My 74 2.0 has a complete, original, (of course it's not factory..even I know that )

The compressor turns on, the interior fan works, the condesor fan runs. It's all there, and I suspect it could be made to run with seals, hoses etc.

I am trying to decide if I should keep the AC in the car or not. I am moving slowly upt he performance/handling ladder, to start with shocks, sway bar, billet hubs, 911 disks etc. I want to auto-x some, having attended alocal novice day and gotten bit by the bug.

My dream is to one day install power by Jake.

I can live without the AC, and I hate the big hole in the front trunk where the condensor is installed. Course if I remove it, I gotta cover that hole....

I live in NC, yes it gets hot, but this is not a daily driver.

Just looking for opinions. What would you do?

And..does anybody want to buy an AC?

I will be installing heat and AC in my Chalon but it is not a daily driver, more of a street cruiser that moves pretty good. On a 4 cylinder car, I would think the loss of power would be a major drawback. I have never driven one with air so I dont know for sure. I do know, compressors put a lot of strain on the engine in most cars. The other drawback is retrofitting it to the new freon. The old stuff is too expensive and hard to get. I would remove it and fill the holes.

What do you want for it?

QUOTE (ClayPerrine @ May 12 2005, 10:19 AM)

What do you want for it?

There's your answer....................damn tejasans.

Clay,

I PM'd you.

Thanks

I got involved in this same debate recently. The consensus seems to be that if you replace the compressor with a new rotary style compressor that the drag is very minimal. (Although that was a point of contention on the posts, the people who were actually running A/C seemed to indicate that it was minimal.)

sanden compressors were mentioned.

It seems to me that alot depends on your climate and usage. If building an autocross car that you'll drive sometimes, then I'd say no.

If you're building a driver that you'll autocross sometimes, then I'd say enjoy the A/C, although I would get one of the new rotary compressors. That's what I'm planning to do with mine.

my 2 cents ................................that are sure to bashed to pieces by everyone who reads this!!!!!

Sanden SD508 & new mounts

The Sanden SD 508 axial compressor (it's not really a rotary) does not require a lot of torque and would be better than the old York compressor for a 914/4. The compressor part number for HFC-134a is now V4509. If you keep the R12 setup and do what you need to in order to fix the leaks, a good R12 replacement is Freeze 12. A buddy of mine just used this in his airplane A/C and he said it worked great on his trip to Mexico last weekend.

QUOTE (SLITS @ May 12 2005, 11:20 AM)

QUOTE (ClayPerrine @ May 12 2005, 10:19 AM) What do you want for it? There's your answer....................damn tejasans.

At least we still have some wide open spaces here.


Back to the AC content.. ICEAC in california has a kit that is an absoulte bolt on for the type IV engine. It will work in a 914. I have one. It uses a modern rotary compressor and will work great with R-134a.

I know, I just drove one with that kit not more than 20 minutes ago......

If the AC works, or takes little to get it working - keep it. That is a big job filling up all the holes. I had one with A/C but didn't work so I chucked it. I am slowly filling up the holes and the biggun on the trunk floor.

The other sucky thing about the A/C is the hole in the trunk, it really weakens up that structure. But I haven't heard of a tub falling apart because of it either.

In hindsight I would think twice about taking it out. Especially in your climate.

I took mine out and sold it for a decent chunk of change. After taking it out I had some pretty big holes in the trunk to fill nad I also had to replace one of the engine tins. The tin was cut up to make room for the compressor. Mine is not a daily driver and I didn't like the way it cluttered up the interior. Even with the A/C working, it wasn't very fun to drive in 100 degree heat.

You can go to my blog and see before and after pics of the front trunk.

I have A/C in my car but I had to disable it to make the front sway bar fit. So if you intend to drive it "aggressively" you may end up making the A/C inop regardless.

