Retrofit a/c

[phantomD]

Hi all,

What would be involved to retrofit a/c into a 1989 Brumby? What might it cost? How bad would the reduction in performance be?

Thanks in advance.

[TOONGA]

you need all of the plumbing ,electricals,the compressor and condenser and the double pulley for the crank so you can run the compressor

and don't forget the lovely mounting system for the alternator and the compressor

the member Corax is doing it but he has a 2.5 L EJ turbo motor in his brumby project

and Im pretty sure another member is doing it but his name escapes me

not an overly hard job but a little time consuming

as for cost find an old wagon and gut it

just don't expect any real preformance when you have the aircon on as the compressor is a energy sucking device

TOONGA

[dibs]

i got all the bits n more if ya interested dibs 0421865633

[El_Freddo]

I'm still in the throws of completing Sunnie's AC (88 Brumby). All parts have been sourced from a touring wagon. Make sure you get all the wiring from the one vehicle as it gets confusing otherwise!

Cheers

Bennie

[phantomD]

Is there any complication with fast idle/the carburettor or is that not required?

Thanks for the replies guys. I'd forgotten about the double pulley - that might be a problem.

[El_Freddo]

the fast idle is a bolt on application too. Anything associated with the wiring - vacuum hoses and what they're connected to as well - are required for your AC install.

Even get the glove box insert! Its got the rear bit cut out to fit the cold box in...

Cheers

Bennie

[wild_rx]

while we are on the subject...how much R134a to put in the system??

[phantomD]

Thank you very much to everybody for their replies so far to this thread - knowing what was involved has made progress to this point much easier. I now have an a/c system from a donor car belonging to a very generous friend of mine whose assistance was invaluable.

Now that I have the gear I am mulling over a few things in my head, particularly to do with protection of the existing EA81 which is in mint condition. I am concerned that the engine will run much hotter due to the condenser unit restricting air flow into the radiator - how does one go about cleaning up a condenser unit to make it work more efficiently? Another thing I'd appreciate more information about is the relationship between the new (very thin) intermittent electrical fan and engine temperature (it replaces the old mechanical fan). I know that the a/c compressor will also cause the engine to heat up faster at idle, because my engine temperature already likes to jump right up towards red when under load at low RPM (e.g. stop/start traffic).

The assistance as always is very much appreciated.

PS
I am missing the bracket that the fast idle component bolts onto beside the carby. What to do?

[El_Freddo]

That slimmer thermo fan goes well. What'll happen is when the motor is up to temp and triggers the thermo cut in switch both of the fans will operate to bring the temprature down. Its quite effective. If you're having cooling issues I'd be looking at the condition of the radiator/cooling system/headgaskets/water pump...

Sunnie got his condensor installed on sunday and will be gassed on wednesday. I can't wait to see how well the AC works and how much power it drains for the EA81...

You can make up a bracket for the fast idle.

Cheers

Bennie

[phantomD]

Thanks El Freddo for the quick reply. Is there a way to get the electric fans to come on earlier instead of 3/4 hot, or is 3/4 hot an OK time for them to come on? I didn't realise that the new electric fan just plugged in with the existing fan, I thought it'd come off the a/c circuit somewhere separate to the other fan. I did notice that the fan had a very short lead though.

So it's being gassed tomorrow? I will be very interested to hear how it affects the EA81. What year touring wagon did you pull the a/c from?

My car's cooling is quite impressive - temperature will jump down from 3/4 to 1/2 within 30seconds of that electric fan coming on. Only the other day however I had an electrical short (corroded connector) in the front which caused chaos - so the old-fashioned mechanical fan was very attractive to me. Cruising at highway speeds the temperature will sit below 1/4 on the gauge, in city traffic it hangs between 1/4 and 1/2.