[DesertXL]

you can also always find a hydrolic shop and get jic fittings . they are steel, and can replace a n

Thank you redrag for that option as well. AN type hoses are easier to get than most might think and a better solution to esoteric applications like a 3rd gen full size Ford on the road and away from home.

Cheers

 

[Action]

I feel your pain on the radiator. I have gotten three via a website and then shipped. All three were undamaged. And all three were packaged in cardboard with a couple inches of air space on both sides between the cardboard and the rather soft metal. Yeah, $752 isn't a small potatoes.

I ship a lot of things. (Used car parts I sell on ebay) Most of all of the items I send are tracked and insured. However getting paid on a claim is poor. I bet I am running at a 25% to 30% payment ratio on claims. The other 75% to 60% I just refund the buyer and take a beating. From lost packages to damaged packages. Shipping is not the best.

On the mm diff for the pulley. I would have thought that to be enough to induce a squeal. With serpentine belts, sounds rarely happen. Except when it snaps. Then the sound comes from my lips!

Action

 

[DesertXL]

Power Steering Pump Rebuild Kit

Just a quick note, I did receive the Ford Thompson rebuild kits from RPS and the kits do have the bushings and the slipper/vane springs. Anyone interested in a more complete kit should give these a whirl rather than the seals only kits.

Cheers

 

[DesertXL]

Refrigeration Compressor

The old Yorks aren't worth trying to rebuild as they make them brand new still and for less than 200 dollars.

Too bad it's made in china.

For those not familiar with the history of the York style of compressor, it debuted in 1958. Even the brand new ones to this day are darn near identical. The only differences are they added ports in the low and high side for pressure switches in the back and I do believe the high side has a blow off valve in the port.

Even though the bolts have the metric hardness markings the threads are still SAE/English. Rather amusing.

The York 210 decodes to 2 cylinders and 10 cubic inches of displacement. There's smaller displacement older versions as well as the Tecumseh which looks very similar and is interchangeable only it's made out of cast iron. The smaller displacement compressors are used with dealer installed under dash units as the BTU capacity is much lower on those.

Using a 210 on a dealer installed A/C without a larger condenser or high fan flow through the condenser will result in higher line pressures which wastes fuel and puts the compressor under more strain. This is a situation where bigger is not better.

Another fact worth noting, this is a very simplistic compressor, there are less moving parts in this compressor compared to a modern Sanden or the like. This has less friction than a newer compressor and uses less energy. It also sports a much better front seal. One more thing, the reason why these seemingly old crocks are reproduced is because they were used on new class 8 trucks and still might be. New class 8 trucks (semis/lorries) have a requirement from the parts they use. The parts they source for their trucks must meet 10 years / 1 million miles.

Now that is the kind of part I'd want on my car

Why anyone would buy the Sanden retrofit kit is a bit beyond me. The one downside of the York 210 is that it is only 2 cylinders and you are more likely to feel the pulses of compression on the vehicle. However if it's a problem, you can mitigate the vibration by using a muffler on the discharge line.

Inspected, oil drained, detailed and inspected.

These are the braces for the compressor.

Continued in next post.

 

[DesertXL]

Refrigeration Compressor Continued

Now this is the tricky bit, this brace originally attached to the OEM exhaust manifold. I'll need to make a bracket that mounts to the exhaust bolts to secure this too. I'll get back to this.

Let's go over clutches.

The most common clutch for the '65/'66 is the Eaton clutch. However the drawback is that it requires an external brush because the electromagnetic coil is part of the pulley and spins with it.

Typical example.

The clutches on these York's/Tecumseh's is measure in two key areas, the diameter and the sheave offset from the centre of the bolts atop the compressor to the centre of the sheave. There are many different clutches in different diameters and different offsets. Never assume they are all the same.

This is the clutch from my '68 XL with FE. The diameter is the same but the sheave offset is about 6 mm inboard than on the '65/'66 setup. This would not make for a happy belt alignment.

Now the problem with the Eaton clutches for '65/'66 is they do use that external brush and that requires maintenance otherwise excessive arcing will occur and aside from never getting an AM station without tons of noise you can even have clutch chattering if the slip ring and brush get really dirty.

Now the '66 gal 500 XL came with a Pitts clutch in which it uses a separate stationary coil and no brushes.

Here's the Pitts on the left and the Eaton on the right. Both are the same diameter and with the same sheave offset.

You cannot go by overall height as shown here as when installed the pulley sheave offsets are equal. The Pitts clutch is the better clutch, but seemingly more rare. I hunted down an NOS coil for it and I think I have a line on a core clutch. But that was searching pretty much the entire internet (what a time vampire that was). I would like to get another clutch and coil to retrofit the LTD's compressor clutch which is an Eaton.

I cleaned the Pitts coil and found the epoxy cracking and worried that water or oil might ingress compromise the copper windings I sealed the face the epoxy with Ultra Black RTV. I have to take care of this coil as they are seemingly rare as hens teeth.

The insulation on the wire is geting VERY hard and I would not trust 50+ year old wiring.

Continued in next post.

