Emerald,

Please check my A/C posts.

Good luck,

Gerry

chocolatelab, is that an aftermarket A/C on your car ? I think the factory a/c has the evaporator parallel with the floor of the car and the fan on top. My VWP system has the evaporator vertical like yours and the fan is sideways. Are you missing the fan and evaporator enclosure?

I have the Griffith system. I had my front and rear condensers pressure tested and re-used them. My kit came with new barrier hoses, condenser new Footwell fan, evaporator and compressor.

I also added a 3rd condenser with a fan under the left rear wheel well per the Griffith kit. I went with R-12 although it's more expensive as it cools better than 134. Originally, I had the dealer installed AC knee pad vents. Once I replaced that with a Factory unit. The air actually was more directed and worked much better.

It's been in the triple digits in Ontario, Calif. and the air keep's me nice and cool.

In conclusion, I am very happy with the Griffith kit and highly recommend it.

Emerald,

You'll have to work at those mistakes to come up with new ones, because we've already beat ya to it... The mechanics of it are pretty easy, I left the evacuation and the charging to professionals. However there are members on this board that really know their PSI's so ask away...

If you want A/C, this is one rewarding project...

I too left my evacuation and charging to a Pro - mthomas58 helped me with this last weekend and I could not be happier.

I added new barrier hoses, new evap coil (RennAire) - 1 year old Griffiths front condenser that I bought from Mark and a ProCooler. I also switched to 134a.
I am very happy to say that I am getting vent temps in the low 30's in Atlanta during the summer!

Thanks guys. I am actually looking forward to getting started later this week. I have read everything I could get my hands on. There is a wealth of info using the search feature. It is less daunting since others have done it before. I'll try and only make new mistakes.:D

Cheers,
Emerald

changing hoses
 

I had read on this forum and confirmed it with my local AC guy who has had extensive experience changing 911's from R12 to 134 that the original hoses eventually "plug up" from the oil used with the R12 and no longer leak. He has advised me to keep the original hoses in place and try charging the system with R134 and a new receiver/ dryer first to see how it fares (after flushing the old oil and adding the R134 compatible oil)
Planning on taking this route, once the weather here heats up!
Just my $0.02

John, your local A/C guy's advice runs contrary to every Porsche A/C expert on this forum. 20-year old OEM hoses should replaced with barrier hose when converting to 134a.

rs targa

The ac was installed once it arrived inthe us back in 78. Guess that mean its aftermarket.

I have the fan ect out of the car right now while i poke around down there.

mthomas58
Mark,
Below is the quote I pasted from the post:
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/showthread.php?threadid=162544&perpage=20&highligh t=subcooler&pagenumber=2
that caused me to consider leaving the original hoses in place.
Jim Sims seems to know what he's talking about in many A/C threads...again, just my $0.02...I'm certainly no expert on A/C systems...


Originally posted by Jim Sims
If an R-12 system was leak tight except for a compressor, condensor, etc. and the hose is in good shape I do not recommend changing out the non-barrier hose when converting to 134a. The mineral oil used with R-12 systems coated the interior of the non-barrier hose and greatly reduces permeation through it. Since mineral oil and R-134a refrierant are not miscible the oil stays in place on the interior of the hose continuing to slow down permeation.

It does seem that you could use your old hoses. I would just make sure everything is flushed well, and that a good leak test is done. I felt that while I was replacing the other parts, I wanted the piece of mind of new hoses. I don't want to be redoing this project later. There always seems to be another project waiting.:)

Cheers,
Emerald

e3photo, good luck with your project as Mitch Leland said this is not all that difficult - just time consuming and dirty. You get 20 years of accumulated crud falling on you while you're pulling the old hoses out. One piece of advice - take a hard look at your evaporator fan/motor to make sure it's good shape. The last thing you want is to get everything installed and the system charged only to have the fan start squealing shortly after. Ask me how I know.

Good point Barrpete. I will give things a thorough inspection.

Cheers,
Emerald

Well, then I stand corrected. Jim was one of the experts I was referring to and I had not remembered this post although I do recall the thread. Note that his qualifier is that the old R12 hoses have passed a leak test. I'd still replace the 20 year hoses for peace of mind. Obviously your project & your call. One thing for sure is that you get a lot of opinions here often conflicting with each other and you've got to use your own judgement, budget constraints, etc.

