What have you done to your Festiva today!?

[villageidiot]

ordered 62 line items from rock auto for my brothers festiva on sunday, got all but one package so far (will be here monday) and then i can re do all the suspension and brakes. Not going to do the aspire swap on this one just yet, going to keep it all festiva as it is a really quite nice example. looking for 12 inch tires..... a disheartening subject.

[bravekozak]

Picked up a power steering pressure tester today. $40
I will measure and post results in my power steering thread.
No response from Ford yet as to what the spec should be.

[Pu241]

The enviro-safe stuff says NOT TO PULL A VACUUM with this refrigerant.

http://www.es-refrigerants.com/docs/31172_310.pdf

What it actually says is "Do not charge into a vacuum state", which is different from pulling a vacuum on the system in the first place to rid the system of moisture and test for leaks.

[Oren09]

Personally, I would just do a 134a conversion. I'm always apprehensive about stop leak in any system. I wonder how well that stuff will work because high side pressures can be as high as 180PSI.

[TorqueEffect]

The enviro-safe stuff says NOT TO PULL A VACUUM with this refrigerant.

http://www.es-refrigerants.com/docs/31172_310.pdf

[Oren09]

Always always ALWAYS vacuum your A/C prior to charging!
Use a good pump to get it down to 25-30 inches of mercury and let it run for awhile. Close all valves and shut off the pump. If the vacuum holds steady and does not drop for at least one hour, your system is sealed. If the vacuum drops, your system leaks.
If no leaks are present- keep the system under vacuum then hook up the refrigerant cans to charge. Put the cans in hot water to help the fluid flow as they will get ice cold once opened.

If you don't vacuum, you could waste refrigerant to discover any leaks. Also your system will be full of moisture from the humidity in the air and possibly some foreign contaminants.

I installed a dealer A/C setup on my car last year and flushed all lines, replaced the drier, new O rings at every fitting. Vacuumed it down to about 28 inches then charged with 134a.
I got vents temps of 50 degrees AT IDLE on a 100+ degree day in direct sunlight. I was impressed and very satisfied.


EDIT NOTE:
Use something that will evaporate clean to flush out the lines. Brake parts cleaner works great. Or a cheaper option is isopropyl rubbing alcohol.

[1990new]

Check out this video before you decide not to put a vaccum on the system before charging.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DfCZGsD7U7k

[Pu241]

Yesterday , I got my reman. Aspire steering rack & festy tie rods installed.
No more sloppy , wandering steering.

Your going to love the way it handles.
After you replace the rack and get it aligned!
Had a bad inner tie rod on mine and was way out of alignment.
Fixed that and it is so much easier to drive.

[bravekozak]

Yes, but how good will it cool? I know a woman who cannot seem to have it ever cold enough.

[TorqueEffect]

Removed the B6 crank pulley, then installed the B3 small nose pulley, with a/c pulley to the B6. Then measured for a belt. Seems like the Aspire with factory installed a/c with no power steering comes up with a 34.5" belt, which comes very close to my measurement.

Will buy the belt tomorrow when I am at work.

Also my accumulator came today, it is a perfect fit. Yahoo!!!!! only cost me $50 though. But for a hard to find part, I am not complaining..... Much...
Yes I know you can't leave them open to the air, I only removed the caps long enough to test fit.

My Envirosafe charge kit will be delivered by fedex tomorrow. Once I take a wire wheel to the pulleys to get rid of the rust, and get everything back together, it will be time to charge up the system. (Cool thing about envirosafe, you don't need to pull any vacuum) The refrigerant mixture doesn't react badly to moisture at all, unlike R12 and R134a.

Also I am gonna hit the condenser with a can of black paint before I put it back in the car.

[navdoc101]

Yesterday , I got my reman. Aspire steering rack & festy tie rods installed.
No more sloppy , wandering steering.

Got the rack from Detroit Axle, $149.00, no core, free shipping.

[bhearts]

car wash and parked next to my aspire. Waiting on all my parts to come in from Amazon so I can build my 8 gauge glove box cluster.

[M3NTAL]

Today, I cleaned and prepared all of the components, fasteners, and fittings for the hybrid VJ11/VF10 turbocharger I'm building. It features re-threaded fasteners, wire-wheeled cooling/lubrication fittings, and a hand-polished compressor housing. One more trip to the parts store and she'll be ready for final assembly, clocking, and installation.

MORE BOOST I LOVE IT!!!!

[Chobobulous]

Pulled out transmission broke a cv joint.

[Aaronbrook37]

Today, I cleaned and prepared all of the components, fasteners, and fittings for the hybrid VJ11/VF10 turbocharger I'm building. It features re-threaded fasteners, wire-wheeled cooling/lubrication fittings, and a hand-polished compressor housing. One more trip to the parts store and she'll be ready for final assembly, clocking, and installation.