Sacrilidge - aircon on a series!

[greenmeanie]

Ok gents I know I’m going to get grief for this but I want to mount aircon in my new 67 6 cyl SW. I live in Phoenix and this will be a family vehicle so my wife has made aircon a condition of purchase. It's hot as the hubs of hell here in the summer and apparently I smell bad enough without being sweaty all the time too.


I am thinking something along the lines of this:
Vintage air EVO or Super cooler space saver system slotted in whatever space is under the front passenger seat (What is under there on a 109 SW?) using a duct feeding into a modified center console. I would put in a plate and some baffles in the bottom of the console to create a plenum that would blow air through added eyeball vents to the front or rear passengers. I’ve got a Chevy 292 pushing her along so power should not be too big an issue for aircon too. Well that’s the eyeball design before I have even seen the thing.

Does anyone have details of having done something similar? I know that many moons ago someone posted some information about a truck with aircon but I think that was pre forum format change so I can’t find it.

Just so I can still claim my series manliness I still have a ‘71IIA 88 with a normal roof and a 101 when I really want to fry my nu!s

Ok, I got my flame suit on. Let the beating commence.

Cheers
Gregor

[jp-]

FYI

[KingSlug]

LR did do some aftermarket add-ons of AC. One version had a big bump on the hood, Marshall and Santana did some on ambulances and special vehicles. The are pics somewhere on the web.

Jared

[yorker]

"But it is a dry heat!?"


AC was fitted to LRs back in the 1960's

http://www.landrover.vlothuizen.nl/show/list/7042-1.html

It shouldn't be too hard to put something together. AC systems are really pretty simple.

http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/

http://www.vintageair.com/

http://www.classicautoair.com/

I think East Coast Rover has installed AC on some of their Series LR projects back in the day.

With your 292 you can probably find mounts etc off of the later Chevrolet pick up trucks.

[thixon]

No beating from me. I live in GA. Its hot here as well.

I've put two vintage air kits in other trucks (1 jeep, 1 scout). The jeep was an old full size cherokee that did'nt come with AC. VA makes a great product. You'll be happy with it (though they are a bit pricey).

Your ducting idea sounds good. The unit itself isnt that big. It will also heat and cool, so you could bag the heater in the truck now, and replace it with the VA unit (its no more than two feet in length if I recall, and 6 or 8 inches in height and depth.). Good luck, it should be a good upgrade.

[adkrover]

I've been looking into the exact same idea. Under the front passenger seat of mine is a lot of nothing. I so far have not been able to find a unit that will fit easily because there is less than 8" of height from the seat frame to the truck frame and most of the heat/cool units need at least 8". The box is also not quite long enough for most of the units that tend to be around 24" long without having to modify the parking brake linkage. The only thing I have found that will definitely fit is an under dash unit that does cool only. They are not designed for ducting so I was considering cutting out the front of the seat frame and fitting it like a car stereo.

The things I've found to keep in mind are that the seat frame needs to be removed for major service to the clutch and gearbox so you wouldn't want to pull the AC unit everytime you had to work on the gearbox. You would want to install it so that the seat frame and floors could be pulled without disconnecting the refrigerant lines.

The bottom of the seat box on the passenger side is completely exposed to the elements so it would have to be sealed tightly. Also, the AC unit needs to draw warm air from the interior so I was looking at adding a floor panel similar to the driver's side. That way, I wouldn't have to worry about the road spray or make up air. I could just set the unit under the seat on the floor and cut out the front and back of the seat box. Warm air in the back, cold air out the front. Again, that floor would have to be a permanent piece so you can still pull the other floors and seat box for gear servicing.

I have a new Mt. Mansfield heater (from Rover's North) installed in my truck so heat is not an issue for the front seats but I would also like to have ducts for rear heat. The Mt. Mansfield does put out plenty of heat to warm the rear passengers but the front passengers get really heated up. Ducting would make it more balanced.

Let me know what you end up with and I'll be happy to share where I go with it. I too have a wife that made it a condition of purchase. We are in the Adirondack Mountains so the heat isn't as much of a problem as the bugs. Opening the windows lets plenty of little biting and blood sucking creatures in.

