to A/C or not to A/C?

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DartorDemon

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This isnt really technical, but more of me wanting some opinions. My car is a factory A/C car and the previous owner removed all of the A/C components. The good news is that he kept all of the stuff and its now sitting in my trunk and now i wanna figure out if i should put it all back on the car.

Does anyone know how much power is robbed by having the A/C hooked up?
 
As long as the a/c is off it only takes as much HP as it takes to spin a bearing and belt friction, that's it.

The only real drawback to a/c cars is the added nose weight which is about 100lbs.

I dig factory a/c cars and myself have a '71 Bahama Yellow Duster wth factory a/c.

If you car is a factory 318 a/c car it most likely has the "blue stripe" 340 torsion bars. Every 318 a/c car I have seen has these 340 T bars. I just parted out a '72 Dart w/ 318 and a/c and it has the 340 bars.


Chuck
 
i'm planning on putting it back in my car. so i vote yes put it back. :) you'll like it on those hot days.. with it off i don't think it will kill the power too much. on though it really robs th power.
 
If you car is a factory 318 a/c car it most likely has the "blue stripe" 340 torsion bars. Every 318 a/c car I have seen has these 340 T bars. I just parted out a '72 Dart w/ 318 and a/c and it has the 340 bars.


Chuck

That could explain why it feels like it handles well around corners on its old/worn suspension.
 
None of my 65s came with AC; however, am definitely adding it to my 65 Convert and wagon so that it looks factory. I've already modified the firewall on the GT - heater blower cut-out, AC line holes, mounting holes, etc and everything fits like it was born there.
 
I vote.... Go A/C.
As a kid the first thing I did was snatch A/C out and toss it.
Now I am paying for my sins!
I am using a vintage "Dealer Air" setup I found onna '68 Valiant.
My '70 GT is a non factory air so I think this will be.... um.... cool!
I have the same type of aftermarket setup on my '74 sedan too.

Now on my Ex-Wifes '70 sedan she has Factory Air that "Worked" when she bought the car but I had to replace all the Vacuum Hoses and the Main Controller on it.... Still not working yet.
But all the gizmos/flappers now function.

Later,
Bruce B.
 
This isnt really technical, but more of me wanting some opinions. My car is a factory A/C car and the previous owner removed all of the A/C components. The good news is that he kept all of the stuff and its now sitting in my trunk and now i wanna figure out if i should put it all back on the car.

Does anyone know how much power is robbed by having the A/C hooked up?

You need to know that if you decide to NOT use it, you cannot convert to NON AC without modifying or replacing the firewall. A bodies use different firewall configurations for the AC and NON AC! It's that little "gremlin" that nobody talks about enough on this page!

Greg Purcell
 
You need to very little to the firewall to bolt in a non AC heater box and blower motor.

Non AC heater box bolts right in. You need to do some mild fabbing for the blower motor.

Power loss is minimal when the AC is turned off. Weight is only an issue is you are fighting weight to wring out every 1/10th in the 1/4…..
 
I say.....if you don't like being hot...run the A/C.

If you are like me and like to feel the wind than don't worry about running A/C and roll them windows down! 8)

My 72 duster was a factory A/C car but the A/C firewall was all cut out and a Non-A/C firewall from a donor was welded into its place and non A/C blower motor and heater box was swapped out of the same donor.

looks very clean but its all up to you on what extent you want to go to.
 
i'm planning on putting it back in my car. so i vote yes put it back. :) you'll like it on those hot days.. with it off i don't think it will kill the power too much. on though it really robs th power.

I say no a/c. My idea of a/c is the windows down, the more you push in the gas pedal the cooler that a/c. haha I have a/c in my daily driver and I hardly ever use it. Just roll down the windows, just my opinion though
 
I have a 68 Dart GT. It is an air car. Most of the parts were removed by a previous owner. I am in the process of finding the parts needed to make it an air car again. Why? Because air in these cars is rare. I like the comfort of air on hot days. Last but not least. How much hp are you going to lose if the air is off? Not enough to worry about in my opinion. Put the parts back in the car and ride in comfort as well as in style.
Frank
 
unless you live in an Artic region I'd go for the air, especially being you got everything AND the car is already set up for it.
 
Even though it isn't currently working, I'm glad mine has AC because of the extra underdash vents. I use them all the time for fresh air or heat.
 
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