Turbinator

Zimm, that was me and the Mrs going Frankford ( DE) just east of Bethany Beach. The AC has been working better than I expected. I’m really surprised I’ve come to grips with how the AC performs. I’m going keep watch and hope it continues to cool as it has. I’ve lost the thermometer to measure vent temp. I say if the air is cold enough for comfort that is enough information. Thank you for your observation. Bob

Sir, I’m not that intuitive when it comes to visualizing how to some mechanical things. I put Bilsteins on my 63 Riv and the new shocks along with a rebuilt steering box. Helped a lot. It’s not hard just tedious if you mess up. DONT UNFURL the shock until you are ready to thread the shaft through the top hole. If you open up or unfurl the shock it will be too long and you’ll have to Muscle the shock in place to bolt it up. Double nut the top fasteners so the nut doesn’t come loose. Other than that it want hard at all. Turbinator.

Like this

Yes Sir, the ventilation on my 63Riv does work good. Turbinator

Gents, I bought a spare tire for my 63 Riv that had a smaller tire width dimension. Same manufacturer, Radial tire, same circumference, and same aspect ratio of the other 4 tires just not as wide. The fit is snug, BUT it does fit! ill get the size off the spare directly. Turbinator

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Chuck, How can you get the feel? Your arms are short and your pocket are deep. If get get the two bar spinners newly chromed and all blemish free tri shield emblems, center cap and highly respectable restored 63 wheel with the vanes and webs powder coated, AND the back of the cover powder coated as well you are a $1600.00. It’s a measurable amount of money, but for me it’s cheap for all the hours I put in getting these things to look good. Here is a powder coated used cover I just finished.

Mr Konga Man, look at the weather forecast. If the weather is pleasant roll down the back windows open the vents and you won’t have to use the AC. I think I’ll be able to just that in late Sept, Turbinator

Ok, Tom. We are on the same team. Please write the name of the filter and what suppliers might have these filters. I would have put the filters on in the first place had I been able to find them. I was probably not describing the filters correctly. Turbinator

Tampa Riv, I’ve driven ragged farm trucks loaded with hay, straw and/or sack feed. They always stopped. i changed my 63 Riv over to a dual master cylinder. I put in new brake lines, new brake cylinders, had the master cylinder rebuilt and I use Dot 5 brake fluid. I believe IF you maintain the single break cylinder set up it will always stop. My point is diligent on going maintenance will save the day. Turbinator

Mr Konga Man, I’ll get another thermometer for AC and test as you have suggested. At this point I’m happy to have cold air on these hot and humid days. Turbinator

Ed, all I’m trying to do st this point is determine if the AC clutch goes OFF and on. Bob

Well, not exactly. The update kit, not eliminator STV eliminator uses the half of the STV. The update kit stops the piston from working The STV has a block off plate inserted where it connected with bolts that have Allen heads on them. All the remaining parts of the STV are used. You are able to get cold air all along where the cold temp slides back and forth. Same goes for the fan motor. So, No... you can regulate how much and how cold the air is. i rigged up a light bulb that is connected to the power side of the compressor. I ran a wire from the compressor to the light bulb taped on my windshield. I blew the fuse on the blower motor trying to get the connections more stable. B/4 I blew the blower fuse the light did come on.. The burning question is will the AC clutch disengage and then engage when the STV update switch tells it to engage. ill report my finding Tuesday by midday. Turbinator

Winston, here we are a year later, Aug. 2019. My 1963 AC working fine regarding keeping me cool when ai turn on the AC. After 3 failed attempt with rebuilt STV for the 63 I bought the STV update kit from Old Air in Texas. The AC is running so well I’m trying to find out why it is running right. I can never hear hear the clutch on the Alma A6 compressor engage or disengage with the STV update. I’m going to test the compressor with a light and run the light up under the hood and up to the windshield. Others who are in the know have suggested I do this to see if the clutch engages or disengages by viewing the light bulb that has wire lead to the compressor switch. Hopefully, the A6 will cycle on and off and I have an answer to my question. ill report my findings. Turbinator

Double T, I bought a filter for my AC, but it was not for mobile AC, but the filter was for some kind AC service machine. I yelled “ Uncle” after that. Never did find any filter. A supplier told me my drier/accumulator was my filet. I said, “ Fine”. Turbinstor

