After many years of putting off restoring my ac for a second time I have started again.
I only buy imports and both my 80 series by chance have dual climate control and a fridge which makes hard work when renewing problematic seals etc.
On the first attempt 3 years ago i stripped the front end of my 4.5 petrol to gain access to all the air con condenser and related pipes.at the same time i removed the interior including carpets, fridge freezer, centre console so I could deep clean before fitting the old style carpets and alcantara seats as I did not like the comfort of the hard leather seats which were standard from 1995 and i noticed the carpets from 1995 onwards were poor quality so changed that for the old style, pre 1995.
After fitting a new condenser I booked a gas recharge and off I went ,
The purpose was to find out if the ac actually functioned and after one hour the good news was yes it did, for the first time cold air from front and rear, and ice cubes..
Well that lasted 3 days and after crawling under side I noticed green stuff leaking from the fridge connections and from the rear pipes behind the rear wheel..
The past 4 days I’ve been working on a solution to the rear pipes which i knew was going to be a big job or a massive bill if I purchased new parts from Toyota. I had heard £1600 for pipes and then i required the rear ac branch pipe.
This is what you find after removing the rear drivers side panel
This is the horror story from underneath
AFTER ONE DAY OF POKING , PRYING ,A HEAT GUN AND FREEZING THEM THE PIPES WERE FINALLY REMOVED WITHOUT BREAKING THEM.
AH YES AND A GRINDER
I
REAR AC UNIT REMOVED,ONLY
8 BOLTS,TOOK ALOMST 2 DAYS
STEEL SCREWS INTO ALI BLOCK, WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG.
DAY 3,DECIDED TO CUT LARGE OLD PIPE OUT,PLEASED I DID,WHAT A MESS
WHAT A SHOCKER
I WAS GOING TO WELD IT IN PLACE BUT VERY PLEASED WITH MY DECISION TO CUT OUT.
EVEN WITH CLEAN PIPE A HOLE FROM SEEMINGLY NOWHERE
THE FIRST CUT, I VE LEARNT FROM 40 YEARS EXPERIENCE,ONLY CUT SMALL SECTIONS OFF FIRST,THEN CUT AND CUT AGAIN WHEN LAST FIT ARRIVES.
HERE IS A SUPRISE, LOOK AT THE WALL THICKNESS ON THAT
I DISMANTLED A PERFECT CONDITION 1995 HILUX SURF 12 YEARS AGO, THANK GOODNESS I KEPT THE PARTS
THIS HOSE IS THE EXACT INTERNAL DIMENSION AS THE 80 SERIES REAR LARGE PIPE OD ,ITS A PERFECT PUSH FIT AND WITH QUALITY HOSE CLIPS AND GAS SEAL PASTE IT WILL BE PERFECT, THE JOBS ALMOST FINISHED,,, LOOK AT THE CONDITION OF THAT 27 YEAR OLD GAS PIPE,NOT A MARK INSIDE OR OUT.
CLEAN UP,REMOVED STEEL BOLTS,DRILLED AND TAPPED,ADDED NEW EDGE TO LARGE CONNECTION FACE FOR A DECENT SEAL
SOME PIPE NUMBERS AND SPECS TO HELP ANYBODY WITH CORRECT PIPE FOR REPAIRS
STEEL PUTTY REPAIR
BACK SOON WHEN THE JOB CONTINUES,ALSO HAVE THE FABRICATION OF REAR QUATER PANEL TO DO BEFORE RE FITTING AC UNIT,AND OF COURSE THERE IS THE TIN POT SPEAKERS TO DEAL WITH WHILE THE PANEL IS REMOVED