinda intrigued aswell at how incredibly clogged the evaporator got, mechanic said that that most stuff in the evaporator was like a metal paste and would've liked to have seen the old compressor. I showed him some photos, he winced at the carnage, "-no wonder the thing locked up".

They put in 10oz/3dl of the Pag 46 as requested, also put a dye in aswell.
Even though I put a printed photo of the original line routing, they still managed to get the lines wrong... Doesn't really matter, except the damn high side port is crooked
The compressor output line isn't routed the same, now it doesn't need the anti-chafe sleeve against the crimps, but it lays on the heater hoses, which are hot of course.
I'll revisit the clutch connector mounting.

[sly]

wow... yeah, that's some bad routing of the hoses. Can probably unmount the AC compressor and get that one line off the heater hoses. Considering that's the hot line from the compressor to the condenser, the only real reason I would want to relocate that is to prevent chaffing the heater hoses.

[Arquemann]

wow... yeah, that's some bad routing of the hoses. Can probably unmount the AC compressor and get that one line off the heater hoses. Considering that's the hot line from the compressor to the condenser, the only real reason I would want to relocate that is to prevent chaffing the heater hoses.

That hose is supposed to go over and under the compressor feed hose, now it goes under and under or over and over. If I lift so it goes over the other hose, it sticks up, lays on the other hose and looks dumb as shit.
I think I'll make sure it just won't chafe through anywhere.

[friskyfrankie]

Can you slice some heater hose or another type of hose and make a shield out of it to put over the lines so you don'y have to move stuff? Even if you need to use zip ties to old in place it is easier than moving lines.

[87gtVIC]

Yay for new good working air conditioning. Boo for not listening to all of your instructions and presenting you with that terrible hose routing. To do it right the system would have to be evacuated, disconnect line etc…. Bummer.

[gadget73]

yah thats annoying but one of those deals you can't really do very much about.

[Arquemann]

It's a bit better now, still an eyesore but less rubbing on other parts.
Also did very quick test spot on the hood corner, Meg's Ultimate Compound with a rag. The Fusso wax I put didn't like the rough paint at all and dirt really sticks into it.

[Arquemann]

It's been a rainy two weeks, fortunately now the MGM seems to keep most of the moisture outside. Even after sitting for a week in the rain, the interior doesn't feel moist at all, not even the air.
She's been working well for quite a while now, since getting the carb tuned to the best of my ability, I haven't had any tune-related issues at all. Only minor gripes are that sometimes throttle blades are a bit gummy and it idles high and the choke sticks super high sometimes aswell. I think it might be due to some warpage in the carb baseplate. I think I'll finally call the tune good as it is and remove the wideband gauge. I kinda want to keep it but if it's not there I'm not obsessively staring at it.
I'm up to 2800 miles this summer, somewhat proud of that, 200 miles to roll over 10,000 miles on the odo. 700 miles and I'll have done 10,000 miles in total since our journey together began.

Currently I'm pretty satisfied on the looks, the center caps were that little something it needed for contrast.
I gotta do something with the paint and paint the steelies, but that doesn't change the overall appearance much. Also I want to put an oil pressure gauge on it, to check how long a life the 302 might still have left.
Once I've got the Caprice's issues sorted and fixed up ready for winter, Maisa will be going to winter storage again. Not sure at all when, usually been mid-October, but I might take it earlier, depending on the Caprice and weather.

At a party after last saturday's cruise night was like the third time the car got me positive attention from a woman. Indeed it doesn't' happen very often but holy shit do I get a kick out of it.
Also I took a picture very similar to kishy's recent Country Squire pic, except mine's with a shitty phone camera, but it's kinda the same cool vibe:

[87gtVIC]

Yes good too. Jealous of you two and your alone on the road photos.

[sly]

Seriously. We urban dwellers don't get to experience lack of others on the roads at any time of day or night.

It was nice to be on some back roads last week on the vacation to the beach. There was a stretch where I didn't see any other vehicles for about a mile. It was nice.