(Carb'd) Thermostat housing or A/C compressor removal

[Str8sixfan]

Hey all!

On my 1978 Ford Fairmont 302 car, I was trying to remove the thermostat housing today, and saw how the inside (towards crankshaft) bolt was in a near impossible place to get to. So I'm curious...

How have you removed thermostat housings in the past?

or...

How have you removed A/C compressors? I thought I had all the bolts out of mine, but clearly missing something because it won't budge. I'm considering removing the A/C from the car anyway. But I also haven't a clue about do I need to depressurize the system first?

I'm at a crossroads looking for some help. Thanks.

[KevinVarnes]

There is a good chance that time has already taken care of the depressurizing thing, but if you don't have the tools then you should probably take it somewhere and have it evacuated. Do you know if it is R12 or R134a?

I personally hate looking at cars for sale that have had the A/C equipment removed. Why do you want to remove it? Aside from some extra weight it isn't hurting anything being there. I know you are planning to sell when you are done with this. If I were looking at two identical cars for sale and one had inop A/C and the other had the A/C removed I would buy the inop A/C car. I can repair inop A/C. Chasing down missing A/C parts is a whole other story on a 40 year old car. I would leave it in and let the next guy make that decision.

[Str8sixfan]

Well, I plan on keeping everything I have removed on the A/C to sell with the car. That way if someone wants to reverse my efforts they could. I would have to double check on what Freon it used.

I will answer your question with another question...How can I remove the thermostat housing without removing the A/C compressor? I just don't see how to do so.

[KevinVarnes]

Not sure on that one. The only small block ford I have in my fleet is a 351W I don't recall ever having an issue with that, but I also don't recall ever changing the thermostat except when it was on an engine stand.

[Str8sixfan]

I'm going to look at it again when I get home...see if maybe a distributor wrench might work.

[KevinVarnes]

I watched your video. I forgot you had that Briggs and Stratton mounted on the front of your engine. My Crown Vic has a Denso 10PA mounted completely differently. Surely there must be a way to remove that without taking the compressor off.

[Str8sixfan]

Hahaha...yea it's a monster.

I was looking at it last night, curious if I could remove the vacuum advanced cone-thing (yes I'm very technical) from the distributor and get enough space.

[KevinVarnes]

It has been a while since I've looked at a Duraspark-II distributor (I believe that is what you have), but you should be able to pull the vacuum advance canister pretty easily. There might be a couple of screws holding the canister to the distributor body and a small clip that connects the arm from the canister to the mechanism inside the distributor. Worth a shot if it gives you access to the bolt.

[dagassa]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM9VzBFyK2U

I did something similar when I had to change mine years ago.

[ashley roachclip]

Just mark the distributors position , then turn the distributor to get access, return to your Mark's when done .

[Str8sixfan]

It has been a while since I've looked at a Duraspark-II distributor (I believe that is what you have), but you should be able to pull the vacuum advance canister pretty easily. There might be a couple of screws holding the canister to the distributor body and a small clip that connects the arm from the canister to the mechanism inside the distributor. Worth a shot if it gives you access to the bolt.

I think it's possible. I somewhat took it apart. Then I chickened out because from the VAT inside the distributor is another arm. It has a tiny little retainer ring on it...So i stopped out of fear I would lose it, or not be able to get it back on. Having thought about it more, I think I can handle it so I might try it again. However I'll still need to likely modify a wrench as well, but it appears I can free up enough space to have a good angle on the bolt.

But I may end up marking and pulling the distributor anyway.

[Mgino757]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oM9VzBFyK2U

I did something similar when I had to change mine years ago.

That's what i eventually wound up doing. Took a 1/2" wrench, put it in a vise, grabbed my torch and bent it in a 45 degree angle. That makes this really simple.