Trouble installing Upper A/C Bracket (Page 1/1)
OldGuyinaGT JAN 26, 11:28 PM
This all started when my 88 GT (auto) developed a coolant leak. I knew I was on borrowed time and had already bought all the hoses and Rodney Dickman's stainless crossover pipe, planning to replace all this spring. But then the leak. So I tore into it this weekend. Replacing the coolant crossover pipe is as big a pain as it is said to be. I did not remove the compressor separately; I pulled the belt adjusting bolt, and the upper bracket at the engine.

So it took me a long Saturday to get the original pipe out and the new pipe in. My problem now is that I can't get the top A/C compressor bracket bolts back in. It took me about two hours to get the top right bolt (the stud one) in but the rest of the day to fail getting the other two back in. I tried everything I can think of to get the bracket to line up, even pulled the one bolt I got in and tried another. Got the top left in but now can't get the other two. Apparently the alignment is very tight because I even used an endoscope to view the holes and even when they look aligned, they aren't.

Anyone have any tips on how I can get this thing bolted back up? I'm about to get some obstruction wrenches to try to pull the compressor off of the bracket, but not sure about breaking those bolts loose (the rear bolt is frozen up pretty solid) with the bracket semi-floating like this. Any thought on how I can get this aligned to install all three bolts? Am I missing something? My vocabulary is getting a real workout from this.
fierosound JAN 26, 11:37 PM
Item #7 is a bracket that bolts to the dogbone.
The A/C bracket bolts go through it into the head.

Maybe loosening #7 bracket from the dogbone end will give enough play to align all of the holes.

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Patrick JAN 27, 12:01 AM

Another suggestion, since you're working on the front side of the engine...

When I was drilling out broken exhaust manifold bolts on the front bank of my '86 GT's engine (what a b!tch of a job), I found that tipping the cradle down at the back made access a whole lot easier.