AC bracketing issues

[Guy G]

Just to vent for a moment…….
Working on mounting radiator, ac condenser to grill with FFR supplied bracketing
If you know, you know…..
I WILL win this battle…..but man oh man…….no fun!

[Mastertech5]

Yes PITA! I suggest you make the suggested hole sizes one drill size larger (1/64 or 1/32) it will give you the extra wiggle room to get the bolts in. My condenser's pipes were all one piece instead of the 2 extensions like in the manual. I had to relieve the grill in a couple places so the pipes wouldn't rub. The instructions are for a Gen 1. Two of the brackets are angled. If I remember, there are T's cut in the 2 top ones and the angled ones are left and right specific. I also used Mike Everson's fan shroud which added another degree of difficulty.

[Guy G]

Yes PITA! I suggest you make the suggested hole sizes one drill size larger (1/64 or 1/32) it will give you the extra wiggle room to get the bolts in. My condenser's pipes were all one piece instead of the 2 extensions like in the manual. I had to relieve the grill in a couple places so the pipes wouldn't rub. The instructions are for a Gen 1. Two of the brackets are angled. If I remember, there are T's cut in the 2 top ones and the angled ones are left and right specific. I also used Mike Everson's fan shroud which added another degree of difficulty.

You are exactly right my friend. PITA
Ended up with multiple holes,and some elongated ones also!
Had to relieve the mounting areas on the grill due to the whole setup being wider than the space allowed. Also, from talking to the tech at FFR, the spacers are to be located differently also!
Wider holes and losing the nutserts worked out better for me. Used 1/4 20 locknuts to get it set up.
I didn’t do a shroud……yet. I’ll see how it works out without it to start off with.

[Mastertech5]

With a shroud, the position of the grill in relation to the side engine and hood panels are more difficult to get right. The grill will be more tilted back and slightly more forward. I had to extend the front of the nosecone about an inch and a half as have a few others. That makes the side panels a bit too tall because as you tilt the grill back it makes the vertical distance shorter. Then it tells you to sand the lower edges of the hood to get your gaps but you end up sanding the rounded lower part down too far. It took me most of last summer to get everything right. Have fun!

[Guy G]

[QUOTE=Mastertech5;547882]With a shroud, the position of the grill in relation to the side engine and hood panels are more difficult to get right. The grill will be more tilted back and slightly more forward. I had to extend the front of the nosecone about an inch and a half as have a few others. That makes the side panels a bit too tall because as you tilt the grill back it makes the vertical distance shorter. Then it tells you to sand the lower edges of the hood to get your gaps but you end up sanding the rounded lower part down too far. It took me most of last summer to get everything right. Have fun![/QUOTE

I’m feeling the anxiety build already!!

[MonstaS4]

For us RHD guys on the other side of the world, there is a further complexity in that the condensor needs to be flipped so the piping exits on the other side of the grill. This meant custom brackets had to be fabricated. It took a few iterations in mild steel to get right before I committed to a set in S/S.
All part of the 'fun' of building a custom car!

[33fromSD]

[QUOTE=Guy G;547934]

With a shroud, the position of the grill in relation to the side engine and hood panels are more difficult to get right. The grill will be more tilted back and slightly more forward. I had to extend the front of the nosecone about an inch and a half as have a few others. That makes the side panels a bit too tall because as you tilt the grill back it makes the vertical distance shorter. Then it tells you to sand the lower edges of the hood to get your gaps but you end up sanding the rounded lower part down too far. It took me most of last summer to get everything right. Have fun![/QUOTE

I’m feeling the anxiety build already!!

Guy,

Don't stress, it's all good. This community is here to help.

This build is a bucket list item for you and all of us who have done it, take the frustrations, challenges and the successes and cherish them all. It will be worth it in the end.

Just remember, in life we can only do one second at a time, one minute at a time, one hour at a time, one day at a time, that's all anyone can do. Don't stress about what's to come.

Jim

[Guy G]

[QUOTE=33fromSD;547939]

Guy,

Don't stress, it's all good. This community is here to help.

This build is a bucket list item for you and all of us who have done it, take the frustrations, challenges and the successes and cherish them all. It will be worth it in the end.

Just remember, in life we can only do one second at a time, one minute at a time, one hour at a time, one day at a time, that's all anyone can do. Don't stress about what's to come.

Jim

I get it Jim!
Been doing cars and bikes for about 40 years now.
3/4 of the fun is figuring out the solutions!
I mostly have more fun building than driving…..but I get a sense that I’m gonna love driving this one!

[33fromSD]

[QUOTE=Guy G;548002]

I get it Jim!
Been doing cars and bikes for about 40 years now.
3/4 of the fun is figuring out the solutions!
I mostly have more fun building than driving…..but I get a sense that I’m gonna love driving this one!

Yes you will Guy, my wife and I have multiple classics and some newer sports cars and the two we love driving the most are the 33HR & our 55 Ford F100 Truck (resto mod). The others are great too, but the two I mentioned are just fun to drive and draw attention no matter where we go.

Jim