AC question - It's getting around that time.
 

Yes - my car still has AC - yes it still works - that is until the freon escapes from the original hoses. No I'm not going to bag the whole unit to lose weight. It's a cabriolet and I live in Florida.

I sold some old sails on ebay - who would have thought they were worth so much. Anyway - I planned on just replacing the barrier hoses with the rennaire ones - but now I have a little more cash.

I'm now thinking of doing the:

Rennaire RennAire High Efficiency Serpentine Evaporator $269
Rennaire RennAire Barrier Hose Kit $339
Rennaire Desert Duty front condensor $259

Anybody have the front condensor? it looks like it drops below the bumper a little bit more.

I already have a new drier.

Thoughts on this? Will it enhance my current system? Should I bag the front condensor and spring for the pro-cooler instead? My goal is to replace all these, then have the whole system recharged at a proper AC shop.

Dooable?

I would put the condenser & procooler ahead of the evaporator if you're not going to do all of them. I think the lack of condenser area is the weakest link in the system.

The front condenser will be lower than the existing one. On mine it hangs just a shade below that crash bar, where the old one did not. It is almost twice as thick.http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1190054268.jpg

The procooler also replaces the reciever/dryer.

My system didn't work at all prior to my upgrade so it's hard to compare, but it works fine now & I'm running 134a.

Replacing the hoses is tedious & time consuming, not to mention dirty, but it's certainly doable.

Thanks Barrpete - did you go with the procooler too?

Barrpete: Is the thicker condenser now at risk of being smashed when the car goes up or down a step driveway, or over a parking stop?

Take it to a shop and see where it's leaking. Could be seals.

Find out what's wrong before you start throwing parts and labor at it. The stock system actually works pretty well if it's working per spec.

Keep R-12. It cools noticably better than 134a.

Do you have a front condenser now? If not, get one. Don't know how much more effective area the renn front condenser has.

Make sure the condenser fan in the front of the trunk is working - makes a huge difference.

Check that stuff before barrier hoses, procooler and evaporator.

I think I've read the thicker desert duty unit comes with spacers to drop the protective cage down and protect the unit from debris. Anyone got a pic of the front with the desert duty condenser installed?

JeremyD,

Yes, I have the procooler as well. I went with the Rennaire System II kit plus the Desert Duty front condenser.

Scottb,

Possibly, but in addition to that crashbar there is a protective cage as well. The condenser is still inside the cage and pretty well protected. I think you'd have to hit it pretty hard to damage it. I don't have a pic but I'll try to get one tonite & post it when I get home.

I don't normally "throw parts" at any projets - I know the hoses are shot - cracks in many - the hose from the rear lid has a rip in it.

It has a front cooler, and yes, the fan works, and yes, it has an inline fuse. The other I see as upgrades - regular to serpentine - and the bigger front condenser (which I know is what is lacking in these cars)

Good luck with the hose replacement. I removed my compressor, condensers, drier, and hoses this weekend, and those hoses are a serious PITA.
Only when I had everything laid out in my driveway did I realize how ridiculous our AC really is.

Just tryin' to help. Had no idea the condition of your system from your first post.
Good luck.

Jeremy you know how friggen hot and humid it is here and for long periods of time. Do it once and do it right, do everything you stated AND the procooler and be done. You will have a system that will last a long time and cool well.

Sorry tcar for the grumpy response - rfuerst911sc - yes - it has been extra hot this year. I don't drive this daily - in fact from mid July - to the end of september maybe once a month to keep the fluids circulating - Kind of the reverse from some of our polar brotherhood.

Looking forward to seeing the "desert duty front cooler" Thanks for the responses - I'm really looking forward to having AC that works again.

OK, here's a couple of pics. Would have done it earlier but Murphy's Law held true & the camera battery was dead when I got home. Two hours of charging & it's all good.
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1190085825.jpg
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/uploa...1190085873.jpg
You can see that it does hang a bit below that crash bar, but probably less than an inch. BTW those scratches on it were by one of the PO's.

It's pretty easy to add spacers to the front condenser guard bar and lower it. Longer bolts plus spacers; may not be quite as strong, but if you're careful.

