Removing 70's aftermarket AC.

[moneymanager]

73 and 74 911's, and maybe a bunch of others, often got an aftermarket A/C called CoolAire or something like that. Along with the compressor and condenser at the rear, the smuggler's box was stuffed with an evaporator/blower and a big hole was cut in the firewall to allow installation, or let air in...I'm not sure which. I'm now attempting to pull that unit and can't for the life of me figure out how to get it out of the car. Obviously the electrics and the hoses need to come off, but then what? Does it come out of the top of the smugglers box, or exit thru the inside of the car? Thanks for any help.

[RussianBlue]

Comes out the top

[Jack Olsen]

Be prepared for a lot of mental anguish when you see the cuts made for the installation. Dealer installers didn't love the cars like we do.

[kilodawg]

Just did this over the holiday on my '73. It was great fun.

I cut off all the hoses (be prepared for a little oil and don't freak) and then worked on the contents of the box.

It comes out of the top just fine. It may not look that way at first but it does. Just cut out all the hoses and copper tubing, remove a few screws and gently coax it out. Then figure out how to plug the holes in the passenger side fender well and verify no rust and that the drain tube is attached properly.

[1974carrera]

My '74 has the Behr A/C. I don't know how similar the evaporator is to your CoolAire, but I would think the evaporator assembly has to come out the top of the smuggler's box. To get mine out I had to remove the air inlet that fits through the firewall, disconnect the large hose that goes to the air vents and remove two brackets from the top corners of the evaporator/fan housing; then the remove assembly straight up and out.
Hope this helps

Before:


After:


And this is the air intake (looking from inside the cockpit) that extends into the evaporator housing, and has to be removed before the housing can be lifted up and out:

[moneymanager]

Thanks to all of you. Very helpful. I think I know enough now to tackle this ugly project!