L31 Extreme Budget Build

[Scooterwrench]

I wonder if you could mount a couple of those hand held anemometers in your inlets to see the air velocity it's pulling then you would know that any speed above that would be forced air. I'm guessing you have a G-force app on your phone that would give you a before and after acceleration reading.

 

[454cid]

Is that a dryer sheet? Now your engine will smell dryer fresh!

 

[L31MaxExpress]

Is that a dryer sheet? Now your engine will smell dryer fresh!

It is lol, I taped it to the inside of the lid.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

I wonder if you could mount a couple of those hand held anemometers in your inlets to see the air velocity it's pulling then you would know that any speed above that would be forced air. I'm guessing you have a G-force app on your phone that would give you a before and after acceleration reading.

I have an app, but reasonably certain it uses GPS rather than G-Force. Years ago I had one of those G-Techs. It was pretty accurate for what it was and really consistent in its readings. Definitely helped analyzing tuning changes, especially since I was running carburetors at the time.

 

[Scooterwrench]

I was just reading that these fancy phones have an accelerometer built into them. That app you have may be actually reading G-force or you may be able to download one.

 

[L31MaxExpress]

LIght is at the end of the tunnel on this project atleast mechanically. Getting close to being road ready. I ordered some KYB Monomax shocks and the parking brake cables. I also ordered the Goodyear Galaxy #8 and #12 A/C barrier hose, beadlock fittings and an inexpensive hydraulic beadlock A/C hose crimper.

Decided to heck with paying someone to make AC hoses. They want too much $$$ for labor and markup on materials for something that takes 10 minutes a hose and under $30 in materials per hose. The crimper can be used over and over again. In effect basically getting the crimper for free for future a/c projects compared to paying someone to make hoses.

I have the wiring mostly sorted out, routed and started looming it. I added a couple of load equalizing resistors (25 watt and 8 ohm) to the turn signal circuits. The front sidemarkers ground through the turn signal filiments in the stock setup and with all LEDs, the sidemarker LEDs were back feeding the turn signal indicators in the cluster as well as backfeeding the turn signal LEDs up front. The load equalizers made everything, including the stock turn signal and hazard flashers operate correctly. I put heat paste behind them and pop rivited them to the core support behind the grille where they should get decent cooling airflow.

The new evaporator core and blower motor are also in the a/c case and I resealed that with dumdum putty.

The exhaust manifolds are already atarting to take on a patina and the apperence they have been there for years. I purposely bought them uncoated because I wanted them to look stock.

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[L31MaxExpress]

I skim coated the condenser with flat black paint. Hopefully will not be too much of an insulating layer considering it had some kind of coating to start with. I just did not like the look of shiny silver/aluminim behind that grille. Much better now.

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[Scooterwrench]

You should be OK with flat paint,the factory did it. Did you spray at an angle to the fins so as to just color the exposed face?

 

[L31MaxExpress]

This is why I will be building my own ac hoses for projects like this now. I picked up the universal GM ac manifold fitting for like $35 from my local Oreilly a while back. For $100, custom length ac hoses. I am sure the crimper I picked up will get used numerous times. The 97 still has the aftermarket rear ac hoses it was built with in 1996 and I know the suction hose near the compressor has a seep in the older style straight crimp they used. I am sure it will eventually start leaking worse now that I drive it a lot and I will have to make rear hoses for it. I am sure the materials bill for just the lengths of hose needed will be scary for that future project though. I bet that 97 has 20 ft of hose for each the high side and low side hoses to the rear evaporator. It runs all the way to the rear bumper, around the frame and back forward before heading up into the body.

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[L31MaxExpress]

Had to try out the AC hose crimper even though I am out of town at my mom's house this weekend and headed to Colorado in the AM. When I get back into town, will finish fabbing up the hoses, wire up the compressor, vacuum the a/c system and get it charged up. Probably go ahead and use the Sanden 4261 I pulled off the Express last summer even though the Valeo currently bolted to the brackets worked great as well.

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Before I left town, I dropped the underhood portion of the HVAC case back into place, with the new evaporator core and blower motor in it and sealed it up well. The only air leak is the condesate drain hole in the box now. Blower motor now receives 13.6 volts at the power and ground terminal with the alternator charging at 13.9 volts at the battery. Between the clean new evaporator core, resealed box, new blower motor and revised wiring the ac vents literally blow twice as much air now. I have not even gotten to the point of pulling the dash to get to and work on the rats nest of conversion wiring that I disconnected. Will be resealing the inside ducting yet which leaks at every connection from the non-existant foam seals that were once there. I did test the heater though, after flushing the old OE core and hooking it up to the L31 heater hose connections in the same manner as a factory L31, the heater started blowing heat quickly from a ~40*F cold start despite the two holes I drilled in the thermostat. After a few minutes of running, the engine reached 180F at which point the dash vents were blowing over 150F, too hot to keep your hands in front of the vents for long. Unlike most newer vehicles, these older GM vehicles can actually operate with the recirculate option selected while using the heater (if the vacuum line is removed off the heater control valve and plugged for winter months) and if the ac system has signifigant enough pressure to activate the cycling switch, the ac system for dehumidifcation. I find it dumb that the newer climate control systems prevent easy use of the recirculation while using the heater. Recirculating air when it is cold with high humidity like in misting rain or fog really helps dry the interior air preventing the windows from fogging. You can crank the vent selector to max ac, temperature to hot, and blow the outer dash vents directly on the side glass as needed to clear them of moisture buildup.

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Also tested the lighting after adding the load resistors to the front turn signal circuits. All working as intended, no hyperflashing of the turn signals or hazard lights or any of the weird stuff common with LED conversions. Just putting LED bulbs in it initially without the load resistors, resulted in sidemarkers that would flash for second, then dim out, while the turn signal indicators in the dash would glow. Unlike how dim the lamps were with halogen bulbs, you can actually see the lights like a modern vehicle now.

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