 

[DesertXL]

Refrigeration Compressor Continued

I am going to splice in some new GXL wire close as I can to the coil assembly. I used a western union splice, soldered, then inner melt polyolefin heat shrink (has sealing glue to keep out contaminates) then over that PVC heat shrink as a hard outer cover resistant to chaffing.

I cleaned and painted the Pitts clutch. I have a new bearing for it. This clutch uses a metal shield (lower right side piece) that goes in before the bearing. Then the spiral snap ring is installed.

I used the press to install these pieces.

On the clutch shoe there is a spacer that is used.

Then press in the shoe.

Continued in next post.

 

[DesertXL]

Refrigeration Compressor Continued

Then the snap ring is installed.

Tightening the bolt can be a bit tricky as there is no provision in the clutch shoe for a tool to hold it. So you can energize the coil to engage the clutch. This ties the shoe to outer pulley where it's easier to hold.

The correct belt for this application.

That A/C idler pulley deflects the belt just enough to keep it from slapping when the air con is running.

Here's a bracket I made for the hanging York brace. It's 3/4 hard 4130 steel. It doesn't need to be really thick.

I made a little bracket for an Adel clamp for wire management.

I will say this, the '65/'66 FE with air con has some of the oddest belt geometries.

More to come.

Cheers

 

[Action]

The York compressor was not only used on over the road tractors, it was used on off road tractors and heavy equipment.

Yeah it is like a Tootsie Roll, it lasts a long time!

Action

 

[70XL]

I always thought the Sandin compressors were more efficient and took less power to operate. Their format does look like they give better packaging under the hood. The York appears more difficult to tuck in to tight places.

 

[DesertXL]

Bucket Seat Floor Braces

This part of the project was a bit time consuming. Hah, like what isn't...

Just a recap, so I needed to add the XL floor braces to this body that was originally factory fitted for a bench seat. Whilst this was a lot of work it was worth it from another view point; corrosion control as Ford left the enclosed areas of the braces in bare steel, which was starting to get a thick layer of rust.

Even though the end supports are the same for bench and bucket I wanted to use the complete set from one car, so the complete set from the XL will be used.

This is very time consuming as you want to be as careful as possible when drilling out the resistance welds otherwise you could make this job much harder and much longer.

I start with using all kinds of light and then use a wire brush and or sandpaper to highlight the dimples in the factory spot welds. I then use a Sharpie to mark the centre.

I then centre punch each spot weld, after which I used a small drill bit to make a feasible deep dimple without hitting the underlying floor sheet metal. After that I used the spot weld drill bit to very carefully drill only as needed to release the top brace. I used a hardened putty knife and gasket scraper to force in between the two welded parts to put pressure to help see if I'm deep enough with the cutter or if I'm off centre. This takes time to do each one. You don't want to drill into the floor sheet metal. Sometimes it happens and you have to fix that after the brace is off.

If you go to deep as a few of them I did on this side, you can build it back up with weld (using 0.025" MIG wire with CO2/AR mix gas) then grind carefully back down.

I was a bit overzealous on this side.

To cut the centre of the old spot weld and grind any welding needed to build it back up level, I used a regular cut off wheel to cut most of it, then used a tiny air belt sander to blend the rest down.

There was a good coating of rust on the bare steel over the years. Those seat plugs dry out and fall off, then road debris, water and salt can enter the enclosed brace area and sit on bare steel. Fortunately this was a Southwest car and I caught it in time, but I have a '68 XL from Colorado Springs (seemed to be from there all its life) and the floor rust started from inside the braces and spread out. Very large sections of the heavy braces are completely rotted away on that car.

Continued in next post

 

[DesertXL]

Bucket Seat Floor Braces Continued

Weld through primer used.

Just a recap, the '66 gal 500 XL and 7 Litre models use a full length rear brace and a reinforced front brace.

I've knelt on the rear bench seat brace where the bucket seat would normally attach and the floor does move a bit, you really need that full brace to properly support the bucket seat.

There's the difference in the front brace.

I used POR 15 on the floor to rocker seam, then once that dried I used urethane seam sealer to further seal it.

You can see it's just bare steel and this needs to be stripped and primed.

Getting there, it's still a snowy mess outside so sandblasting outside is out of the question so I'll have to do this the old fashioned way.

Done.

Continued in next post.

 

[DesertXL]

Bucket Seat Floor Braces Continued

The end braces were easier as they fit in my regular sand blasting cabinet.

To locate the rear brace I used the bench seat holes which are 1/2" dia holes and 1/2" bolts are snug. They are tightened underneath.

Using a floor jack with a with piece of wood propping the pan up under each plug weld I knelt on the brace from atop forcing the two metals tightly together for the weld. It took a while to move the jack and wood for each plug weld then climb back in. Once that brace was done the front one was removed and the process repeated.

That was a lot of bloody plug welding. This time my better half helped me as the one under the car moving the jack and wood prop whilst I was atop welding. Much faster with two people.

The complete bench seat bracing.

I still have to dress some of the welds on the tops of the end brackets but the pain in the butt part is done.

More to come.

Cheers