Firstfives.org

All, happy to announce that the complete rebuilt of Evelyn’s a/c and heater box is nearly complete. New e28 evaporator (which fit in the evap box under the resistor with a bit of bending, all new o-ring-fitted hoses and pipes, new e28 expansion valve, 14x21 VintageAir condensor, VA receiver/drier ...

JCat, ever figure out the correct grease to use on the rotary fan switch? I’m deep into mine as well.

Also, I note that not all the contact pins are identical in mine. 7 are identical, have the contact knob in the center of the pin above the spring. But the 8th (I think it’s a/c fan position III ...

So I found another valve, bought a bunch of orings, and tried tightening the second valve over a 17x2.5mm (as opposed to 17.12x?). The result? Leak at exactly the same place. Both these valves were manufactured in ‘79m btw. I scared up yet another valve, this one mfgd in 1985, and used a 16.5x2.5mm ...

Happy Friday all. Have been rebuilding Evelyn’s heater and evaporator boxes. Slowly, laboriously acquiring assembling new e28 evap and fan, hoses, hard-to-find foams, etc. Reassembly of the heater box was nearly complete when I installed the famously unobtainable heater water valve using new factory ...

I thought a bit about the difference in evaporator size. While I’m on the road right now, I swear that the difference between my original evaporator and the new e28 is not that great. And I note that the e28 model has something like 5 more tubes and pretty dense fins. It has a bunch more fins than ...

Serious question: has anyone ever measured airflow in cfm at the outside vents?

Evelyn’s digital clock “works”, but one of the digits doesn’t display. Has anyone run into this issue? Is there a fix or does one simply need to hunt down a working version? Pretty sure this is NLA. I’m still getting to know the good used part sellers. Knowledge and views appreciated. Ken

Mike W and Bob: I think it’s finally sinking in — there are NO ducts on the path to the side a/c outlets! At all! If my eyes are seeing correctly, there’s just the space between the dash cap and the metal dash support tray, which more or less forms a conduit. Kind of an incidental conduit. And I ...

Bob, great post. I was right behind you finding that 4Seasons evaporator coil. One question: do the pipes on that evap coil exit at a higher level than on the other coil? Because the resistor is mounted internally in my box, just north of the pipes, if the exit point of the 4Seasons is higher it ...

Thanks, will try my hand at it. Meantime, using spares I have gathered I have tentatively determined that en e28 blower motor and cages will fit in my e12 evap box. The e28s were the first really successful BMW sedans in the US, and it’s said that improved a/c was a big part of their success. The ...

Well, looky there! Thanks, Mike. I rarely use RockAuto, and my friend Mike Self chides me for it. Had forgot to look there.

Now that I have the evap box out I’m scheming on next steps. Looks like it shares the lower half (which means it will accept same fan) as e28s. Everybody seems to acknowledge ...

Have not tried to install a complete system on an e12, but I did install an ICE Air kit on my 2002tii, which never had a/c before I bought it. You have already identified the scariest part of the job, which is drilling through the firewall. Measure again and again for about a month, then drill once ...

Hoping it’s ok to ask this question on this string: what receiver/drier are folks using? The OEM part seems unavailable. The revised system will probably carry a little more R12 than the original, what with the larger condensor. Looks like the system typically wants about 45-6 oz of R12. Spec for ...

Thanks, Mike. Yep, I have the shop manual and noted the same. Fronts are green and about 14mm diameter. Rears are a mystery…

All, I’m replacing Evelyn’s leaky dampers with Bilstein B6s. As I go through the task, learning lots. One thing I haven’t been able to learn from my resources is what rear springs I’m running. The fronts are green (14mm diameter); the rears are blue (13mm diameter/13.5” total height). . The factory ...