Air Conditioning 'Restification' Advice

[ssn696]

I have not yet found a competent shop in my area that will take on heavy mod work. I swapped in a reverse flow serpentine accessory drive kit from a 1990 Caprice into my 1980 Malibu. I retrofitted an A/C evaporator box in place of the heater, and now I need to figure out what else needs advance planning to put A/C into this car.
Before I fill the radiator, I'd like to put an A/C condenser in front of the radiator. It looks like the Caprice condenser will work with the passenger side of the radiator support. The major hurdle will be finding hoses. I suspect at least one pipe will need fabrication. I hear good things about Sanden compressors, but for now I am just trying to make the R4 compressor work.

Has anybody attempted this? Advice?

 

[L.A.X-RATED]

I sell these serpentine set-ups utilizing the 87-90 fbody /bbody components.DONE (blasted,prepped,and topcoated)---375.23 shipped,OR bare---278.94.I also sell them with everting to run/convert ac.you will need hoses from a 4.3 Tbi vehicle,condenser from a fbody,or the caprice that you have the lines would be found on mid 80s cutty/regal.I have all nessasary components to get your account up and going---85.00 and that will include hardlines,and hoses.pm me if interested.is that the fan clutch from the donor bbody? Unless you plan on using electronic fans you will need the bbody fan clutch as well.

 

[ssn696]

Jose,

Thanks for the reply. I have a two systems with R12 still in them, one from the 1990 Caprice, but it's pretty beaten and might not be a good swap candidate. I would love to find a competent shop to finish the job if you know one in the 505. The part I might still need is the return line between the drier and the evaporator.

 

[Texas82GP]

When I got my GP, it had the SBC g-body front accessory drive with the R4 compressor on the driver's side. I will be putting it back together with the Chevrolet Performance serpentine front accessory drive which I think is from a third gen. Camaro. It looks very similar or the same as what you have. I have a Cutlass condenser which puts the connections on the passenger side. I went with a Cutlass manifold hose assembly. I sourced a Cutlass liquid line from a member on here. I'm using the stock GP evaporator case, etc., just putting in a new heater core and a new evaporator core. I found a good used B-body reverse rotation fan blade at a local salvage yard and found a new old stock fan clutch. I think that's about everything to complete the swap. The Cutlass hose assembly has an integral muffler which is a little bulky. It doesn't bother me. I've seen the third gen. Camaro hose assembly used online. Another option is to build custom hoses. Vintage Air sells all the fittings and bulk hose. You can mock everything up and then find someone local to crimp the ends.

 

[clean8485]

When I did the serpentine swap on my '84 Monte, I did it very similar to how Texas82GP did his. I sourced a complete serpentine setup from an '88 Firebird. I used the suction/discharge hose assembly from the Firebird and the return line from the Firebird, just rebent them very gently to make them fit the G body. I used a Cutlass condenser, because the outlets are on the passenger's side. After I had the system charged, I found that the front seal on the Firebird compressor leaks, so I have to fix that, but the system worked great until the refrigerant leaked out. Hope this helps.

 

[ssn696]

I took the advice I found here and ordered a condenser, refrigerant hose, and dryer for a Cutlass. The Caprice bits I've been hoarding for years? Well, the condenser is too wide to fit the mounts in the radiator support. I researched the details on the compressor outlets, and Camaro and Cutlass compressors appear to use the same O-ring part numbers, so the hose looks like it bolts on. Glad to hear that the 'muffler' on the refrigerant line seems to fit with the Camaro serpentine setup. I'll need to locate a good used Cutlass refrigerant return hard line for between the evaporator and condenser, or see if I can have one fabricated. I found more R-12 locally on Craigslist, if I can there first. Just need to find a shop that can clean, pump down, leak check and fill my system once I get to that point.

 

[Ribbedroof]

Just curious as to why you are retaining R12.

I plan on going to R134a on the LT swap, using a late C4 Vette parallel flow condensor, as the B body donor stuff is too wide for the Malibu. I used 134 in my old coupe, and the only real complaint I had was low airflow at idle which was more of an electrical issue (blower fan speed) than an A/C issue. I found that after cleaning and resealing all the ductwork during the dash replacement, the system worked very well, better than many retrofits I had been in.

I should add that I am not a proponent of changing a working R12 system to 134, but it makes more $$ sense if the system needs major component replacement....IMO

 

[ssn696]

All my research indicates that R12 provides more cooling. If I'm going to the expense to retrofit cold air to my coupe, and there's R-12 in the wagon now, I just need to gather those last few cans. The stuff keeps showing up on Craigslist. Talk about 'new old stock'. Just have to not get there second...

 

[Ribbedroof]

I just hate that the people that have R12 on hand think it's gold-plated. I was fortunate to discover that a shop around the corner from my work has a sizeable collection of R12 cans, bought a couple for kid's Jeep at $15/can....vs the $30+ that CL sellers here seem to think it's worth.

Not a LOT of demand for it anymore, especially given that the last year of OE installations was 1993.

A lot of the poor performance issues from old car 134 conversions hinge on the condensor...using the non-parallel design is not going to give optimum results.

Previously-mentioned coupe conversion gave center duct temps as low as 38* at highway speed in Okla summers...wife complained that it was too cold on high....but I think this was an exceptional case and not the norm.

Sure miss the days of dropping by the Kmart and buying R12 for 77 cents a can.

 

[84cutspreme]

I am using serpentine belt system. I used v6 cutlass condenser with pass side connections. used original hard line and found company called old aire products that had all fittings I needed. hope these pics help you