Tag: Bolts

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Attaching The Evaporative Cooler Duct Work To The Concrete Pad

Last year I received a Master Cool evaporative cooler for free. I purchased some duct work from a local home improvement store but never permanently attached it. I had used duct tape to hold the whole mess together last year. Duct tape does a poor job of sticking to concrete.

This year I came up with a method of attaching the duct work by installing concrete bolts and bolting down extruded aluminum L channel to the concrete. I considered gluing the aluminum directly to the concrete but I wanted to have the option to remove it in the future.

Broken concrete drill bit

I learned a few things about drilling through concrete. First: it takes a lot of power and my cordless Dewalt drill had a tough time with the drilling. It was just really slow (perhaps a lithium ion nano battery would have helped). I was meaning to buy a corded hammer drill anyway and the corded drill was 10 times faster. Second: it was easier to drill the holes in the aluminum L channel then use that as a template for drilling the concrete, rather than marking the concrete. The drill bit tended to walk a little in the concrete. Third: drilling concrete is hard on the drill bits. It’s good to have extra on hand.

CRW_9762

I attached double sided window and door weather stripping to the aluminum L channel but left the paper backing on the other side. I filled in any remaining gaps with some outdoor rated silicon sealant.

CRW_9764

I am far from done with this project. I need to verify that water is not leaking into the duct. I need to have someone clean all the duct work so I have not completely sealed the duct to the aluminum L channel. I want to install some sort of concrete sealant to the duct once it’s cleaned out.

Finally, I want to build a better stand for the cooler. I envision a wheeled stand with a built-in jack so I can easily move the cooler around for maintenance and adjust its height without additional help.

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Ford Maverick Front Disk Brake Conversion

This article orginally appeared on fordmaverick.com.

The following info is partially from a email sent to me from a fellow Maverick Owner. I followed this same procedure and had no problems.

pedalsmounts.GIF

(This shows the difference between a non booster pedal/steering column mount on the left and one designed for a booster on the right.) The power booster setup from a 1975 or later Maverick has the proper angle to clear the shock tower. Granada also have the similar parts as the Maverick. They are almost the same car and is a good place to find these same parts. Except for stuff like brake lines. The easiest way that I have found to do the whole swap is to get the following parts from the donor car:

  • The power booster/master cylinder assy
  • The shock tower to firewall support
  • The proportioning valve with brake lines

This is the “power” aspect of the whole job. The manual brake pedal mount will not work.

I have found that the spindles from a 1974 manual disc brake Maverick are a direct bolt-in. Simply undo the old ball joints, tie rod ends and rubber brake hoses, and bolt them right in place of the drum spindles.

boostermountinside.GIF

(This is the mount that is installed on the inside of the firewall. Non booster Mavericks do not have this. You may also notice that the “plunger” comes out in a different place that the booster less Maverick. The original hole sits under the middle of this plate. )Installation of the booster and pedal: (This is for a Maverick/Comet with manual drum on all four corners.)

  1. Unbolt the stock 2 bolt master cylinder, prop. valve, and any attached lines that will be in the way.
  2. Undo the under dash tray or glove box panel from inside the car.
  3. Remove the two 9/16″ nuts that hold the plastic cover on the bottom of the column at the dashboard.
  4. There will be two more exposed 9/16″ bolts that will need to be removed. The column should be hanging free. The purpose of all of this is to get to the bolts that hold the pedal and the inner brace up under the dash.
  5. Get all of the bolts out of the brace and remove it with the pedal.

Modification to recipient car:

  1. You will need to make a paper or cardboard template from the back of the booster. There should be four mounting holes for the booster and one egg-shaped hole for the rod that actuates the brakes. (An easy way is to study the firewall on the donor car to get an idea of the holes that will need to be drilled).
  2. To mount the prop. Valve, the two mounting holes may have to be enlarged, depending on the car.
  3. Now figure what brake lines will have to be bent, shortened, etc..
  4. I used a tubing cutter and a double flaring tool that I borrowed from a friend. PAY ATTENTION TO WHERE THE LINES CAME OFF OF THE DONOR CAR. You will need to know which lines off the master cyl. Go to which holes in the prop. Valve, and to which wheel they go from there.

boosterinstalled.GIF

(my Maverick with the booster installed is really a tight fit.) All in all, it is a relatively easy swap that is well worth the time involved, especially if you plan to hotrod the engine in your car.