Yes, if I do the desert duty front cooler - I'll also look at extending the font bar down another inch or so just to be safe. I do have a steep drive.

Spacers would work, I never really thought about moving the bar. That's not a bad idea. On the other hand, I've had it in now for over a year and no problems so far.

thanks barrpete for posting those

so, should I go with the procooler instead of the evaporator?

Jeremy,

I think both are worthwhile improvements, and either one will be an improvement. But my personal opinion is you would get more improvement from the procooler than the evaporator. Basically because it functions as an additional condenser.

Another thought would be leave the existing front condenser for now & do the procooler & evaporator. Since you're changing the hoses already you will have to access the evaporator anyway which is a bit of a pain. So if you wait until some other time to change the evap you'll have to tear into that again. And if you wait & do a procooler later you will have to change some of the hoses out which would mean getting at the evaporator again. But replacing the front condenser at a later date would be simple compared to either of the other two. Just a thought.

Do you know how much more effective area the new front condenser has than the stock condenser? If it's, say double, I'd do that before the evaporator. Condenser area is the biggest failing with our systems.

How does the procooler function as a condenser? Not questioning, just don't understand how it does.

Tcar - advertised as double the size - and more effective as it's a serpentile design, that's why it's on the list.

I put the evaporator on because it's currently on sale $269 vs $4XX. and because I know the evaporator is less than ideal design - (and it would be much easier to get to when I replace the hoses)

The procooler is simply a heat exchanger that uses the cooled refrigerant gas coming from the evaporator to help chill (condense) the liquid coming from the compressor. The only difference between that and a condenser is that the condenser uses outside air.

OK, I just don't see how you're losing additional BTU's by doing this, just losing them in a differnt place... have to think about it; more efficient, maybe...

I'm in the 'replace the old technology' group. I like the idea of a more efficent evaporator, barrier hoses, procooler, variable speed fan and the new improved front condenser. After looking at the skid marks on the protector bar I really think that the new condenser needs a new design that hangs lower. You need something robust enough to lift the front end when it bottoms out or you are going to be going thru lots of condensers.

tcar,

Sorry that my explanation isn't very elegant. You are right that you aren't losing Btu's from the system, just transferring them from one 'side' to the other. It does increase the efficiency. Rennaire's website used to have a page with a very detailed explanation of how it worked, but the link appears to be broken now.

Your explanation was fine, I just couldn't find anything about it on their site, either. I definitely agree that more condenser is better.

I always question because my stock 1979SC R12 system works great - can't run it on high for too long - gets too cold, even when it's over 100F. I do have to have it topped up every 2-3 years, tho.

Jeremy,

I'm late responding to this post; here is a list of the upgrades I did and what I would do additionally with 20/20 hindsight.

What I did:
- Kuehl evaporator
- new blower motor (while replacing evaporator)
- Pro-Cooler
- Sanden compressor with R-134a
- Kuehl center vent and variable fan control (I think the control is a very nice add-on)

These upgrades made a noticeable improvement to the A/C but the system still could not keep up with the mid to upper 90s we had here in NC this summer.

What I would add to the list for further improvements:
- new serpentine front condenser (from Rennaire or Kuehl)
- new serpentine rear condenser (the Kuehl seemed better from my reading)
- barrier hoses since now have 134a (although a recharge for this summer after upgrades in 9/06was only ~$50 so the payback for doing barrier hoses would be 5 years or more)

Hope this helps and good luck with your project.

Regards,
David

The only component I haven't updated is the front condensor. I have Rennaire barrier hoses, rotary compressor, Rennaire procooler and evaporator and running R134A. My A/C blows cold and car is comfortable after 10 minutes (although I keep a cover on it when at work or parked for longer than a couple hours). At some point I will replace the front condensor but it's not a high priority. In this climate I have to have A/C if I'm going to drive the car in the summer.

I also replaced the trombone oil cooler with a Carrera oil cooler and fan, and also switched to Mobil One. Car had 67k when I switched and I've barely seen a drop. I don't know if the few drops I've seen are related to Mobil One or not but I'm not seeing enough to be concerned compared to the benefits of synthetic when car is hot.

So as far as kits go what is the consensus, RennAire, Griffith, RetroAire as far as quality, price, etc/