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10/4! Do I have permissions to post there?
Let me narrow that down to 1970s - 80s military earth moving equipment...
I can't find any evidence that A/C was ever installed on the D7G. All of the air handler/blower infrastructure is there but no evaporator core or compressor mounting information in the TM. I certainly did not see any, and if it existed it would be in the TM. It's a custom job at this point. I have to fabricate another intermediate mount which fits on the engine boss where the 3306 compressor mount for a wheel loader is fastened to. The 3306 compressor mount which you can find on eBay and other places is for a Wheel Loader. The loader has a different style of forward engine mount to the frame. The 1/2" steel engine mount on the D7 is in the way. Just have to raise the compressor up some to clear this. I don't know the proper name for it.., Oh, well.
I was Lost In The Woods back in 1982, no AC in anything...not even the Cattle Cars.
I would think by time the G rolled out A/C should have been an option, but not necessarily for the military. Any chance you have, or have checked the D7G Cat manuals? If Cat ever optioned A/C for the G it should be in there. If not stop by or call your local Cat dealer, they are “usually” very helpful.
My wife's son is a CAT mechanic. He don't no crap about the older machines. Caterpillar is a different company now. They consider anything over 20 years old to be obsolete. They want to sell new machines and forget about the old ones. The old school mechanics are all gone now but I have one in my magic bag. He hasn't seen D7 machine yet, nor have we discussed much. I just told him about it the other day. When I bought the D5 five years ago our local CAT house put the only old school guys they had left to rebuild the track adjusters. They were thrilled to work on something old again. Honestly, I knew more about it than they did. I sourced out and bought all of the parts to rebuild track adjusters, idler bearings etc... Everything on the belly, control linkages, governor, instrumentation and electrical harness, I did myself, including this last week. New grouser pads. It has been a rough 3 days taking off and putting back on. 80 pads and 300 bolts and nuts was very taxing on my lower back. I took a day off on Wednesday after 3/4 of the right side. Thursday was much faster but still just as hard physically. Today was no different. I need 3 days of rest now. My back is sore! I had my "old school" machine shop friend help me out. I will post pictures to that thread.
Thank you!
Thank you again. I think my CAT dealership is pretty good and I only have one experience with them. I think they're just not very thorough with completing the finer details of segment. When they rebuilt the track adjusters and blade group trunnions they should have finished the proper adjustments for everything in the scope of the segment. There is more to taking off and putting back on. They should have done a more better job. They put the track frame stabilizer bar upside down and it failed quickly. I spent $1500 for welding on the old bar when a new aftermarket only cost $600. I installed the new one myself properly. There are no excuses for shotty work. If you pay to get things fixed, fix them completely.
I will probably get a set of manuals for the D7. I have them for the D5b. I bet the A/C wasn't an option for the military version otherwise it would have been in the TM. Everything is there on the blower control panel except for the AC switch. The boss on the engine block is there to except the 3306 compressor mount but the front engine mount cross member is a slight obstacle. I will have to fabricate another bracket to off-set the compressor to a different height to clear the engine mount. No sure what the proper name for the front mount is...?
