930 AC upgrade
 

Hello
Is it worth upgrading the AC system on a early 3.3 930, or do they all go bad in a relatively short time?
Currently it has the old York compressor, thinking of upgrading to r134a refrigerant

Does it hurt the value of the car if i upgrade the ac?

The original parts on these cars were not very good to start with so you must use the latest technology in evaporator and condenser design along with new barrier hoses and a modern compressor running r134a. From my experience with these upgraded parts and only one condenser with a fan you can have really cold a/c.

I think upgrading the a/c will increase the value.

I have no idea if it will increase or decrease the value Depends on the buyer
However it does make the car alot more pleasant to drive
I have the complete Griffith system on my 930 and it is worth more then I paid for the system
( About 5K) You can actually drive the car and enjoy it

The "originalists" will squawk about your car not having crusty faded red A/C lines and ask where your 25 lb York compressor is, if that's important. Me? I like to drive my car all year 'round, so i ripped all that crap out and put in a Griffiths system.

I keep reading that most shops just replace the condensers and ac lines, when doing the conversion that will eventually work crappy again

To do it right, need to remove the dash and donthe vent upgrades as well.

Seems like alot ot $$ and little guarantee

You don't have to remove the dash. Your early 930 has a good enough blower, if it's up to spec.

But you will want to replace the compressor, both the under-nose and half-bay condensers, hoses, receiver/dryer, and evaporator/expansion valve. If you lived further south you'd need at least one more condenser in the left rear wheel well.

The modern hoses will hold a charge for years, and the modern condensers and evaporators are lots more efficient than what was available in 1978. Box up the other stuff and put it on the back shelf, you'll be glad to be rid of it.

Just addressing the 'value' of having good working AC; brands I'll put aside.

1) When a client calls us and asks our opinion about adding AC (in this case reliable and robust) to a car they are considering buying that does not have any AC (meaning never in its life time). We typically suggest they keep shopping for a car that already has AC and upgrade it. Why? Well first there are the labor hours. Typically for a 911/912/930 air cooled, it generally takes about 40 hours to install a reliable and robust system in a car that never had it. We typically provide only the new parts we show on our website.
Things like missing 2 groove crank pulley's, AC wire harnesses, vent plenums, complete evap boxes we suggest they source 'good used' at the known Porsche Salvage yards. Naturally that takes time and money. For a car with existing AC the labor is generally around 25 hours. But, when you find a 'bargain' clean air cooled that never had AC, well sometimes the 'condition' of things like paint and interior are simply hard not to pass up considering the cost to strip or repaint a car and have new leather put in. So, it can become a personal choice of sorts.

2) Now, let's assume you have a 911 or 930 already upgraded with reliable and robust working AC, and you decide to put your car up for sale. And, not far way there is an identical car like your car and it does not have the AC system yours's does. A potential buyer test drives your car and naturally gets a chance to test your AC system. Then this buyer tests the other car without great AC. Which car do you think an educated buyer is going to come back to?

^^^^
So I was this client many years ago who had just purchased a really nice SC Turbo that had never had A/C. I contacted Griffith since he was the man for ac help. Sorry he said, we can't help you. The next step was to find used parts like he suggested and cobble something together but after a little research I learned that the old parts weren't any good to start with. I learned that to make an a/c work in one of these cars you needed the most recent design evaporator, condenser, hoses and compressor. My choice at the time was retroair because they actually had a kit for a 911 that came without an a/c, and also said their parts were state of the art. That company is no longer in business but I think there is still a source for this type of a system. I installed this myself, 10 years ago, with only 1 condenser with a fan mounted under the lid. I get very cold air on the hottest West Texas days. My old post is: http://forums.pelicanparts.com/911-930-turbo-super-charging-forum/842475-retroair-complete-system-my-non-c-car.html

Well, unfortunately at times we can't help, could be what's on the plate that day .
However, glad you found a solution.
I see you got a classic Weston Thermometer.
Weston was one of my Alma Maters.
I worked with a group to outsource their nearly 100 years of creative manufacturing processes
when they downsized their Newark, NJ operation.
Doc Weston was quite an inventor; he perfected the lightbulb, Edison's PR work sold it.
Don't know what happened with Ron's efforts though.

I'd strongly consider electric A/C if the car has never had A/C installed or it has been completely removed.