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.

[El_Freddo]

Phantom - the AC came from a donor touring wagon that most of the dash and electronics reside in the Brumby now. The last thing was the consensor as the donor's unit was knackered after kissing a tree.

As for the wiring thing. You'll find that the AC wiring plugs into the thermo trigger wiring which then operates the fans through a set of relays that mounts to the driver's side strut tower. You can rig up a switch to trigger the fans yourself or turn them off all together for water crossings...

Its a bit of playing around to work it out with the dash mounted switch but its worth it for piece of mind.

The other way to get a good air flowing condensor is to get an new one... I'll be sure to let you know how Sunnie goes once he's all gassed up, I'll probabily see him this weekend, if not it'll be the next

Cheers

Bennie

[El_Freddo]

Well the AC has been gassed with no issues of leakage or parts needed replacement. Gail's very happy with it and I hope to see the little ute tomorrow night Apparently the gas service cost $130...

Cheers

Bennie

[Cliff R]

Coming into this post a bit late and not wanting to get into the road of all the excellent previous posts I would like to put my own 2 bobs worth into the whole A/C and lack of performance issue.
For those who had cars with A/C in the 80's does anyone remember the (I think) the "Pacemaker" ?
All it was was a vacuum switch.
A vacuum hose from the inlet manifold was found and a T piece inserted. The new T line was run into the "Pacemaker" and the unit was mounted somewhere in the engine bay. Wiring from the "Pacemaker" was installed by cutting the wire that goes from the engine bay wiring harness to the A/C compressor and both ends went to the "Pacemaker" the same as if a switch was put into the wiring.
The "Pacemaker" worked by vacuum and when you put your foot on the accelerator vacuum in the inlet manifold occurred which put vacuum on the "Pacemaker" and a switch turned on and the A/C power was cut.
When you took your foot off the accelerator vacuum pressure was reduced and the switch turned back on.
This unit worked the same was as if you came to a hill you manually turned off the A/C and manually turned it back on when you were on a flat road again.
I had one on my 83 Ford Telstar and it worked a treat.
I picked one off an 83 or 84 touring wagon 3 or so years ago from a wreckers and for its size I would not part with it due to knowing how efficient it really is. When I get off my butt and fix my MY's A/C it will be installed asap.
Mined you, anyone with electrical knowledge could fit any vacuum switch with the same results but IP65 or 66 classification for water protection would probably be of benefit.

[phantomD]

I just picked up a 2nd hand air conditioning compressor today (2nd 350km trip in the Brumby in 3 days ) as the one from my donor car was completely worn out. Now all I have to do is investigate the oily residue inside the evaporator to see if there's a leak, and if not hopefully I have a working a/c system which will be dropped into my Brumby very soon!

The pacemaker thing interests me - it amazes me some of the things fitted to these old Japanese cars which have just started to make an appearance on newer "production line" type cars within the last few years. The "A/C" switch will do for now however.

[El_Freddo]

Phantom, did you grab the crank pulley and the fast idle adjustment lever while you were there? Hope you've got them sorted

Cheers

Bennie

[phantomD]

Hi Bennie, yes I have a triple pulley for the crank but I'm not sure what you mean by adjustment lever for the fast idle.

[justincase41]

when u turn the aircon on, a vacuum operates actuator adjusts the idle on the carby so the revs don't drop and stall the engine. The actuator(if thats what its called) is bolted on the inlet manifold beside the carby.

[phantomD]

I have the vacuum actuator (I called it a solenoid) but I don't have the mounting bracket for it. I didn't realise it was adjustable.

If anything I didn't think it should be too hard to push in the thingy manually, but mine seems to have a bit of resistance. Is it the sort of thing you would pull apart and lubricate?

[justincase41]

I just re-read my post and a little confusing. It isn' adjustable, just one size fits all really. If I stick my mouth over the inlet hole where the vacume tube connects and suck/blow I can manipulate the level. If yours is stuck, really tight, try lubricating it with some WD40, if it is still tight find a another one. The solenoid/actuator are the same on the My and L series, just different mounting brackets to fix to inlet manifold. You also need the bracket that fits onto the carby so the lever arms makes contact with it, and turns the idle speed up.

[El_Freddo]

You also need the bracket that fits onto the carby so the lever arms makes contact with it, and turns the idle speed up.

This is the bit I was refering to as I thought you had said you didn't have it...

Sorry for any confusion created.

Cheers

Bennie