Retro-Aire high ouput AC fan

[mnmasotto]

Has anyone installed a Retro-aire high output evaporator fan on their car? My stock fan motor needs replacing and I am thinking of upgrading to the Retro-air unit. I am curious how good it works(i.e. how much better than stock) and how was the install process. I did a search but did not find much. By the way I have a Rennaire AC system already installed.

[niner11]

I have one on the way so at some point I'll post some pics of the install. Sorry that I can't be of more help

[drm05]

I installed one on my 72T, same evaporator as installed thru the 80’s 911s. This was a very straight forward upgrade.

Earlier 911’s had the fan speed resistor built into the switch, later 911's had the resistor unit in the lower A/C air intake.

Saying that the fan switch will need to be replaced with a new 4 postion switch, (H,M,L,Off). Some basic wiring changes will be needed as well. Rock has the switches
($10-15) as will.

You use the same stock blower cage, it all bolts up just fine.. Only thing is, make you take special care to adjust and secure the blower cage and new motor mount..(It’s a little different then stock and uses a 3” hose clamp on the mount to hold the motor in place) Do some tests before you button it all up to be sure of the clearances.

Great air upgrade, in my case anyway.

[drm05]

Sorry I went off on a tangent.
I have the new evaporator replacement core from Ron at Rennaire and fit was just fine. I also purchased a complete A/C kit complete with front desert duty condenser. (see install pictures)

As to the other topic this was for a blower upgrade kit from Retro-Air.
Here’s a link, the blower kit is at the bottom of the page.
- http://www.mrjaguar.com/porsche/porsche911carreraac.html

[Mysterytrain]

I was looking at the front condenser picture that Dan posted and can't help but wonder why there is no seal between the body and the condenser so that all the blower air is forced down thru the fins? Actually what Rennair needs to come up with is an upgraded condenser fan..now that would be very cool!

[aj88cab]

mnmasotto - I couldn't help but notice that your car is an '87 and the upgraded blower is only offered for '74 - '85 cars. It is specifically not included in the '87-'89 upgrade kit. So you might not be able to use it anyway.

[mnmasotto]

Thanks I did not know that!!!!!!!
Mark

[kuehl]

I wonder how many rpm's faster this motor will spin the stock fan?

Originally Posted by mnmasotto

Has anyone installed a Retro-aire high output evaporator fan on their car? My stock fan motor needs replacing and I am thinking of upgrading to the Retro-air unit. I am curious how good it works(i.e. how much better than stock) and how was the install process. I did a search but did not find much. By the way I have a Rennaire AC system already installed.

[peppy]

Originally Posted by drm05

Sorry I went off on a tangent.
I have the new evaporator replacement core from Ron at Rennaire and fit was just fine. I also purchased a complete A/C kit complete with front desert duty condenser. (see install pictures)

As to the other topic this was for a blower upgrade kit from Retro-Air.
Here’s a link, the blower kit is at the bottom of the page.
- http://www.mrjaguar.com/porsche/porsche911carreraac.html

I really hope that this install was part of something more drastic.

Do you need to remove the fender and the door to do this.

[khamul02]

Peppy,
I was thinking he just wanted a clean install

PS you do not have to remove the fender to install any of these upgrades.

[kuehl]

I was thinking about the photography; good white balance, nice contrasts especially with the dark tones.

[peppy]

Thanks Tom.

[drm05]

This was a total restore project.. As I live in Texas I wanted the best A/C I could come up with.

This is what I started with about 3 years ago..




You could do this install by only removing the fender but not required... Leaving in place would be a tight work envronment. If the fender was left on I guess you could secure all the Procooler end hoses then mount it.

[drm05]

Mark,

If you haven't already you may want to talk to Rock at Retro-aire on your application. Mine was a 72 but the evaporator configuration was the same and it fit just fine.

Looking at the PET listing the 87 evaporator seems to be the same confguration.. May only require some different wiring changes to run the 3 speed motor.

Anyway good luck on your A/C upgade work..

[scottc]

I recently installed this fan upgrade. I did not make any accurate measurement of the air flow rate but I did bench test three evaporator box/fan set ups for a seat of the pants test (actually it was an in your face test). I tested an original Behr evap box and stock fan, a Behr evap unit with the RetroAir fan upgrade and also an old '70s Kcool aftermarket evap box and fan. The Kcool clearly put out the most air on its high setting and probably more on the other two lower speeds as well. The Retro air was close to the Kcool fan and well ahead of the stock Behr fan. So if you are looking to upgrade or replace the stock Behr unit the RertroAir fan motor seems like a good step.

A side note on the Kcool unit.
Its fan motor is physically the same size as the RetroAir motor (so presumable has similar power) and also has internally variable speed which does away with the large resister bank that mounts in the air return from the cabin to the evap. These resistors are presumably mounted there for the air flow's cooling effect. So their removal (ala Retro Air's fan upgrade) will both improve return airflow and lower the evap return air temperature; both positive things. The squirrel cage fan of the Kcool is about 10% larger in diameter than the stock Behr unit. The outlet from the Kcool evap box is also about 20% larger in cross sectional area than the Behr outlet. I attribute these last two things to the edge that the Kcool blower has over even the Retro Air upgrade. I would have gladly used the Kcool evap box but could not find an modern evaporater core (actually I could not even find an old fashioned core) to fit it. So I had to compromise by going the middle road. I did try to fit the Kcool squirrel cage fan to the Behr evap box but it would take significant fabrication to make this work.

I am doing this retrofit to a 1973 911 as part of a full restoration. I will attach a photo of Retro Air fan upgrade installed into the Behr housing.

I hope this helps.

Scott

[CrossT]

Does anyone know if they have a blower upgrade kit that would work for 87 - 89? Their website doesn't seem to say so. I've sent them an email with the same question. I'll post answer but maybe someone else has already asked. My 89's fan motor has started to squeal and so, maybe this is an option for its replacement.

thx

todd
89 targa

[CrossT]

An answer from them on 86 - 89 application. Not the answer I was hoping for. Oh well.

Hi Todd,
Unfortunately, our unit does not fit the '86-'89 cars, but we are attempting to Do some R&D on that problem in the near future. Thanks for thinking of us.

Regards,

Rock Browning
RetroAir /Mr Jaguar.Com
www.retroair.com
rockb@retroair.com