...and it most crtainly is about the budget
 

Mark,
I agree their are lots of conflicting opinions...and in the end it comes down to the individual's call and bang for the buck.
In that light, my logic and pocketbook says if the system is tight, why spend the time and $ on replacing the hoses if you don't have to.
I'd always come away from these A/C threads concluding that additional condensor area or better heat transfer across the condensors and evaporators was the primary area needing attention on these systems.
With the cost of aftermarket A/C hardware, I'd add condensor area first and see if the hoses hold; if they don't then replace...you'll still need the condensors...you are out however the cost of another evac/ charge.
Replacing it all at once, you'll never know if you really needed the hose
If money is no object, than yes, replace the 20 year old rubber now.
Again, thoughts nobody asked for...just my ranting....

Excuse me for jumping in but E3Photo, I see your in the Nashville area, I"m out in Lebanon and have an 86 911 Turbo (930), 12,000 miles (I know I need to drive it more) but I need to decide on my Air options, I think a good charge is all I need but I don't know any Independent Porsche shops in the area have you run across any?

Were new to the Nashville area, moved here in 2004 and I"m now just getting the car out again.... don't ask , it's a long story :-) Anyway drop me a note perhaps you can give me some pointers.

No... I did not die. It just seems like things got in the way. I guess that is life. I also got distracted.
Well I got the a/c install complete. It turns out that, as many have said, it was not difficult, just tedious. I found out that no matter how clean you think the under carriage is, you will end up with a face full.:D
The hose removal/re-install was the slowest part. The fittings want to hang up. I found that I would see which way the hose would move easiest, then cut off the other end, butt the new hose up to it and duck tape them together. Pulling the old hose out pulls in the new hose. This was an adaptation of a recommendation to use string.
I also learned to wrap the evaporator tightly with the foil wrap. It is a tight fit getting it back in. The other hang up wa with the replacement compressor. I used a Sanden on my 88, and with the fittings on top, the deck lid will not close. I rotated the compressor 90* clockwise and all is well. I thought it went very well and it feels great to ahve to turn the a/c down because it is too cold.
I did the install, then took it to a local shop for the evac and charging.
While I had the car on jack stands I decided to strip mu Fuchs. Polished looks better than black on my car, and I know, now I need some pics of the wheels. That is also a relatively easy project using aircraft stripper.
The other distraction was that I ran across a good deal on a 97 Varioram 3.6, but we will save that for another thread:D
I could not have done it without info from those who had gone before me, especially mthomas58
http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/397009-c-upgrade-project-starts-tomorrow.html
davidki... sorry for the lapse. I will PM you. Welcome to the forum and area.Maybe e can get together sometime.

Cheers,
Emerald

I was a proud moment for me when my wife said she was cold in the 911 when it was triple digits outside. Welcome to the good A/C club :)

Glad to hear that you're up and running with good results! As to those who have gone before us, that's the beauty of this Forum. All things A/C here in the Ultimate A/C Thread:

http://forums.pelicanparts.com/porsche-911-technical-forum/364796-ultimate-ac-thread.html

David,
I'm around Nashville as well. I did my own Sanden conversion and must say, its not difficult at all.

I originally knew nothing about charging R12, but gave it a go anyway. I bought $120 worth of R12 after it was all said and done, but wasted every bit of it (environmentalists fire away: complete accident, and the reason why non-trained people shoulding be touching the stuff...)

anyway, I didn't realize how the Schrader valve worked at first on the York compressor (3 cans wasted).

so, I was getting negative pressure on the low side, and did some research and found it could be the expansion valve. So I changed it. Turned out wasn't needed, as stil had negative pressure and therefore unable to charge.

I then learned how to charge in the liquid state via the high side: this got the compressor working, but it shook violently after a while and was toast (would have been find if I hadn't messed so much with it over the course of 3 weeks).

So end the end, heres what I did: bought a Sanden 507 compressor & new drier. Rented a vacuum from autozone. Replaced the compressor (super easy), replaced the drier (super easy), then pulled a vacuum for about an hour I believe. The compressor came with mineral oil, so I had drained that out and refilled with PAG. Charged up with 134a, and have been going every since.

Is the air cold? Out of the vent, yes. Problem is lack of air flow from the blower. Thats an upgrade for the spring.