A/C pull it out or fix it
 

Don't know what to do, should I work on fixing A/C unit or yank it out? I've had my 1981SC for a year now the A/C never worked (the belt has been off for a while) do I spend the money to fix it? (in excess of $500.00) the car runs great I don't know how it runs with the compresser going but I'm sure there's a difference in performance and from what I've read a good operating unit is moderate cooling at best. I live in the S.F. Bay Area and we have had our share of record breaking heat waves here but they don't last for weeks like other places maybe a few days and I normally don't drive around that much when the temp soars (engine temp also) is anyone out there stuck between a rock an a hard spot besides me on what to do? Thank you

If you think it will cost $500 to fix, odds are it will cost twice that. Mine did. Two years later mine still works, but who knows? It's nice a couple times a year, but those days I could drive the truck, which has a nice AC.

If you ever want to sell the car, working A/C will pay for itself (it will increase the resale $1000).

If you plan on keeping it forever... pull it out (sounds like you just want a few of us to convince you of that anyway!).

you're in CA, gut it like I did :)

I say gut it. And when you do, can I have all the parts?

Really! I'll take them all!!!!!!!!!!!

Look at it this way... Why would you want to put more load on an engine that already runs hot? Gut it.

I got rid of mine 2 days ago, it only take an 45mins or so and you can put everything back in easily if you want to.

Depends on how hot and bothered you want your cup holder (blonde or otherwise) to be:D Jim

dude, i live in the east bay. it gets hot like africa compared to you in the city. dump it. save all the parts in a box. the main benefit is that the car is easier to work on. lots of room! but if it only took $500 to fix. who knows, that is not bad either.

Hey Barclay,

I'm in exactly the same position. I've had the car about 2 years, the A/C was not hooked up when I bought it, but all the parts are still in there.

Down here in Orange County, I think we get a little more hot weather than you do, but mine is a weekend driver only. Besides the incoming air seems pretty cool even on a hot day. (Probably because it doesn't have to go by a hot engine on the way to the cabin.)

It's a tough call though. If I ever decide (read: need) to sell it, the working A/C will certainly aide the value but is it really worth throwing money at to fix. Most of what I hear is that even "working" systems are only moderately cool, with some exceptions. (The Porsche Owner's Manual that came with my SC has a lot to say about keeping the A/C working properly. I think in three different places there are warnings to operate the system once per month whether you need to or not just to keep the seals fresh. But don't quote me on that.)

Sooooooo, what's my point? Well your question was in anybody out there "stuck between a rock and a hard place" like you? My answer is: Yes, I am too. But I think I'm going to gut mine as the wise Pelicanites here have recommended. (But save the parts, they may come in handy later.)

Hope that helps.
Paul

I know I can look it up, but is the metal fins attached to the underside of the engine hood part of the A/C system?

My A/C does not work (1977 911S), I am thinking of boxing the compressor, what else should I remove to save weight and improve air-flow?

What is the best way to secure old hoses flapping around?

Ha, ha. I was told NOT to remove it by mine. We turned it on for the first time this w/e since it's >$3K rebuild by the PO. I'm not sure it was worth the $3K. :)

Don't listen to any of them,,,,gut it and send me all the parts. I'll even pay the shipping

I face the same delimma, not connected, belt off...hot engine. Priority has to be fix the hot engine, then move to AC. However, living in S. TX I feel I'm a bit under the gun. Survived last summer, but not looking forward to doing it again. But mine tends to heat up a bit and I've got to address that first. One word sums it up...Budget!

Same boat as you but I live in Canada.....for the few weeks a year I need it, it would be nice to have have rather than peeling myself off the seat.
My deal was I went to upgrade the coolent and found the fittings on the compressor were siezed. Need a new compressor, and probably alot more.
I'm thinking.....light weight :)

Toss it, your car will feel more nimble;).

I've got a complete, functional system in my crawl space (minus hoses) You really want them???

I say gut it... Brother Souk weighed all of his stuff to include the blower in the smugglers box (I kept mine in)and it came out to something like 100lbs!!!:) Easy and cheap way to add HP!!!

As you can see, everyone either is taking one out or trying to install one (like me). I have Souks old setup and it is @ 60lbs total (not installed yet). But it is the early VPC version without a front condensor or fan. I am saving for a rotary compressor and barrier hoses. To me, if a Porsche is a daily driver, it should at least have the creature comforts of a KIA. If it is too slow, I would have to just add HP.
If you remove it and store it, the compressor seals will most likely go bad. If undecided, I would leave it until I was sure.

Pull it and put it in a box. When you are hot, take some of the $500 and buy yourself a cold one.

The compressor hangs in the worst spot to add weight: High up in the air in the very back of the car.

These cars were not conceived with A/C in mind. It has been butchered in there later to sell it to a luxury market. In my eyes a/c has NO HOME in a 911. When I grew up in Germany I didn't even know that there were cars with a/c.

George

I pulled mine... I have a big black air conditioner on the top of the car. It blows real good when you take it off!

Keep the AC and box the rest of the car (OK OK I'll "duck and cover", as per an educational school song of the early fifties)

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

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.

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.

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.

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 " :D :D :D

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

Open a window.

I weigh 240. What's another 70?

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.

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.

Fix it

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)

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

Thanx

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:)

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"...:D

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

Drink it before it gets warm...

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.

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?