I haven't heard of r154. I'll have to look it up.

I like the simple r4 but they all seem to leak. it's annoying. the stock evap and condesor seemed fine for me in the FL summer, as long as your comp can get the low side down under 40 at idle for 134

I completely agree with your fan I bet a cheap auto parts store radiator would run cool now.

 

From some reading it seems R154a is a happy medium between R12 and R134a.

I am considering just flushing my evap/condenser and trying out this compressor that I used when I first installed AC years back with some of the R154a. It was new at that time if I remember correctly. It cooled "okay" when first installed. Unfortunately I don't remember if I used PAG or Ester with the R134a.

I don't really have much to lose with trying it beyond the cheap R154a cost and flushing solvent cost. If I go with ester I will be safe if there is a small amount of PAG in the system still (if that was what I used). If the compressor fails or it just doesn't work out I will start from scratch. Regardless my flushing kit came in today with some solvent. I will attempt flushing the condenser first and see what all I find inside it. Hopefully it is relatively clean.

 

Well I have an issue with the transmission. Haven't had time to look into it but on a drive Sunday coming back from town I slowed down for a left turn from 55mph and went to downshift from 5th and all hell broke loose with the shifter. The drive had been 100% normal prior to that. A few miles back I did a hard WOT pull in 3rd into 4th with no issues. No grinding on shifts or missed shifts since it has been back together, probably a tank of fuel through it. I had to limp it home in 3rd, 4th and 5th. I could get into 3rd gear easiest, 4th gear acts like it is spring loaded and springs straight back to neutral position if clutch is in. While under torque it will stay in 4th. The shifter feels like it is hitting something and will not move to the left to get into 1st or 2nd. Very similar for 5th & reverse. I can barely get 1st from a stop and barely get 5th. No 2nd or reverse. It has to be something in the shifter or shift rails/fingers.

I called liberty gears and talked with Brad. He said he has never heard symptoms like these. Especially on a transmission that exhibited zero issues for 100+ miles before the incident. Really hope I don't have to drop the transmission again. Side jetski repair business is in full swing with summer approaching so I have little time or room to deal with that. Sucks to, I literally had been thinking on the drive about how happy I was with how it was driving...

 

Well I must've had some luck saved up. Turns out a nut on one of the two bolts that hold my shifter adapter plate had not only backed off but proceeded to fall directly into the slot the shifter travels in. Which proceeded to bind it up and not allow full movement. Got the nut out and have full movement now. I like easy fixes!

 

that's very nice.

 

Confirmed something I was aware of in the back of my head but didn't really want to admit. My wifes 2026 Model Y Premium AWD can pull away from me on right about an 1/8 mile pull on a side road that goes up hill quite a bit right after turning onto it. It is a fun spot to do a hard WOT run with the hill and is paved the full 1/8th mile before it turns to oil & chip surface. Anyways I ran into town after work and just happened to get behind her on her way home. We turned onto the side road and sure enough she hammered it cause she knew I have a tendency to do that every time going up the hill in the TA. I broke traction off the rip and she just went. Her car is pretty fun to drive for sure. I can't even imagine what the performance models are like. We've joked about hers being faster, guess its official now.

 

I took Friday off to make the holiday weekend a 4 dayer. This week I will get appointments set and bring the car to each of them Friday to get a tighter estimate from them for paint. Then I will make my mind on which one to go with and get on their schedule. I know one of them has availability end of June and said 2 weeks to a month for completion. Pretty excited for taking this step on the car, would be awesome if I could make a show or two by end of summer.

 

fresh paint is always a huge undertaking and kinda scary for me.

hope they do a good job and it looks sweet.

 

Yeah its definitely a huge expense too. I am expecting 8-10k. More than the cars worth as it sits now but should be worth decently over that once done.

 

Big things coming. I've got the car scheduled to be dropped off at the painter the first week of July. Between now and then I want/need to replace my radiator, order weather stripping kit and some other misc stuff I want replaced while its in for paint.

Still really hating my torque arm setup. Might try changing the bolts to ones with a non-threaded shank through the shackle to see if it helps any. Otherwise I am pretty close to saying forget it and trying to go back to stock.

Driving wise, the tune is really coming along. I've done a lot of adjustments to AE and part throttle areas. Those changes have helped a lot with smoothing it out in those coasting/just barely on throttle times while driving in town at low rpm.

 

looking forward to pics after it's painted.

always nice to see our old cars getting saved. I tend to agree with going back to a stick tq arm. unless you're doing drag launches, I feel like stock is fine.