High Feature V6 Swap

[draven]

Removed the factory 30+ year old radiator.... and well.. I guess this is one of the reasons it wasn't cooling very well...



What you can't see is that 80% of the openings are clogged .....

Size comparison between stock and the 600hp Griffin



Test fit the radiator on the stock cushions and all looked good...



Put the shroud in and despite a little interference with the sway bar all was still looking good...



And it's always the things you DIDN'T see coming are what gets you.... I tried closing the hood and the bottom of the V8Archie hood vent impacts the top of the shroud fan housing...





Trimming back the top of the fan would result in maybe two supports being removed and bringing the fan very close to the hood opening...

The Shroud depth is 2.5" so I can probably trim the entire perimeter of the shroud back.... definitely a hiccup and lots of messy abs cutting with a dremel but doable....

Any other ideas please chime in....

Any other ideas?

[The Dark Side of Will]

re-do everything you already did to the fan shroud to move it "downhill" 1/2-1" without moving it closer to the radiator?

[draven]

re-do everything you already did to the fan shroud to move it "downhill" 1/2-1" without moving it closer to the radiator?

hmmm.. she's already as low as she can go.. flush with the lower bracket flange of the radiator.... after closer inspection while dark and a flashlight under the hood and no sun beaming into the garage... I THINK I can do a compromise, trim back the top of the radiator as much as I safely can then cut back the shroud as needed up to about 3/4" before I impact the molded plastic brackets..

[draven]

Got the radiator shroud from the c7 corvette trimmed enough to clear the hood vent and have been building custom mounts very similar to Series' but the mounts will also retain the shroud against the radiator as well as a set of top brackets as well... Waiting for new AC Condensor to arrive because you know... "while you're in there"

Found this interesting article on the upcoming Cadillac CT4 Blackwing that will utilize the LF4 again:
https://gmauthority.com/blog/2021/04/on ... nium-rods/

[draven]

Getting back into life and the fiero....

Decided to pull the orifice tube to see what the condition the condenser and evaporator are in....



ouch... early black death......funny how the AC was working very well for it being a 30yr old, converted to r134a, ac system...

I had ordered up replacement condenser, evaporator, and drier in case of this when I saw some deals on these from Auto/Classic AC so replaced all three in lieu of the plague detected above..

Didn't grab as many pics as I should but.

1.) even for a garage kept fiero such as mine, here and from PO it still had 1/3 of the evaporator covered in leaves and what nots....

2.) The evaporator, drier, and condenser all fit right up without issue... however the new condenser is only 1" in depth, including brackets while the OEM is 2" thereby setting the griffin radiator and modified C7 fan/shroud forward and down and solving all the clearance issues with the hood.. bonus... but it does render one of the two completed custom radiator/fan shroud brackets as a paper weight.. :

[The Dark Side of Will]

Is the black death corrosion from improperly maintained R12 (ie, moisture?) or from incompatible compressor oils mixing?

[draven]

AFAIK, it's due to moisture in system degrading the pag oil thereby deteriorating the teflon in the compressor which then also exposes bare metal with degraded oil then a sludge of metal, oil, moisture, and teflon ensues....

Even though I flushed all the hoses (engine bay to condensor, condensor to drier, and drier to evaporator, and evaporator back to engine bay) separately with a full can of the auto parts 32oz aerosol flush kit I still wonder if it did the trick on the lines...

[The Dark Side of Will]

Yeah, that sucks. I thought only R12 itself had problems with moisture.

Going to need to flush my system before I refill

[draven]

What I learned with ac flushing

Can't flush drier, compressor, and if any sludge present questionable for evaporator and condenser, especially if recent aftermarket due to pathways being waaay to small as they clog with black death debris.

[ericjon262]

What I learned with ac flushing

Can't flush drier, compressor, and if any sludge present questionable for evaporator and condenser, especially if recent aftermarket due to pathways being waaay to small as they clog with black death debris.

I've always considered the dryer and the orifice tube to be wear parts, the orifice tube because it's stupid cheap, the dryer because it has desiccant inside.

[draven]

The way the new condenser and evaporator are made today with smaller and smaller pathways once black death starts...they have to be replaced as well...(per scotty kilmer )

[ericjon262]

The way the new condenser and evaporator are made today with smaller and smaller pathways once black death starts...they have to be replaced as well...(per scotty kilmer )

LOL! I hadn't thought of that, but I would bet some kind of acid cleaning could be performed, and maybe a backflush? depending on the cost of a condenser though that could be cost prohibitive.

[draven]

Finally opened up and fired up my Eastwood hf tig welder.... Never tig'd before and had Nomad teach me what he's learned thus far. Definitely a learning curve compared to mig/Flux....

[ericjon262]

Finally opened up and fired up my Eastwood hf tig welder.... Never tig'd before and had Nomad teach me what he's learned thus far. Definitely a learning curve compared to mig/Flux....

I prefer TIG to MIG any day of the week, so much more control. is the eastwood unit AC/DC? Aluminum can be quite a challenge, make sure everything is super clean before you mess with it. Some of the biggest things I wish I had paid more attention to when I first picked up a TIG are torch height, and torch angle. getting them right will make a world of difference.

[The Dark Side of Will]

Aluminum can be quite a challenge, make sure everything is super clean before you mess with it.

When using a wire brush to clean aluminum prior to welding, use only a stainless steel wire brush that is dedicated for use on aluminum only.

[draven]

Gaahhh!! Tig is frustrating...

Yes it's the eastwood AC/DC

I can lay a decent bead on a practice coupon "if" it's clean.... pulled some old aluminum scrap out, cut it, brushed it with stainless, and cleaned it, but the oxidation was still there and created a ton of 'garbage' floating on the top of the weld pool which gummed up the filler repeatedly....

I can do a half assed fillet by laying the filler in the joint and doing a poor man's walk the cup...

Outside corners blow through and melt like the nazi's at the end of Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Lap joints... can't seem to get the arc to pool both pieces of aluminum as it always attaches to the top piece like glue and melts it away (probably bad angle and not clean enough on my part)

If I can't figure this out with my second bottle of argon I'm going to hire you Eric to come down here, scream at me like R. Lee Ermy, and get me squared away...

[The Dark Side of Will]

You're using a wire wheel on an angle grinder and not a hand brush, right?

[draven]

Used a stainless only brush in only one direction then alcohol but I gather from your question that I need to wire wheel it to really get it clean...

[The Dark Side of Will]

If you were brushing by hand... yeah, that's not going to cut the mustard. You need a power tool of some type.

[Honest Don]

Used a stainless only brush in only one direction then alcohol but I gather from your question that I need to wire wheel it to really get it clean...

Acetone, not alcohol.

If the aluminum has ever seen oil (especially cast) you need to wash it, then cook the remaining oil out with a propane torch, then wash it again. Or get an ultrasonic cleaner; shit’s magic.

What tungsten are you using? I also have the Eastwood and get best results with a lathanated mix.
Settings?

I’ve experimented with a wire wheel, but always end up going back to a dedicated stainless hand brush.

Disclaimer - I’m not the prettiest welder, but my results are usually functional. And my handwriting is terrible, so…