My '85 MGM, "Maisa"

[DerekTheGreat]

Ok ok, white may be boring. But with some pin stripes, the right moldings, body lines, wheels & tires and you've got a nice lookin' car which doesn't need another color.

Chips be chips. You guys should see the header panel on my Lincoln, it's awful. Car sees the freeway quite a bit so I've never had it repainted. Red does fade, it's an organic pigment. All colors do over time except for the inorganics.

Wax is nothing like it used to be, tis a shame.

[Arquemann]

An acquaintance was cleaning out her storage shelves and getting rid of stuff, happened to remember that I've got an 80's Ferd. So I got a small box of stuff, a bunch of bulb sockets, a fuse box that may or may not be from a panther, odd-looking illuminated door locks (offset keyhole) and a manual AC control panel, with bits attached to it!

I dunno if the earlier type is functionally the same as the later ones, but atleast it came with the blend door actuator cable. So if I ever feel the need to change to manual temp control, I've got some important bits ready. I don't mind the look of the older HVAC control panel, but this one's wiring and vacuum guts are probably completely different from the ATC stuff in my car.

Also a friend's dad is parting out a Colony Park, told me to head over some day. Not much good stuff to pick from apparently. He bought the car as a roller for 200€, got a mint headliner for his Country Squire and the front suspension off the Colony Park is going under a '60 Mercury.

[gadget73]

other than the cosmetics I don't think there is any difference between the early and late panels.

[sly]

The vacuum controls for the vents are the same on both units. The ATC is actually separate from the controls for the temp control. The hard part is that the blend door rod is backwards between the two. That's where the problem comes in. Gotta route the cable weird or swap the rod around on the blend door (swap the blend door with a manual setup door unless there's a way to remount the rod on the door).

[Arquemann]

The vacuum controls for the vents are the same on both units. The ATC is actually separate from the controls for the temp control. The hard part is that the blend door rod is backwards between the two. That's where the problem comes in. Gotta route the cable weird or swap the rod around on the blend door (swap the blend door with a manual setup door unless there's a way to remount the rod on the door).

Are you saying that I could bolt on that manual temp control unit right in place of my ATC control unit and everything would work except for the blend door?
How does the auto fan setting work on the ATC? The manual control units look like they have 4 fan speed settings too, does it require a different blower resistor?

[sly]

The auto fan is controlled on blend door position if I remember correctly. Not real sure about that one though. That is part of the controls IIRC, but the vacuum side is what I was talking about. But yeah, you could bolt on the manual controls and the only problem you would have is the temp controls would be backwards... all the way hot for cold and all the way cold for hot.

[Tynnerstroem]

What’s the interior color of the Colony Park? I might need some interior bits if it’s the grey interior, happy to pay for shipping in that case.

[Arquemann]

What’s the interior color of the Colony Park? I might need some interior bits if it’s the grey interior, happy to pay for shipping in that case.

No idea, gotta call the guy some day. I'll ask him before heading there so I'll PM you for your needs if the interior is grey.

[Tynnerstroem]

That would be most appreciated! Hard finding the little bits.

[gadget73]

The auto fan just changes the connection to the blower resistor from the switch in the dash to one mounted on the blend door. ATC cars go 3 fan speeds, manual cars got 4. Unless you wanted to run another wire and change the resistor you'd end up with one dead position on the switch.

[Arquemann]

The auto fan just changes the connection to the blower resistor from the switch in the dash to one mounted on the blend door. ATC cars go 3 fan speeds, manual cars got 4. Unless you wanted to run another wire and change the resistor you'd end up with one dead position on the switch.

Knew it, there had to be a gotcha somewhere in there. Running another wire to the blower resistor is quite intrusive and probably a pain in the ass. The 4th fan speed is an inviting thing though, with the ATC the fan speeds are: too slow - a bit too much air and noise - tornado. I wonder what the voltages are for each of the fan speeds, ATC vs manual.

What controls the auto fan speed, is there some sort of apparatus measuring the temp delta between commanded temp from the controls vs. the measured temp at the interior temp sensor?

Considering the linkages on the ATC control unit are the same, the blend door cable fits straight on in, maybe it's just faster and alot simpler to keep the ATC controls and retrofit the manual blend door.

[gadget73]

Its nothing that complicated. Its a 5 position switch with a linkage to the blend door crank arm. Switch positons end to end are Hi, Med, Low, Med,Hi. When the blend door is at either extreme it contacts the outer-most terminal and runs at high speed. Closer to the middle its mid speed, basically center is low speed. That bullshit vacuum thing that controls the blend door servo is what makes it all (sorta) work.

Its ingeniously simple, except it doesn't really work all that great. For its reliability faults, the electronic setup that replaced it is a vastly better mousetrap. Infinitely variable fan speeds too.

[Arquemann]

Its nothing that complicated. Its a 5 position switch with a linkage to the blend door crank arm. Switch positons end to end are Hi, Med, Low, Med,Hi. When the blend door is at either extreme it contacts the outer-most terminal and runs at high speed. Closer to the middle its mid speed, basically center is low speed. That bullshit vacuum thing that controls the blend door servo is what makes it all (sorta) work.

Its ingeniously simple, except it doesn't really work all that great. For its reliability faults, the electronic setup that replaced it is a vastly better mousetrap. Infinitely variable fan speeds too.

Figured as much, hard to make an intelligent vacuum-mechanical system (in the 80's). Dumb that the blower will be always blasting if the temperature inside doesn't equalize to where blend door commands a slow fan speed.

-

Been pretty tired lately, but got a small thing ticked off my imaginary list again, the oil pressure sender. Original sender leaked internally, I had a cheapo mechanical gauge put in it's place, but it had it's time in the engine bay, now it was time for it to go. Got a new SMP one, just for the dash light. The damn thing threaded in but didn't really go past the point of being snug, so I just left it. Hopefully I didn't strip it, and/or I hope it won't leak.

[gadget73]

I've occasionally wondered about making it a smart vacuum system. Add something to indicate door position and use some sort of magical programmable bullshit box that has a real sensor and a vacuum regulator to command the blend door. Could pair it with a later style blower speed controller to get the infinite speeds too

then I realized I don't know how to program such things, nor do I really care enough to learn. I also don't want to spend days stuck in the dashboard making changes and mounting things. Ultimately I elected to leave it alone, and when I don't have a sensor that works anymore I'll yank the vacuum thing and just figure some way to connect the slider directly to the door with a cable

[sly]

I could program a stepper to move the door easier than a vacuum regulator. Use the blend door fan speed as feedback for position for limits/stops. Probably wouldn't take more than about 30 lines of code for the whole setup depending on the micro. But yeah... the functioning system works well enough, so effort to benefit isn't enough for me to want to.