A/C Upgrade Project starts tomorrow!

[Carrerax]

Guys, I have a stupid question. Im trying to get my ac unit out of the smugglers box on my 1970 and I cant. It is the factory one. I have taken off the lines on the drivers side and also unhooked the wiring. I also took off the mounting bolts. I cant see what is holding it in. I did a search and cant fing it. Thanks!!!!!

[ljowdy]

Did you remove the black plastic cover to the condenser and remove the thermostat and the expansion valve? Once those components and hoses are removed then the condenser will lift out along with its black box

[kuehl]

Originally Posted by ljowdy

Did you remove the black plastic cover to the condenser and remove the thermostat and the expansion valve? Once those components and hoses are removed then the condenser will lift out along with its black box

Did you remove the plastic air inlet plenum from under the RH side foot board in the cockpit?

[ljowdy]

I meant to say "Evaporator" and not condenser in regards to the unit in the smugglers box

[Carrerax]

Originally Posted by kuehl

Did you remove the plastic air inlet plenum from under the RH side foot board in the cockpit?

That was it! Thanks Guys!

[mthomas58]

Originally Posted by Carrerax

Guys, I have a stupid question. Im trying to get my ac unit out of the smugglers box on my 1970 and I cant. It is the factory one. I have taken off the lines on the drivers side and also unhooked the wiring. I also took off the mounting bolts. I cant see what is holding it in. I did a search and cant fing it. Thanks!!!!!

Part #9 fits inside 25. Take out 4 screws behind passenger footboard to remove it and the evaporator box will pull straight up and out. Be carefull not to break the plastic drain tube on the bottom of the box when removing it.

[Carrerax]

Thanks again guys. It was a big help. Im usually on Rennlist since I have a 993. now that Im starting to rebuild my 911t I need to hang out over here more!

[N758BB]

I've been following this thread for a while and now have a question. I am putting A/C on a car that didn't have it before. I bought a evaporator box to put in the smugglers box but where does the round hole in the bottom go? There is no hole in the body of the car to mate to the evaporator box hole. I know I can drill one, but does that go into the center tunnel? If it does, are there suppose to be vent holes in the tunnel near the back seat, or do i have to put them in? If you look at the post two back, I'm talking about #1a.

[kuehl]

Originally Posted by N758BB

I've been following this thread for a while and now have a question. I am putting A/C on a car that didn't have it before. I bought a evaporator box to put in the smugglers box but where does the round hole in the bottom go? There is no hole in the body of the car to mate to the evaporator box hole. I know I can drill one, but does that go into the center tunnel? If it does, are there suppose to be vent holes in the tunnel near the back seat, or do i have to put them in? If you look at the post two back, I'm talking about #1a.

Few Questions:
(i) Is your car LH or RH drive,
(ii) What is da body year?
(iii) Vat brand evaporator box did you buy: Behr, VPC or other ?


Assuming you wanted to place a Behr brand evaporator box in the car:
Below is a picture of atypical early narrowbody "smugglers box".
The green circle is around a steel cylinder which is welded to bottom of the well (you can dig through the parts schematics for PN). This cylinder or hollow stanchion butts up to the round hole in the LH side of the Behr brand evap box bottom.
This provides the path for air to be drawn from under the driver's or LH side foot board. Outlined in yellow : small yellow circle on the bottom of the well is for the condensation drain tube for the evap box, and the yellow trapezoid is for the passenger or RH side air inlet plenum which will draw air in from under the passenger or RH side foot board.
And if you were using the preferred Behr brand knee pad vent panel, which has three louvers on each side of the ashtray, you would bore a hole on the right side (looking at the picture) of the vertical drain tube through the firewall or bulkhead; naturally you will line things up to make these rather easy and fun mod's.

[mthomas58]

134a Data point update. 91 degrees today. At 5'oclock temp setting, got vent temps 34 degrees on commute home at med fan speed. On max cold got vent temps of 29 degrees.

[N758BB]

Thanks for the info. The car is a left hand drive 1978 911, and the evaporator box is a Behr. I already have the info on the yellow outlined items, its the green one i'm interested in. I'll have to look at it tonight, but you say it opens to behind the drivers side foot board. from memory that side is pretty well sealed by carpet except for around the pedals. That setup seems a little restrictive. Do you think there is an advantage to larger openings for the return air?

[crustychief]

I finished my AC upgrade about two months ago on my 79, I think I want that new fan now.

[PSJoyce]

The new fan is pretty great -- I'm very happy with mine.

I installed the Kuehl “Wirbelsturm” Evaporator Blower Motor this week. It is a very high quality and well thought out kit, backed up by incredible support. The original motor was squeaky, despite lubricating it. As the evaporator box was already open for an upgrade to the serpentine evaporator, the installation of the blower motor was easy. The Kuehl motor is much beefier than the original Bosch, so some modifications to the evaporator box fan platform (part #18 on the diagram above) are required. The included step-by-step instructions were very clear and easy to follow, and this part of the project took less than an hour.

In operation, the Wirbelsturm is silent and pushes substantially more air at all fan speeds. Somehow, the entire AC system feels a lot smoother. It is a very worthwhile upgrade for the original fan motor.

Paul

[khamul02]

Paul,
It looks like a pretty clean install. I used the retro air fan and was really happy with it. Does the Kuehl version get rid of the resistor pack under the passenger foot board?

[PSJoyce]

Yes, it is a very clean and straightforward install with no modifications to the stock wiring harness. This fan motor retains the stock resistor pack; it uses the original switch in the console and the new fan plugs into the car’s harness where the old fan did. The Kuehl variable speed fan controller, which Mark describes way back on page 8 of this thread, will allow you to get rid of the resistor pack.

Paul

[khamul02]

Paul,
Nice to know. The retro air fan gets rid of the resistor pack without the addtional expense of a new switch. They say loosing the pack allows a bit more flow but I'm sure it is irrelevant considering the amount of increased air these aftermarket fans pull.

Here are a couple links to some installs for the retro air evaporator fan upgrade:

RetroAir Evaporator Fan Install

Retro-Aire high ouput AC fan

[PSJoyce]

Obligatory completion of project, “thermometer stuck in the vent” photo. Ambient temp was 80° and humid. Cheating a little, this shot is at Fan 1, although Fan 2 was not bad at 34°. For a while, I thought this thermometer was broken and stuck at 50°…

Thanks for all your help, Griff – couldn’t have gotten this far without your help and patience.

Paul

[khamul02]

Very nice, where did you pick up that thermometer?

[kuehl]

Originally Posted by N758BB

T from memory that side is pretty well sealed by carpet except for around the pedals. That setup seems a little restrictive. Do you think there is an advantage to larger openings for the return air?

Actually your vents or lack of enough vents and/or side vent size is the restriction.

[Mike Andrew]

FINALLY, wrapped up my Rennaire installation yesterday. Unfortunately, I am only pulling about 35 degreees from the center vents. Today, I will be ordering a Kuehl Vent to bring more air to the business end of the cabin.
When I have some free time, my HVAC buddy & I will see ahat we can do to lower the vent temps a bit more but my black beast is actually cool enough to drive comfortably on warm days.
This just took way too long, for various reasons.

Anybody need a Desert Duty condensor at a very fair price?