Brad's 1954 R Series Build

Really gets your juices flowing when you hear it come to life, huh?

I like what little I can see of your AC fitting crimper. What can you tell us /me about it?. How much? Who sells it? Are you happy with the way it works?
You do nice work.

I believe his is a Mastercool brand, I have an ATCO which is similer. They (both) make both mechanical (screw) and hyd crimpers. Not cheap, but if you are going to do custom AC work, are a necessity. I don't remember how much I paid for my ATCO but it was several hundred and I use it alot. It is nice to be able to crimp on the vehicle or bench mount for easy stuff.

My wife said she wishes she would have video'd me when it fired. Pretty sure i was jumping around like a little kid If only i wasnt so long from actually driving her yet...sigh. That's alright though, i'm having fun with it, and hearing it come to life certainly provides motivation. The weather is so nice right now, it makes it easy to get in the garage and tinker.

It was kinda late the other night (open headers), and i didnt want to piss off the neighbors too much, so i only ran it for a few minutes and only got that short crappy video. This weekend i will get her going again and make sure all my gauges are working, double check for leaks (i think i have a small power steering leak), get the timing set right, and get a better video.

As far as the A/C tool, here is the one i bought:

https://www.amazon.com/Mastercool-71550 ... mping+tool

There are plenty that are much more expensive, but the reviews on this one were good, and i knew it would do the job i needed it to do. For me to take the time to run to a shop and have them do it, i'm pretty sure i come out way ahead as far as the cost department goes, and now i can pretty much do my own A/C work for my other cars and for any of my friends. It really is a simple tool to use and i am happy with the results thus far. The only negative i can say about it is, after torquing on it, the pin that holds the two pieces together does not easily go in or out. I have to tap it in and out with a hammer. Not a huge deal, but not perfect. It only has to be removed when changing dies

I picked up vacuum gauges and a pump too. For fun, and to check my work, i hooked it up, ran it for 30 minutes while it held a negative 3CFM vacuum, then locked it out. Vacuum held for another 30 minutes, so i know i don't have any leaks in the system at this time. Score 1 for me for now! I should be ready to charge the system when it actually comes time to do so.

https://www.amazon.com/XtremepowerUS-Va ... acuum+pump

A/C is one of those things that if your going to do it, get the right tools for the job. It can be very unforgiving of poor workmanship, and can get very expensive quickly, just run a compressor out of oil, and the repair can be north of $1000.
The Mastercool came out after I bought my Atco, both are similer and I think do an equally good job. Hyd can be nice if you do a TON of A/C work, but manual is good enough for me.

I bought the MASTERCOOL hydraulic tube flare tool about 15 years ago. http://www.mastercool.com/product/71475/ It works right first time and every time. So, I am thinking that I will get MASTERCOOL 71550 , like Brad's. It should save us some money when we do the AC on my Son's L110 Shorty and later, if I get our Orrville Crewcab into the works. I am not going to use the AEROQUIP AC hose and fittings again. The only reason being, the very high cost. Sadly, only 20% of the fancy Aeroquip can be seen. I bought a set of AC charging gauges at NAPA when they were on sale for 50% off. http://www.mastercool.com/product/r22-r ... gauge-set/
Thanks for posting.

One thing I will say in favor of the Atco, it comes apart easy once the crimp is done, 1/4 turn on the base lock and it slides apart.

https://youtu.be/i9SlpvT0RGk
https://youtu.be/d9UmRueYuyE Where have I heard someone mention some difficulty with the lock pin?
https://youtu.be/yImLzZafhHk I like this video.
https://youtu.be/9co7dbiauQg
I am liking the MASTERCOOL Hydraulic crimper. Here is Canada we pay a higher price, in dollars, for anything American because our dollar is at $0.74 on the USD. I will continue to look for a deal on a MASTERCOOL 71500 https://youtu.be/ODIEcEV_epM
The ATCO crimper is 50% more expensive, here. I will be checking eBay.

I'll say this, I've never had a failure with the crimps, and had pressures over 400 PSI when the condenser wasn't removing heat properly, tripped the over-pressure switch before any fitting failure. I think both crimpers may use the same dies, and will give the same results, the dies look the same.
I want the Mastercool brake/small line flare tool, just haven't been able to justify the cost yet but I will get one sooner or later.

That guy didn't have the die seated correctly in the top, i never had to remove the pin just to pull the new fitting back out. I only had to mess with the pin when switching dies

I have the eastwood brake line flaring tool that seems to have worked great. But i guess i will find out later on when i actually start putting fluid in and bleeding the brakes. The flares looked nice and do not appear damaged. That Hydraulic flare tool looked pretty sweet though