And... he's back. First the trip to Japan and then having the flu (brought home by my wife and the 2 year old from art class) and finally a few weeks in NC to attend 3 family reunions. I'm finally back to my "fighting" weight, or at least my TV binge watching weight.
It's getting warmer out here (around 70* in the morning and 90s in the PM). I've made some progress with body filling and sanding the hood and fenders, but the Evercoat Rage Ultra sets up too quickly in the warmer temps. I've taken a break on the body work and have some of the Rage Ultra Xtra being delivered today. They claim setup times at around 20 minutes, so I expect I'll get at least 10 minutes before my puddle becomes a lump.
In the meantime, I've been fabricating a mount for the Sanden SD7H14HD AC compressor (model 4647). As you may recall, I removed the distributor and setup electronic ignition to open up a space for the compressor. During the body test fit, I marked the fan shroud with blue tape to indicate the highest point the compressor would fit under the deck lid. Here's a few pics of what I put together. It's way under the top limits and I'm happy with the fit. I ended up using a fractional horsepower v-belt (read lawn mower). If anyone needs something like this, NAPA carries them with a part number of 4L300W (1/2" x 30"). If you need slightly different lengths, a 31" belt would be 4L310W and so on. Amazon carries a variety of lengths from D&D Powerdrive with part numbers 84300 (30"), 84310 (31") etc.
The condenser and fan will be located between the back seat area and the firewall. I had two long hoses made up (14.5' of #6 and 19' of #10). It cost me $280 and made me regret selling my AC hose crimping tools before retiring out here on the island. But, how many more times will I be doing this, right Alan?
Here's the open space where the distributor used to be. I plugged the hole with a cut-off distributor shaft filled with JB Weld. I cut the shaft at an angle to provide additional level space for a mounting plate. The distributor clamp bolt can be seen in the middle. It's at an angle, so I fabbed up a bracket that followed the angle down to the edge behind the oil pressure sensor. That bracket then angles up to the end of the mounting plate and the whole support bracket welded to the bottom of the mounting plate. This adds additional thickness to the plate and horizontal rigidity.
Below is a test fit of the mounting plate. A 1"x1" notch was later cut so the bolt in bracket underneath could be easily accessed after the bracket was welded to the mounting plate. The plate is 3/16ths thick. I suspect the bracket underneath adds enough rigidity to keep anything from vibrating. Time will tell, I've had some interesting sounds emerge from supercharger brackets that 'should' have been just fine :-)
Below is the Sanden bracket laid on top of the mounting plate. In this picture, it is turned 180* from where it should be. You want the long ears closest to the center so you can add tension to the belt when you are adjusting. Once I got the bracket where I wanted it (so the drive belt and compressor would be correctly aligned), I center punched and drilled four holes in the mounting plate to match up with the Sanden bracket.
Test fit of the compressor. The blue tape marks the highest point that the top of the pulley would clear the deck lid. We're way below the interference line and a shorter bracket should put less stress on the mounting points.
Final mounting setup with everything set up with loctite, adjusted and tightened. Phew, this setup was one I've worried about for a while. It turned out to be easier than I feared.
I may need to clean up the engine a bit before I finish. It's showing a little bit of what happens when you live close to the beach and have 20 mph winds every day.