There is a local guy who is making a new AC kit for 914's. Initial goals of the project are:

a small rotary compressor that will mount completely below the engine tin, will not require hacking up the engine shelf and have a simple, easy to adjust belt tensioner.

custom evaporator unit will mount under dash and not require you to cut a stock height center console

won't require you to hack up the front trunk floor "too" bad and hopefully still be able to store spare tire in the front trunk well ala DPD system. I'm trying to talk him into an inner quarter panel mounted condenser like Griffith uses for their 911 AC upgrade.

The guy has been building and installing aircooled VW AC systems for years and knows what he's doing. My 73 2.0 may be the "photo model/ prototype" for the project.

I had a DPD system in my old daily driver 74 2.0 w/ single 2 bbl weber. It would almost get TOO cold, even on hella hot Florida summer days. It wasn't much of a load on the engine. One advantage was being able to defrost / defog the windows on wet days in a matter of seconds.

BTW, where is that old tech article about the diy 914-6 with AC?

QUOTE

I'm trying to talk him into an inner quarter panel mounted condenser like Griffith uses for their 911 AC upgrade

If this gets done, I'm the 2nd install! Rgds, Michael

Can I put in a sway bar with this AC?

Thx

I'd like to see pics of the custom under dash unit. I'm leaning towards the "original" wide unit, I prefer the way it looks over every after market one that I've seen.

Eric

I bought my car because it had AC, I would think that resell value would be higher if you kept it. My system has been converted to R-134 using a Sanden compressor and new hoses. It cools well and has very little drag.

On a side note, does anyone have a picture of the original compressor seals? I have the instructions that indicate that there was something installed around the compressor to seal it to the modified engine tins but it is missing on my car so a lot of hot air gets pulled up from the bottom of the motor.

Didn't the Dealers just use a sticky goo type seal?

Ive shred'ed about 4 so equiped cars and nary a one had such a seal remaining after 30 odd yrs. sticky or otherwise.
I dont get your comment about resale value. Once youve punched as many holes in the chassi as was required back then to install AC (on a Targa car ) dont expect to get anywhere near the same value as the exact same car w/o.

QUOTE (rdauenhauer @ May 17 2005, 11:54 AM)

Ive shred'ed about 4 so equiped cars and nary a one had such a seal remaining after 30 odd yrs. sticky or otherwise. I dont get your comment about resale value. Once youve punched as many holes in the chassi as was required back then to install AC (on a Targa car ) dont expect to get anywhere near the same value as the exact same car w/o.

Wouldn't that depend on the buyer? My next 914 (I will have two ) will have AC for those days that it is just to damn hot & muggy to drive with the top off the car.

And if I had my choice it would be a white & red (orange?) LE car, just to piss everyone off

QUOTE (914GT @ May 12 2005, 10:13 AM)

.... a good R12 replacement is Freeze 12. A buddy of mine just used this in his airplane A/C and he said it worked great on his trip to Mexico last weekend.

Freeze 12 is 80% 134a It is a blend, 80% HFC-134a and 20% HCFC-142b.

tom...

A/C is apersonal preference type of option, some love it, others will hate it.

I bought my first 914 7 years ago, a 74 2.0, in which the PO had installed a VPC unit. At the time I bought the car, the compressor was not working so I was considering repairing it.

I never did! I found that even in St. Louis where day time temperatures in the summers can get to 100+ with 85% humidity, just having the top off was enough for me. I never used it, never missed not having it.

On a side note, possibly due to how the PO had the A/C installed, the foward passenger floor began to rust thru from
an un-detected leak around one of the hoses feeding the
under dash unit.

QUOTE (Tom73 @ May 17 2005, 03:25 PM)

QUOTE (914GT @ May 12 2005, 10:13 AM) .... a good R12 replacement is Freeze 12. A buddy of mine just used this in his airplane A/C and he said it worked great on his trip to Mexico last weekend. Freeze 12 is 80% 134a It is a blend, 80% HFC-134a and 20% HCFC-142b. tom...

Apparently this blend worked out well as he did not see the high side pressures found with 134a.