Sir, I tried to find the in line filters myself for my 1963 Riviera AC. I could not find any specifically for my car. I was told the Drier/Accumulator does the filtering. Secondly if you evacuate your AC system properly as well as vacuum the system hopefully the system will be clean. If you have an AC muffler don’t for get to evacuate the muffler as oil can puddle in the AC muffler. im no chemist, so I can not advise what kind of gas to use in your AC. I use the virgin R12 Freon in my AC and it cools very well. best of luck, Turbinator

Gents, The hold down brackets can be fashioned from water hose clamps. No need to spend any money Needlessly, a cable of sorts has be around some place. I’m getting ready to make up a bunch of these turn signal cables with all the fittings. Many talk about the need I figure I can make them and sell them at an attractive price and even make a profit to pay for my AC parts. Joking aside I’ve seen folks in the past make /repair parts to do a job that works. Turbinator

Sir, I could use one of those turn signal cables, even it is in pieces. I need all the pieces, please. Send all the pieces for free and btw, postage is free. Turbinator 1604 Broadway Rd Lutherville MD 21093-1507

Tom, my problem was determining if my 55 year old AC hoses were in good shape. Since I was replacing everything new I decided to not “ half-step” and err on the side of overkill.So had all the hoses rebuilt at a cost that got my attention. Having taken the evaporator box in and out 3 times I was NOT taking any chances with leaks. Yes, I know to some it would be embarrassing to admit to taking the evaporator in and out 3 times. When you are learning something really new you might make mistakes. I carried on, got some first class mechanical help on the job and got cold air. Persistence and resilience has taken me further along than my skills that is for sure. What person in their right mind would have tried for 3 AC seasons to get their AC working in a car they drive a 1000 miles a year?

Ed, amazing what power driven mechanical things do. Never ceases to amaze me. Bob

Mr Konga Man, have the gauges so you can see them showing the readings on the high and low side.’ Have the gauge readings recorded for driving on the highway, slow city traffic, and sitting in a traffic jam would be three situations the readings could be recorded. Of course, the readings would have to interpreted for each case. ‘I would not have used the STV update widget had I not had so much trouble with the piston sticking in the rebuilt STV’s. Now, since I have the STV widget and cold air I do not notice the compressor engaging or disengaging. Heck, maybe the STV widget isn’t working at all? I do have plenty cold air for 88-93 F temps while going down the highway. I guess I just have to keep moving. As far as the clutch fan is concerned I’ve read a severe duty clutch fan stays engaged 80% of the time as opposed to much less time engaged with the stock clutch fan. If I have more air coming through the condenser at very low speed and stop and go traffic would not the gas shed heat faster and return to a liquid that goes to the evaporator where I get cold air? I’m just guessing at the science of the thing. I’ve found if you know how stuff works hopefully your diagnostics would improve improve. Turbinator

Gents, new water pump, new timing chain cover, no leaks seems like what is suppose to be tight is tight. i don’t know why the AC air is much cooler/ colder when driving on a highway. I sit still in traffic and the cold air goes to warmer air. I don’t think the AC was intentionally designed to kick out warmer air fromthe AC. It seems something is not quite right. My gauges had different readings than Tom Telesco’s gauges. Actually, I don’t know whaT gauges are accurate. The price points are all over the map for AC gauges. I would suppose Robinair would have decent gauges. Turbinator

July 18 2019 93 F with humidity very high. I tested the AC in my 63 Buick Riviera by driving the car and using the AC. I was very comfortable riding on the two way county roads in central Maryland. I stopped for about 15 minutes to show one of my friends I had real AC. After 10 or so minutes the level cool air diminished. The amount of air was fine, it just wasn’t as cold as when I was driving. i did not test the AC air temp with a thermometer. I tested the AC by how I felt. I’m not going to do any more “fixing” to the AC until I break it. I’m leaving the AC system alone. I will put on a vacuum tank and I might put on a severe duty clutch fan or maybe an electric fan . The purpose of the fan would be to pull more air past the condenser. For all that matter this is a wrap. Many thanks to all that joined in to help me get cold air. Turbinator

Probably would have blew up! Turb

PWB, depends on who you ask. 3.5 lbs is embossed on my compressor. The 1963 Buick service says 3.5 lbs for the Model 4700. Those mechs in the know say about 4 lbs plus.