Captain Obvious

It's true. So this coming Saturday is going to be mid-sixties and mostly sunny. Great Z weather...

I'm probably the last person on the planet to figure this out, but I was thinking some more about the geometry of the plastigage and what happens when you crush it. As you decrease the thickness and extrude that material into additional width, the change in width is non-linear. The amount that the width changes will go up faster as the thickness decreases: You can see this phenomenon in the reference stripes on the plastigage package. I'm sure you already knew this, but for example, that's why the width change between .003 and .002 is much smaller than the width change between .0015 and .001. I do have a point though, and that point is that you are much closer to .0015 than you are to .002. Still within spec though, so the binding is curious. Of course, the whole spec is only applicable to a crank that is perfectly round, a rod that is perfectly round, and bearings that are perfect consistent thickness in every location. Any high spot or oval anomaly anywhere could miss the gage, but cause the bind. It's too bad they haven't come up with a plastigage that allows you to spin the crank WHILE the plastic is in there and still get an accurate reading. There's a product idea for you. Not that it matters now, but I assume you tried that rod in other locations and the issue followed the rod? I also assume you tried swapping the rod bearings around and same thing. Didn't follow the bearing, but followed the rods? About a torque spec for the force required to spin the crank, I'm not aware of anything.

Cool. Thanks. I don't know how it hooks into the temp lever yet as my non-AC control head doesn't seem to have provisions for attachment, but I'll figure something out. So they used that device to regulate the evaporator temperature by turning the compressor on and off? So what are you going to do about your vacuum test results? You going to replace the compressor front seal and see what happens?

I agree with the assessment about the plastigage. How far out were those two rod ends? Couldn't have been much! So how was it when you turned the crank with (almost) all of the pistons in there moving up and down? The hiss of the new tight rings sliding across fresh sharp crosshatch? Exhilarating? Give you chills? All this talk about bore measurement and the like... Reminded me of this old guy resting in the bottom seldom used recesses of the toolbox. I don't know when was the last time he was pulled out for any reason other than to just admire him:

Here's my evaporator from the 74. I assume the thermostat you were talking about is the device on the lower left of the pic? I assume this is the thermostat you were talking about:

Haven't put it in yet (obviously), but... Normal position with button pushed down (switch closed and the pump will run): Give it a knock on the palm of the hand, and popped (button up):

They look great. Did you put heaters in? I took pics of one of my seats earlier today. I'm guessing you figured out which side was which and don't need pics anymore?

That's fricken awesome!!! Can I bring you my car???

Great work. Weird about the two rods being undersized. Let me make sure I understand what happened... You checked all six with plastigage first, and all of them (including 5 and 6) appeared to measure within spec with the plastigage. But then after cleaning out the spent plastigage and lubing everything up for final assy, the crank bound up when 5 and 6 caps were tightened? The implication here being that the plastigage test was unreliable for some reason or that the spec is actually a little too tight at the lower end?

Well here's a philosophical question for you... The system is normally under pressure, not vacuum. So if it hold's pressure in the correct direction (higher inside the system than out), is it really the end of the world that it won't hold pressure the other way (vacuum inside the system). Many seals are designed to hold pressure in one direction only. Did they do that on the A/C system? Like I said... Just enough to be dangerous.

There was some chatter in this zcon 2017 thread. Not specific to Texas folks though: http://www.classiczcars.com/topic/55922-zcon-2017/

Mak Never heard that, but I like it. I was just figuring that you're only ever going to have to do this once, I would have designed for overkill. Even though it's not a "safety part" like seat mounts, crash safety, or suspension integrity, the cost of failure is pretty high. It'll rip up the underside pretty good if that thing goes out. On the good side, (depending on how loud your exhaust system is), you'll most likely hear knocking around before an all out failure. RE the other comments, siteunseen and I went off on one of our all too often ADHD inspired Blazing Saddles excursions. Sorry for the distraction. Rossiz was going original classic and Cliff and I went with the satirical irreverent version.

Your leak detect efforts sound like they're working great. Holding vacuum undisturbed overnight is the litmus test my HVAC buddy goes by as well. Good luck with that step.

I've got the whole system from my old 74 and my goal is to adapt that to my 77. I don't know what differences there were from year to year, but I'm hoping there weren't significant changes from 74 to 77. I think my evaporator has a little copper line coming off it. Is that the thermostat you're talking about? I don't have any pics of this stuff, but I'll try to snap some when I get a chance. My thinking on my system install is that about the only stock parts I really really need is the evaporator expansion valve stuff and the condenser. Those are the things that are highly physically fit intensive and finding alternatives would be a real pain. I'm thinking that mounting a compressor from a different car is a bracket making exercise that I can handle. And the controls part is also something that I don't think needs to be stock. I don't plan to use the whole vacuum controlled stock system. I'm planning to stick with my manual control system and have a separate way to turn the system on. Of course, I only know enough about HVAC to be dangerous...

Couple comments: That throttle speed screw looks like everyone I've ever seen. If that pic is recent, you still have a BCDD. I can see the wire is still connected. I assume you capped the AAR port on the top of the TB? Looks like it's open in the pic. "Eventually your plugs are going to fowl" - What's the matter Colonel Sanders?

Beautiful. I've always loved the look of those headlight covers. The Grow Warehouse - Hydroponics and Organics - In Colorado. Owned by Cheech and Chong?

Thanks! Yeah, that's pretty much the version I remember. I never heard the scientist version. I mean, It's poop humor... Why try to Classi it up and involve scientists?? So I'm not sure that's not the first joke I ever heard, but that's about when I made the leap from "What's black and white and read all over?" kind of joke that your teachers tell. This is the first one I remember that came from friends, not authorities. The first one I didn't just smile from because I "got it", but the first one really laughed at.

Haha!! First jokes! I don't remember all the details of my first joke... All I remember was the monkey trying to put the cork back in.

I've got my dash out for the off season working on the Escort heater core install. But one of the other things I'm going to start on is adding A/C. I'm going to put the evaporator in this time before I put the dash back into place. That'll be my first step. I'll be going through the exact same thing you are in the future. I know I don't need it like you do, but I want A/C. I'm going to have a bunch of questions about parts availability...

Chewing gum in line?????

Re hatch logo arrangements - Do you have any M6 logos? If not, I vote for the last one. Re the drive shaft coupler - I don't know what thread inserts would add there. Honestly, I was never completely comfortable with the choice of aluminum for the coupler. I know it would have been more difficult to work with, but I would have used steel for the whole thing.

Cool. I love it when a plan comes together. @TomoHawk, there has been all this discussion since you started the thread. You get yours apart too?

I would love to see this thing in person. Too bad we're on opposite coasts. If I make the trip, it won't be until it's done so I can drive it.

Trouble I tell ya... Trouble. I got your backs, but remember that I'll be wearing beer goggles too. You look maahvelous!!

Bang bang, Vroom vroom?