After Market A/C for Series IIA

[Regan]

I am considering adding an aftermarket A/C for my 67 LR. Still have a 7.1 engine, equiped with new overdrive and does around 60 highway. It is just HOT 80% of the time down in South LA. Has anyone had any success in adding an aftermarket A/C unit? It looks like it can be done with today's tech. A small Sanden compressor looks to work. My issue looks to be with the evaporator and no room to mount under dash.

Just looking to see if anyone else has had any success(or not) in adding one of these kits to an older LR.
Thanks, Jeff

[scott]

7.1 engine?

i haven't done it but i heard of a guy mounting the evap under the seat in the storage box

[thixon]

Scott, he meant a 7.1 compression engine.

Regan, see this link, its got some good info. http://www.landroversonly.com/forums/f7/series-2a-109-air-conditioning-40552/

Most people that add A/C do so along with an engine conversion. Greenmeanie is on the verge of finishing one. With the 2.25 it'll slow down an already slow truck. It's also gonna get messy figuring out where to put the evap, and routing everything, particularly if you intend on keeping a heater.

Good luck.

[spacemutt]

I believe the conversion 'back in the day' utilised a roof mounted A/C unit.

[scott]

thanks thix, i thought he had some huge 7.1 liter V12 or something in there.

i know this doesn't help you folks living in muggyville but out here where the average humidity is about 15% i'm planning on a 2nd windscreen washer system that aims at the bug screens when my vents are open.

[Regan]

Hey, thanks, interesting article. I will have to research some more to figure out if any possiblity. I have also taken pics and sent to Nostalgic air conditions aftermarket, no response yet. If it does not work, I'll just live with it. Thanks again, Jeff

[LR Max]

I'd think the biggest concern would be adding the compressor. The series engine doesn't lend itself to adding extras onto the engine very well (adding my power steering pump on was a pain!).

Considering you live in a non mountainous place, I'd think there wouldn't be too much power robbed from the engine.

Otherwise you need a condenser, evaporator, valve, a fan and some ducting!

[spacemutt]

Jack Jackson's Off Road and Four Wheel Drive book mentions after-market roof mount a/c units. I will dig it out and see what it says.

I plan on going down that route with the 130.

I don't really think there is enough room in the Series to fit it all in discretely.

[Donnie]

I am considering adding an aftermarket A/C for my 67 LR. Still have a 7.1 engine, equiped with new overdrive and does around 60 highway. It is just HOT 80% of the time down in South LA. Has anyone had any success in adding an aftermarket A/C unit? It looks like it can be done with today's tech. A small Sanden compressor looks to work. My issue looks to be with the evaporator and no room to mount under dash.

Just looking to see if anyone else has had any success(or not) in adding one of these kits to an older LR.
Thanks, Jeff
I have some small aftermarket evaporator's...........in storage, I'll check, measure, & report back.........may take a few day's.......Donnie

[Linus Tremaine]

http://www.expeditionlandrover.info/Dormobile/other.html

[Apis Mellifera]

Let me suggest another option:

I've just finished building a small, portable A/C that runs on 12VDC. Here it is in my MGA:
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v307/dandomatic2/MGA/DSC02272.jpg
http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v307/dandomatic2/MGA/DSC02273.jpg

It was about $100 to build. It uses a bilge pump to circulate ice water through a heater core. A bilge blower circulates air through the heater core. Works great and can be moved from vehicle to vehicle.

[Nium]

Apis Mellifera, that is a most beautiful piece of MacGyvering that I've ever seen! Love it! :D

[roverlandpark]

Agreed. Heck, you should post your build log on instructables.com.

[thixon]

Apis,

you rule. That is an inspiration. You can cool your car, and your beer all with the same device.

How long does it take to melt the ice on a hot day? How effectively does it cool?

[NelsAnderson]

There are actually companies that sell these...looks like they go for just short of $1000!

http://www.swampy.net/m300.html

[Apis Mellifera]

Thanks all!

I'll tell you what, if anyone is interested, I'll let this one go for $500. That's a heckuva deal!

I haven't actually used it yet other than bench testing. I took four trays of ice cubes from the freezer (not very much) and fill the cooler half way up with water. Using a computer fan (not much flow), the air coming out of the heat exchanger was 64F when ambient was over 90F With more ice, the ducting, and larger blower (250 cfm), it will be much colder. I built it for my 30 minute commute, but I expect it will last an hour or two. It's really proportional to how much ice you put in it. However, once the ice melts, that doesn't mean the cooling stops. I'll put it this way, it has an off switch.

There is a similar thing on instructables, but his has the lid open during use. Not only would there be a likely chance that you'd end up with a floor full of ice water, but you'd also humidify the air.

[gambrinus]

Drop some dry ice in there and you'd be set for some time...

RW

[Apis Mellifera]

That's been suggested before. The problem is the gas-phase of dry ice doesn't generally support life. You'd be cold though...and not necessarily because of the A/C.

[Bud]

You need a CO2 scrubber, unfortunately the MGA uses round filters and the Rover takes square cartridges... Jim Lovell should be able to help you out with the adapter however. :popcorn:

[Regan]

Thansk to all for sending all the interesting suggestions and comments! I do have a unit that uses ice and blows cool air, but does not completely cool the interior like I would like. I did get a response from a leading aftermarket AC company and was told that a small compressor would "probably" fit on the driver side, but......... the heater system would have to be removed to add a heat and defrost system, which I do not want to do. Another concern they had was the fan on the radiator, not having enough flow to condense the refrigerant. I replied asking for more clarification as I am not an A/C handyman. Should any of you know oif this, please let me know, I am at a loss.

