Quote:
Originally Posted by lilpiton
Hey man it was good talking to you via txt today... I decided to check back on my favorite build thread and see the status or the car. You mentioned that you’ve been working on the car this winter and we are all excited to see how things are going. We should definitely meet up sometime in the near future. I got a few buddy’s with some nice s14’s.
Tom
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Same to you Tom! Appreciate the info you passed along. Feel free to text me updates on your car any time. Would love to see it someday!
Quote:
Originally Posted by xpinoyxmk
Are you replacing all the used parts that have old freon, in them, with new parts? Condensor, lines, drier, etc.
My a/c went out on the 180sx one day and i haven't bothered to fix it mostly because i don't know where some of the parts are in the system. ie. the expansion valve.
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I did not install AC, so I can't say I have too much experience with that. I removed the portion under the dash inside the large plastic box since the holes for it are welded shut in the engine bay but I wanted to retain the use of heat. There's a chance I may attempted to install AC next winter, but not sure I will follow through with it.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Krusty_s13
The expansion valve is inside the evaporator housing
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Thanks for helping him out- I learned a lot about the general HVAC system and heat portion, but not much about AC just yet haha.
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So, quick update- I was able to get the car out of the garage for the first time since last November yesterday. It was sunny and 55ยบ here in Michigan which is quite an accomplishment for us during March. Unfortunately the temps won't be staying this way and it will continue to be high 30s- mid 40s for a few more weeks. Hopefully we don't get any more snow or ice though to keep the salt off of the roads.
I was only able to drive the car about a mile or so since I don't have insurance or current registration on it at the moment, but I have to say it was pretty amazing with the newly installed Dynamat and HVAC system. It feels so strange to have heat blowing out of the vents for a change! What an improvement. I'll have to post more about my impression of the sound deadening later after I can put some more mileage on it, but at this point I would say it was definitely worth the effort.
I didn't do a ton to the car this winter (if it ain't broke, don't fix it, right?) but here is a quick laundry list of the projects I tackled over the winter:
Dynamat: I installed Dynamat through the entire interior of the car. I also worked to seal any holes I found to prevent water or air from entering the cabin on long drives. Hopefully these problems are finally behind me now!
HVAC & Heat: I had previously removed the entire HVAC system when I shaved the engine bay in the winter of 2012 because the blower no longer worked and I wanted to use the space for the fuse boxes. This winter I sourced a complete HVAC setup (heat only) from an S13 that was being parted out and installed it. Happy to say everything works well now. This should allow me to enjoy driving the car a bit more often throughout the year and keep my wife a lot happier when we take the car on road trips.
I'd eventually like to convert to digital climate control as well one day, but we'll see.
OEM Brake Hard Lines: I removed the custom hard lines I made years ago when I shaved the engine bay, sealed up the holes, and reinstalled the factory Nissan hard lines that I sourced from a parts car. I am over the shaved engine bay look and wanted to bring back a bit of the factory appearance. My custom lines were also mounted along the firewall and I needed the space to reinstall the HVAC setup so they needed to go.
Head Unit: I swapped out my factory tape deck and DIN pocket for a Maxima unit after reading about it basically being the same as an optional kouki 180SX had unit on
Restomod Ninja. I haven't finished bolting it up yet to try it out and I'm not totally sure I will stick with it, but I do like the factory look of it. I might still go with something with an iPhone interface and sacrifice the looks for functionality, but not sure yet. I still want to replace my speakers as well, but haven't gotten to it just yet.
Stalks, Window Switches, & Bezels: I installed new OEM window switch bezels as well as windshield wiper and turn signal stalks. I was also fortunate enough to have a set of factory window switches refreshed by
Ron at Restomod Ninja. Haven't completed the install yet as I still want to do some sort of fabric on my door panels at some point, but I am really happy with these details- adds a lot to the interior!
Brake Caliper Refresh: I stripped and repainted my Z32 calipers all around. Same color and everything, they were just beginning to look a little worse for the wear. I debated having them powder coated, but I know the FSM advises against splitting the halves. Perhaps I'll do that at some point one day, who knows. My StopTech pads and rotors are still in good shape so I left those alone.
Looking forward to having the last little bugs sorted out and having the registration current so that I can start driving the car more often. Feels good to have the majority of the winter projects wrapped up and out of the way! I'm still deciding how I am going to tackle the rust issue on the roof- we'll see what happens!
