I finally got around to pulling the leaky evaporator out of Blue Six this week. A good as tested evaporator from another Delanair unit was to be the transplant - lo and behold; the gods of planned obsolescence have reared their hideous, pustule-covered heads again. The transplant, apparently out of a SII car, has flare fittings for the expansion valve whereas the SIII unit uses what appears to be an SAE fitting with o-rings. The compressor kit I bought (supposedly for a SIII) came with an expansion valve with the flare ends and I ended up sourcing the correct valve from another vendor. I point this out because there seems to be some variation among vendors as to which part fits which car - if you can't see a picture of the actual part you need buy from someone else.

The unit from Blue Six has a tear in the copper pipe just between the ell for the return hose and the expansion valve capillary fitting.




A repair attempt had been made by someone before me as it was evident the a/c unit had been out before. I brazed copper tubing for a number of years occupationally so I should be able to repair it (the original repair was soldered). Of course there will be members who will cry "just buy a new evaporator!" They are 450 bucks and I had to buy a new fridge for the house last week. Repair it is, and I can pressure test it before it goes in.

On taking the dash apart I found one of the more creative DPO repairs I've seen. Someone cut the opticell cable to the lighting switch and attempted to splice it with copper wire.

 

Hi Ken,
if you can't fix your evaporator let me know, I'm not too far away ( Dallas ) and have two Series 3 parts cars. I bought them non-running so I don't know the condition of either AC system though.

Trying to splice fiber optic with copper wire reminds me of a landscaper back when I did utility marking,
he decided to install irrigation etc at the entrance to a new subdivision WITHOUT calling in a dig / locate ticket ( free ! ).
I was en-route to other jobs and caught him. He had already chopped the brand new composite fiber ( power copper + fiber ) and was deep trenching like #*** on the other side that had a 2" gas main & primary power !
He said he could splice the line back with quick connect beans ! Told him, don't think so it's fiber optic !

Cheers,
Brian

 

Just about Anyone can throw new parts at stuff like this, but it takes real Talent to do an honest repair.
And, you have the satisfaction of a job you did yourself, and you Know the quality of work involved.
(';')

 

Once I cleaned up the damaged area it took five minutes to braze the repair (brazing alloy and solder hate each other). The A/C unit is back in the car and reassembly has commenced. Hopefully I can avoid Shipwright's Disease and get it finished without it turning into a major project (I have enough of those already). Everyone knows how that is - while I'm in there I might as well take care of this... and this... and that...

Am planning on dragging a '73 SI XJ rescue (project) home in a few weeks - the wife thinks I've lost my mind.

repaired outlet - not the prettiest but it won't leak.

 

I think we're all familiar with the, 'While You're At It' portion of Project Creep.
In my world, only very few repairs are straightforward and simple. When they are, I nearly have to sit down in SHOCK!
(';')

 

Speaking of complicated, I'm trying to decipher some more of the creative wiring the DPO performed. There is a large, flat earth strap under the console - one end terminates to a stud on the transmission tunnel. The other end has been taped up. Any idea where this other end goes? My searches have turned up nothing.

 

Believe it or not that giant ground strap is for the radio

Cheers
DD

 

If you are going to re-charge with R134, I would be very interested as to what your HI and LOW A/C pressures are at a couple of different RPM's. And... how much R134 you used?

Many thanks, Bill

 

Thanks for that, Doug. A strap that size could earth a tube-type wireless R/T from the Forties!

Bill, I am planning on using R-134A - my earlier '85 XJ was converted, too. The A/C might not have been as cool as R-12 but in this part of the country it was more than adequate. I'll let everyone know how it goes.