Then the question of will it work very well to have the air all blowing at the passenger's feet. To get cold air to the rear seat might make icicles in the front seat. My other evolution is to ceiling mount an underdash unit above the back door, blowing forward. Not sure if the fans could push the air all the way up front with any efficiency but it could be an idea. The under dash units are common from all of the manufacturers and measure about 16" wide x 6" high x 10" deep.

[adkrover]

Here is a cool only unit that will definitely fit.

http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/parts/id250-indash-evaporator-unit-air-only-101.html

[adkrover]

Here is a cool and heat unit that will definitely fit. I called the company and the cooling is 14,000 btu's and 190 cfm on the fan. Same as the ID-250

http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/parts/id255-heat-air-indash-evaporator-unit-102.html

[greenmeanie]

adkrover,
That's the kind of info I'm looking for. I'm still waiting for my truck to get here sometime next month before I can make some measurements. I had wondered if there was a tool box similar to the drives side under there. If not it open's the possibilty of building an enclosure under the seat box specially to mount it.

I am also looking at ducting from front ot the rear of the truck purely because my malamute likes her cool air too. If I can find the right unit I would consider replacing the heater in the OEM position but I think it's a rather odd shape to fit something into.

I fear the next few weks are going to pass very slowly for me.

Cheers
Gregor

[thixon]

Gregor,

Anytime you drag home a new project, you need to make a budgetary allowance for what I like to call "spousal appeasement."

If you buy a new truck, she gets a new watch. You get the picture.

This works in two ways. In the near term, you get an unlimited amount of time to spend with the new project, without the usual complaints. In the long term, you won't catch flack for projects down the road, because she knows what happens when you drag a new one home.

Now here's the beutiful part of this strategy. You don't need to go tit-for-tat. Just because you spend 8K on a new project doesn't mean you have to buy her a rolex!

Good luck!

[greenmeanie]

Ah yes, the spousal appeasement.

You might say this truck is her spousal appeasement to me. You see she has a bit of making up to do for we were supposed to have gone on a very, very nice expensive week up in Whistler snowboarding a few weeks ago. That is until, two days before we were to depart, she discovered she had let her passport expire so we had to cancel everything, fortunately without too much finaincial loss.

Needless to say having a strong relationship and being the loving husband I am, I smiled, took it very calmly, comforted her in her distress and went out and bought a new project. We are now about even and are going to spend next week up in Tahoe instead. Life is hard and I expect to pay for it sometime in the future when she isn't so embarassed. By that time I expect to have a very nice truck though!

Cheers
Gregor

[LaneRover]

Aircon in a Series truck?

Sounds more like sacreliscious!

I have driven my 65 109 in Arizona in August without aircon - it SUCKS.

A friend that works on hot rods said, if he can get aircon into the footwells of a Model A hotrod he is pretty sure that a system could be found to fit an old series Rover.

Brent

[thixon]

Reverse spousal appeasement. I like it! Already a jedi are you (to be read in yoda voice).

Nice job. Have fun in Tahoe. Whistlers cool, but you can have just as much fun in cali

[leedr]

Gregor,

Anytime you drag home a new project, you need to make a budgetary allowance for what I like to call "spousal appeasement."

If you buy a new truck, she gets a new watch. You get the picture.

This works in two ways. In the near term, you get an unlimited amount of time to spend with the new project, without the usual complaints. In the long term, you won't catch flack for projects down the road, because she knows what happens when you drag a new one home.

Now here's the beutiful part of this strategy. You don't need to go tit-for-tat. Just because you spend 8K on a new project doesn't mean you have to buy her a rolex!

Good luck!

yeah its called the fair hobbies act....invented and adopted without discussion everywhere.

[Saxondog]

Our SIII 109 wagon is her appeasement! In order to get her to leave me alone on the weekends to restore my old Dodge truck, I had to agree to do a custom for her. She found and bought the Rover with my knowledge. She want's me to make it as comfortable and driveable as possible. A/C, auto trans, disc brakes, full interior, the whole modern SUV nine yards. Initially I was all for it, but after running to the parts store and doing some light off roading, I'm having second thoughts.I kinda like it the way it is, with all it's shortcomings. Now i'm afaid i'll have to find another one for me and I'll have to appease her again!! It's all a viscious cycle AARRGH!!!