air con in a pre-964 911

[OBRUT]

has anyone ever got decent a/c performance in an early or mid year 911.

if yes, what mods worked? i've heard good reports about swapping in 964 condensers.

let the tips begin.

[CamBiscuit]

Mate

One of the guys in Thailand seemed to be happy with a system he'd put in an early car......Somewhere on Pelican, I'll see what I can find.

[CamBiscuit]

Here 'tis

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?t=223479&page=14

Over two pages

[e72phil]

Ryan,

I have driven Kent Moores 73 911S which had the coldest A/C I have ever experienced in a Porsche. It was done by Scott's Independent-Performance Aire in Anaheim ( http://www.scottsind.com/) and he uses an under-floor condensor that, whilst vulnerable to low gutters, ensures there is a vast surface area for cooling refrigerant.

Outside temp was in the 90's and I had to turn the fan down to 1.

Phil Hearn at Auto Coupe has also done some nice system that work well which include a condensor mounted in the rear pass. side fender behind the rear wheel. He uses an electric fan mounted on the condensor and gets good airflow across it. He can delete the condensor under the engine grille which doesnt work that well due to engine heat rising.

Dave Belford also got A/C working well in a 74 911S and has a small elec fan mounted under one side of the condensor . Not sure if he has the front turnk mounted condenor as well (which also has an elec fan arrangement.

However, with all these condenors mounted around the car, the plumbing becomes an issue.

It will also depend on which engine you are running to ensure you have some spare HP to run the system.

Scott may sell you the bits you need. Check his website above and email him. Tell him Phil sent you !

[OBRUT]

thanks guys - looks like there are some good options for improvement.

[mj911e]

Got to keep the "little lady" happy?

I've just installed a basically bog standard a/c into mine, the only upgrades being a RennAire high effiency serpentine evaporator, & a Sanden compressor.
Stock rear condensor, & std underdash diffusor, mine works well, had some issues with freezing up the evaporator initially but have that sorted now.
It certainly make sitting in dummy-grid in 35 degrees a lot more pleasant, & as long as I remember to turn it off, can't cost too much time/HP!
Also, made driving on the Hay plains in the middle of summer bearable.

[OBRUT]

Got to keep the "little lady" happy?

no, planning to ditch the behemoth and considering a 911 as daily/weekend driver.

[mj911e]

Given how well mine functions, & while it doesn't throw out ice cubes, it is perfectly comfortable, I intend to put mine back into daily driver service in WA, & it's not that difficult to add another condensor/s later on.

The one downside is the loss of some passanger foot space, as there is nowhere else to put the evaporator/blower unit.

[Polizei]

I have been using my '71T as a daily driver for the past 6 months now.

To be honest I have found it very easy to live with despite not having air con.

For me, driving to work early in the day and driving home late helps avoid the main heat of the day.

Despite this, there is still the odd time when you are just sitting there in traffic, sweating your chops off.

I was quoted at $3000-4000 to install a system by Mark some time ago. I imagine you could set most of the plumbing up yourself though and save $$$.

[Fishcop]

Meow... ya pussy!

[OBRUT]

john

i bagged out cam for talking about fitting carpet so i guess is deserved that...

in my defence, sydney gets pretty hot and this would be going into a road (only) car.

[John S]

Watching with interest, need to improve the a/c in the SC.

[Fishcop]

Sorry Ryan, couldn't resist

It gets kinda tropical up here in Brisbane too I find I'm mostly okay with the windows down and the rear quarter windows popped out. But you're right, an every day car really needs A/C.

My car came with $6k in receipts for A/C that the PO put in. It never really worked particularly well, so I gave up and pulled it out. I gave the whole system away... 964 compressor too... Condenser in the rear wheel arch as well as one in the deck lid grill...

There's a complete A/C system for sale in the Qld Pcar Club magazine - let me know if you if you want me to have a look. I'll be down in Sydney soonish as well. It would seem that there are a few improvements available from the States that might be worth trying out. I know SoCal gets hot, but it doesn't get as 'tropical' as over here - I'd seek some advice from some of the guys in Florida and see what they're using.

[e72phil]

As I mentioned before, Scott Hendry has specialised in building A/C units that work in early 911's (incl 2.0 litre engines) and definitely has a serious solution.

Member Kent Moore had Scott's system fitted to his '73 911S as I mentioned. it cost around $5000 fitted and it worked perfectly, including in very humid conditions which I experienced whilst visiting Newport Beach in teh summer.

Scott's custom condensor mounted under the floor is the ideal, large area condensor that guarantees to keep it cold. I have never seen one mounted like this before and its neat and hardly noticeable. Air flow over teh elements seems to work fine. I was in stop-start traffic around Newport and was very comfortable. Tim was with Kent in his hotrod VW minus A/C.

There are plenty of people out there that claim to be able to get good A/C in an early 911. Scott seems to be one of the gurus in the US (not just CA) as he sells systems into Arizona and Florida. The only downside is the strong US$ making parts ex USA expensive. But if you want A/C that actually works (in Sydney traffic) then I guess you pay the price.

A lot has to do with the compressor you use and the right sized condensor. Not sure about what under dash units Scott has but I guess oyu can scrounge around on ebay for that part. Seems these tend to get left insid cars even after compressors etc have been yanked out years before.