A/C pull it out or fix it

[VaSteve]

Originally posted by Par911
Toss it, your car will feel more nimble.

Don't listen to Pari, he takes everything out of his car.

[Westy]

For those of us that are slightly older, and NEED that A/C unit that's attached to the motor,,,how much is the Rotary upgrade with the bigger condenser? And who sells them? And, is the Rotary without the newer condenser good enough? And , , ,well, I think you get the idea.

B.

[swbsam]

it's kind of funny that you should post this at this time as I am having the complete system redone, last august when I bought my 87 TL one of the things that I knew that wasn't working was the air, well... a lot of you might say, well the air in these cars was never any good anyway and from what I can remember from the few times I tried to use the air in my 84 it wasn't worth the loss in power or gas mileage it cost to use it , well not to far from me is a place called Scott's Independent and besides being a great place to get your car worked on ( and the official R GRUPPE BBQ site at Dunkel's this last year ) a division of their business is called Performance Aire, for some years now I have heard a lot of people talk about them and the things they can do that will vastly improve the air in Porsche's, so now I'm about to find out if spending three grand to change out just about every component in the system will really make this thing blow ice cubes, here's a link to their site and some pic's of the work their doing :http://www.scottsind.com/scotts.htm then click on work in progress.

they will have the car for about a week, I'm leaving for Daytona Thursday and when I get back Tuesday I'll have a couple of days to play with the car then it's off to Monterey on Thursday for the fifth annual R GRUPPE North meets South meeting, I'm not sure if it will really be warm enough to properly test the new air at this time of the year as last year it was in the 60's and rainy up in Monterey, but if the sun's out I'm sure it will at least get up into the eighties, so I'll find myself hoping for warmer weather.

[masraum]

San Antonio, jeez, you really need A/C there. Stealthn, Canada? You're kidding right?? It gets up to what, 80 in August there??

Mine works and even though it takes a bit to get the car cool it is really nice to have here in Houston, With more money you can get them to work pretty well (mine's stock). I can easily see removing the thing if you are in Cali and or other places with moderate weather or if you only drive the thing in nice weather. Mine is a daily driver. Driving to work in the morning in the summer or home in the afternoon is not much fun without A/C.

[Westy]

WOW!! I'm not sure I want to be 3K Kool. Hmmmmm, it IS a Targa!

[swbsam]

Originally posted by Westy
WOW!! I'm not sure I want to be 3K Kool. Hmmmmm, it IS a Targa!

one of the things I've learned over the years " you get what you pay for "

[old_skul]

Mine's in a box. Compressor, condensor, reciever/drier, lines...it weighs about 75 pounds.

Open a window.

[Westy]

I weigh 240. What's another 70?

[Tommy B]

with no AC you'll be sweatin those pounds away in no time!

My car had the AC removed by the PO. If i could find a cheap setup i'd put it back in in a sec. My car is frickin hot, and im in NY where it hasn't even broke 90 yet.

[alan911]

Pulled mine out of my "77 3 months after I had it. Still in a box in the garage. I'll give it to the next owner.

I'd leave the hoses, evap. and blower (usually in the smugler's box) as it will still give you some cabin air circulation.

Not worth the time or effort to remove all the ancillary stuff. You can tuck or tie-wrapp the hoses back against the firewall out of the way and tape off the any electrical connections.

End result: cleaner engine bay-easy access to other stuff (valves) and the hood shocks will really work now.

I agree- early 911's (mid 70's)were never designed for AC. Every installation I've ever seen looked like a "hack" job.

[ken_xman]

Fix it

[fintstone]

Cheapest that I have found to add AC setup is ICE in San Diego....Their setup is reported to provide cool air at outlet in the low 40's. They will fix your existing system and convert it to a Seiko rotary reasonably and replace your hoses with barrier type. They seem to be a good value for areas that do not get extremely hot. If I had an existing system, I would try this first (under $1K). If you need an entire system, with underdash unit, it is under $2k installed, http://www.iceac.com/ice.html
but the underdash unit does not look quite as much like the factory version as the one from Scotts Independent does: If you are somewhere that gets really hot...and want outlet temp to get down to the 30's, you are talking about either Scotts Independent (Performance Aire) as posted earlier: http://www.scottsind.com/ who uses a Seiko rotary compressor and a static underbody condensor ($3k+ depending on what you have to start with)
or Griffiths who use a Sanden swash plate compressor and additional condensors in the left rear wheel well: http://www.griffiths.com/ (around $3k+ depending on what you have to start with)

[Westy]

Now THAT is good info. A/C is in the car, It just needs upgrading.

Thanx

[limble]

Gut it, it's dead weight. Save it for the next owner.
Any tips for storing the compressor?

[vash]

Originally posted by limble
Gut it, it's dead weight. Save it for the next owner.
Any tips for storing the compressor?

i use mine as a door stop for my back garage door. i "condomed" all the drip points with cut off fingers from my nitrile gloves. it looks "ready for love" just sitting there

[geof33]

Originally posted by Westy
Now THAT is good info. A/C is in the car, It just needs upgrading.

Thanx

Ok, let's see... It's gonna cost you around three grand (that's what I was quoted) to do the "upgrade" you still get mediocer sp?? A/C at best, that will be useless in any condition over 80degs.

Let's say you do it all yourself. Parts, around 1000.00, maybe a bit more depending on what compressor you buy... If you don't have a front condensor, you'll need it cause the underhood one won't cut it. Then you get to remove all the stuff... Getting the hoses OUT requires either some really patient fishing or cutting and yanking... which is still kind of a pain. THEN you have to reroute all of the lines... OMG I don't even want to think about that one... SO... your in all this time, money, brews, headaches for an "OK" A/C... That is worth MAYBE 1000 more when you sell it... (I doubt that)

Or, you loose 100 LBS off the car, sweat a bit more and go faster and your car runs better, cause it never has to lag because of an AC... Never sell the car cause it's your baby and "it's allll goood"...

[Westy]

OK, but how do keep the beer cold????

[joecrum]

Drink it before it gets warm...

[fintstone]

Nah..If you have an existing system in decent shape, you can get an upgraded compressor, hoses and new dryer for a little more than $1k installed at ICE..or so they say. That would most likely be enough for gentle climates. And, of course, the rotary compressor consumes much less HP to operate. Call them and see.

[Moke81]

Just for curiosity sake how much does the Seiko-Seike rotary vane compressor and new evaporator dryer that is listed under 911 Tech Articles on this web site go for?