Thanks, Regan
P.S. I'm not giving up, just want to make sure this will work without spending twice as much as planned. I'm told that I do this all the time!

[Regan]

Donnie, I would be interested in hearing back from you on your finds,

Regan 337 344-3813

[Lord Icon]

http://www.swampy.net/ac12.html at 250$ delivered.
http://www.kooleraire.com/index.htm is $40 , the cheapest by far...

[lrdukdog]

These do NOTHING for the HUMIDITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I worked in Saudi Arabia in the early 80"s (yes! My company car was a LHD Stage 1 V8 with A/C) and even at 100 plus with low humidity it wasn't as bad as 85 with 90% humidity is here in VA.
Jim Wolf

[jac04]

These do NOTHING for the HUMIDITY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Why do you think this? Think about it compared to a regular AC unit. Now, I assume that you agree that a regular car AC system removes humiduty from the air, right? How does it do it? It's not magical. The warm moist air hits the cold evaporator and the moisture in the air condenses on the evaporator. The moisture eventually drips off and is routed outside through a tube.

Now, there is nothing special about the evaporator except that it is cold. How it gets cold is irrelevant. If it gets cold by ice water, it will still work the same way as if it were cooled by refrigerant.

So, as long as you are catching the condensation and not running it back through some type of humidifier to put it back into the air, then the system IS reducing humidity.

[Gremlin]

What about those portable home ac units that you put on the floor and run the exhaust duct out the window?
If if were possible to use an inverter to run it, duct out (side window), and setup a drain line for the condensate, I can imagine it fittin in the rear tub between the seats. Might even be able to use it for heat in the winter, lol
But I'm wondering how small of a roof top unit is avaliable for the rv side.

[Gremlin]

how about this set up :eek: . You will definitely be cool, won't even hear the generator when driving,

http://www.lilligren.com/Redneck/images/redneck_car_air_conditioner.jpg

[lrdukdog]

"Why do you think this?"
Well maybe because the fan is pulling cool air up around a block of ice which is melting and water vapor is bring blown up along with the cool humid air adding to the total moisture content of the air in the vehicle.
In the 40's and 50's there was a window unit that used ice and the vehicles forward motion to cool the vehicle, it was great for the desert and other areas with low humidity. Blowing air across ice will add humidity not reduce it. In no way does this perform the function of a condenser/evaporator to remove water from the air.:nono:
Jim Wolf

[Apis Mellifera]

Why do you think this?

While what you describe is true of the air passing over the heat exchanger, when the air comes in contact with cold water, it adds humidity. This is exactly how a house humidifier works. Air is blown over a wet surface, the water evaporates, the humidity goes up.



I tried my unit out yesterday. It works...for the most part. It was about 95F outside and I was able to drive home with the windows up and would guess it was 70-75F inside the car. I turned it off once and the car was uncomfortably hot instantly. So the cooling works great. The not-so-good: I used ice chips from the machine at work and they were completely melted by the time I got home (~30-40 minutes). The condensate that collected on the heat exchanger started blowing out the fan. The fan is also loud.

I'm now looking for an electric AC unit from a Prius...

[adkrover]

I have a very sucessful AC unit installed under my passenger seat box. It blows ice cold to both the front and rear passengers in my 65 109. I do have a slightly more powerful engine than stock (Robert Davis 3.0) but I imagine it would still work on a healthy stock engine. The install was very straight forward and the only tricky part was making the custom bracket to install the compressor. There is also a unit available that simply hangs from the dash on the passenger side that would be super easy to install but my truck has a heater in that location. Being in LA I imagine that you could easily live without the heater. Just search for my previous posts and you should find it. If not, let me know and I'll dig it up.

[jac04]

Blowing air across ice will add humidity not reduce it. In no way does this perform the function of a condenser/evaporator to remove water from the air.:nono:
Jim Wolf
Now let's not get all defensive and wave that little finger at me. I never claimed that blowing air across ice will decrease humidity, now did I? If you actually read & understood my post, you would know that I was strictly talking about a system that uses a heat exchanger similar to an evaporator in a 'normal' car AC system.

[kevkon]

Save a lot of work and arguemnent, just get one of these surplus;
http://www.hightechscience.org/portable_cooling_unit.htm

[bkreutz]

Save a lot of work and arguemnent, just get one of these surplus;
http://www.hightechscience.org/portable_cooling_unit.htm

Might have a problem locating a LOX tank (or filling it for that matter):D (I couldn't resist, just trying to lighten this up a bit:))

[gambrinus]

Care to share what parts / kits you used? Any photos?

[gambrinus]

I have a very sucessful AC unit installed under my passenger seat box. It blows ice cold to both the front and rear passengers in my 65 109. I do have a slightly more powerful engine than stock (Robert Davis 3.0) but I imagine it would still work on a healthy stock engine. The install was very straight forward and the only tricky part was making the custom bracket to install the compressor. There is also a unit available that simply hangs from the dash on the passenger side that would be super easy to install but my truck has a heater in that location. Being in LA I imagine that you could easily live without the heater. Just search for my previous posts and you should find it. If not, let me know and I'll dig it up.

Care to share what parts / kits you used? Any photos?

[Tim Smith]

Care to share what parts / kits you used? Any photos?
I think this is the thread:
http://www.roversnorth.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3844

[adkrover]

Tim found it, that's my old post. If you have any questions please let me know.

As for the other topic on this thread, why don't you guys get a large horizontal cylinder like a sonotube and place a fan at one end, a block of ice in the center and a humidistat and thermometer at each end of the tube. That should pretty well settle things.