CALtd said:
What were the hardest parts of the install and how long did it take you?
Probably the hardest thing was finding the bits I needed. If one can wait (I can't... I cross the desert this upcoming week), then get the kit.
Finding the part numbers and getting the valve and solenoid was very easy. Had them in a couple days. I have hose clamps, tie wraps, wire, etc. I needed the proper 1/8" tubing and the tube junction.
Once I had the parts, taking stuff off is easy. 5-10 minutes. Unplugging vacuum fitting from brake booster. Simple. Cutting booster line, easy. Inserting "Y" Junction, easy. Attaching hose clamps... mostly easy, one end is captured down a bit deep. Attaching the 1/8" hose to the coupling... not so easy. It was tight!
Cutting the heater lines. Easy. Trying to make sure the valve is far enough away from the corrugated hose... not so easy. I had to trim more tube on the passenger side and even then use cable ties to pull the valve away from the big hose. My recommendation is to move it farther left than I did. But it works now.
OH... dealing with the coolant mess sucks. It was not very much in volume, but sopping it up, rinsing it out... and it made everything slippery.
Putting the hose clamps on the valve... pain in the arse. Specially since my hands were slippery and my clamps were a little too big.
Attaching the small 1/8" tubing... not too hard. The valve has a small nib.
Attaching the tubing to the solenoid thing.. sucks. Sucks dead bunnies up a straw sucks. But I mostly got them on.
I soldered the wires directly to the pins on the solenoid and then filled the entire connector area with RTV and gobbed RTV on the wires for a strain relief and then tie wrapped them back to the body of the solenoid thingie.
I already had wires running from the fuse block area to the cockpit, so that was not needed. If you did have to add one wire, it should be easy and add 10 minutes, but you also need +12V. I also already had the switch installed in my Trikster Gauge Bracket. Attaching the ground lead to the wiper motor is a good thing and easy.
I was doing some other things to the car, but I am going to guess start t o finish was about an hour. Maybe 90 minutes tops.