Grandad-Spec '85 Slushbox ETA - Blank Canvas

[Panici]

Glad you got those fuel lines sorted... 1984, that's a car fire waiting to happen with a 40 year old fuel line.

[raymang]

I just got my ACSolutions kit installed, fixing a few pesky leaks at the moment but very excited to see how well a modern compressor performs... I've always been underwhelmed with my stock R134 conversion and I blame the old compressor.

I am not looking forward to diagnosing leaks with my install experience, but that's for later. I ended up dinging one of the lines on the 4 seasons evaporator since I didn't brace the expansion valve enough. Sigh. Now I've got both old and new evaporators at a local shop to see if the new one can be repaired, and if the old one is usable after flushing. Live and learn I guess. Interestingly enough the old evaporator fins were in much better condition vs the new evaporator fins. Though that may be because I pulled harder during the new evaporator removal in my panic.

Glad you got those fuel lines sorted... 1984, that's a car fire waiting to happen with a 40 year old fuel line.

Line was quite the trooper. I'm just finishing up my rear brakes + the evap hose cover install before I tackle engine bay fuel lines. Very surprised I did not burst into flames any time during my ownership.

[raymang]

Miscellaneous Trip Prep (contd.):

While I wait for my AC line grommet to ship and AC belt to be delivered, I set about finishing the rear of the car so I could raise the front. Until then the AC parts will stay in their box (mostly).

Rear brakes & evap cover (25 May '24):
Got the rear brakes finally wrapped up with Pagid pads and Centric blanks. Local bolt supply store came through with some nice yellow zinc pieces, and they do stick out like a sore thumb but they work and I'm glad. Swapped out the driver side hardware too and adjusted the parking brakes with the star adjuster and the nuts inside the cabin in 1 fell swoop.
IMG_2206

Evap cover came in, though one of the studs snapped because I didn't fit the cover up properly before tightening. This is jank as all hell, but I used JB Weld to cover up the hole and fill it in. Will it hold? Idk, but I'm keeping it as a note in my Notion journal as a possible pain point. Caused by my own idiocy of course (as a lot of things are), but when I can properly strip this car and fix it I will.
IMG_2205

Front brakes (25 May '24):
I've always had a rattle in my front driver brake pads and thought it might be because the spring clip fell out. Confirmed it.
IMG_2199

Now I'm kind of in a fix here because I do want to fix the rattle, but I also don't want to throw away perfectly good pads and rotors (there's 0 lip on the rotors and the pads look to be ~75% life left). I do have a set of Bosch pads waiting, but I could also look to saving them for when the fronts actually need changing. Dunno what I'll do.

Oil leaks (25 May '24):
While getting the old compressor out I decided to peruse upstairs along the engine block. Seems the headgasket may be original, it's seeping along the middle cylinders. My oil level has remained rock steady in the time that I've owned the car, so I'll leave it as-is. When it gets worse I figure I'll swap the engine out anyways to an N52 or K24 alongside a manual swap.
IMG_2193
IMG_2194