Ford Guys - What the heck are these?

[mlcraven]

Car: 1967 Mercury Cyclone 390 with Whisper-Aire AC and intermittant wipers (didn't even know they existed in 67).

Trying to understand what these two underhood components are.
Photo 1 - the small thing on the fender (not the AC compressor); has 4 elec leads and 4 vacuum ports (two are visible). There is 1 large port and three small-diameter ones.
Photo 2 - cannister with 2 vacuum ports (1 large, 1 small)
I don't yet have a Shop Manual; any help appreciated

[SuperBuickGuy]

Did the car have cruise control?

[mlcraven]

No, no cruise control. And damnably, all the hoses cut/disconnected when I took possession of it so I have no idea where they ran.

[squirrel]

The canister is probably just for vacuum storage.

I don't know about the other thing.

Are the wipers electric, or hydraulic?

[Gary 351C]

I think the one on the right is in fact the vacuum canister which amplifies the vacuum coming from the engine, mine looks different but it's located in the same place and also has a small and a large port. The second one could be the windsheild washer pump. I can't remember when they were integrated into the washer resevoir. Just a guess though, I could be totally wrong.

[milner351]

nice to see one of the previous owners carefully removed the AC hoses.....


I'm not sure what that do-dad is on the passenger side near the AC hoses coming through the fire wall - almost looks like a relay or a vacuum actuated electrical switch.


I concur that the driver side shock tower mounted thingamadjigger is likely the windshield washer pump - but that's only a somewhat educated guess.

With no cruise - I would think the firewall mounted vac switch was probably for the AC - to kick up the idle speed when the ac was on - or some such feature ... and the "idle speed solenoid" which recieved that signal to move the throttle linkage is most likely gone in the same trash can as the AC hoses and whatever else was on the facotry carburetor that the previous owner decided was "not required".

[TC]

The thing on the smaller A/C line that comes through the firewall is the Expansion Valve......

[mlcraven]

The canister is probably just for vacuum storage.

I don't know about the other thing.

Are the wipers electric, or hydraulic?

Wipers are electric.

[Huskinhano]

The second photo is definately a vacuum storage canister for the pneumatic controls for the AC. First photo, don't know but since all your AC components have s0 professionally disabled, my guess it's also related to the AC system. I have a factory shop manual for my 66, let me see if there is something similar.

[SuperBuickGuy]

The second photo is definately a vacuum storage canister for the pneumatic controls for the AC. First photo, don't know but since all your AC components have s0 professionally disabled, my guess it's also related to the AC system. I have a factory shop manual for my 66, let me see if there is something similar.

there's my vote - controls doors and such for the A/C system, check under your dash for places to hook up those lines

[TC]

there's my vote - controls doors and such for the A/C system, check under your dash for places to hook up those lines

I would agree, but usually they'd put that stuff under the dash......I'm with the guy that said it's the windshield washer fluid pump...... One big line from the reservoir and the other smaller lines to to the squirters.......

[Huskinhano]

No, not a windshield washer pump, they're an inline pump with 2 terminal posts, kinda like a fuel pump in looks. What I would do is to check all the wires for voltage. Then turn the HVAC controls on and off to see if there's any change in voltage. It's going to be a process of trail and error.

[mlcraven]

OK, thanks to all for the ideas. I'll take the multi-port/four-terminal thingummy off the shock tower and post some photos of it from different angles. I didn't think it was the washer pump, I've already identified it (as described by Huskinhano above) and couldn't understand why there'd be two.

Full disclosure on the AC lines: that was me in a moment of fury. The system itself is shot, the condensor is creased and perforated, the compressor is seized, and the smaller of the two hoses was already damaged. My intention is to save all the bits both inside the passenger compartment and under the hood but it probably will NOT go back in the car, at least not right away and unlikely to be the orig FOMOCO system (while the theory is the same I suspect they've evolved somewhat in 44 years to deliver better performance). Anyhow, it became apparent when attempting to disconnect the firewall connections that the soft metal tubes going through the firewall were more likely to break than the connections; rather than that I chose what seemed the lesser of two evils, I cut the hoses. All for naught, as it turned out. The compressor is mounted to some freakin' humongous Rube Goldberg-designed bracket that does double duty as the power steering pump mounting. Virtually every bolt is in a PITA location and I'm sure they're all secured with Loctite (or whatever the heck it was they used in 1966); I really can't believe the mounting arrangement was one of Ford's better ideas. The compressor belt routing features two idler/tension pullies, just taking them off removed about 5 lbs from the front of the car.

[TC]

That compressor is a York compressor, which is basically a big old POS......You'd be better off getting a Vintage Air kit or something like that and using a more modern compressor.....

[milner351]

Nice work - I have to admit to hacksawing ac lines in the past - hell - if you intend to never use them - WTF? - it gives you freedom Joel
(sorry - watched risky business too many times)

I digress -- yea - what TC said - AC in cars has come a helofa long way in 4 decades - the newer systems are better lighter more efficient and less "rube goldbergish" in thier bracketry. I intend on keeping the under dash AC stuff as stock as possible in the '69 - but upgrading to stuff that actually works under the hood.

To give some insight to the lack of "robustness" in the AC systems of the late '60's - when you ordered AC on a '69 mach1 - you automatically defaulted the axle ratio to 3.08!!! They didn't want those huge by large by enormously heavy York monstrosities flying apart due to excessive RPM - so - they 'limited' that RPM by killing your axle ratio choice.

Surely nobody took an AC car and then installed a 4.11 locker.