AC pump fitment with different intakes?

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volaredon

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I'm putting together a magnum engine with LA engine, front accessories. As some may know this is for an 80s truck.
I want to use the factory ac compressor and brackets as would have come on a factory AC equipped 80s truck.
The intake i have at the moment that I hope to use is an M1 dual plane i got from a member here. This intake came from a factory 360/300 magnum crate motor. It has the centered, big thermostat like all Mopar v8s had til ~78-ish.
Will this combo work as is?
Another reason I'm really hoping to be able to use "this" intake is that since the magnum heads eliminated the exhaust heat crossover, this intake has a passage off the thermostat area that allows warming antifreeze to circulate within the intake beneath the carburetor area
Not as good as the exhaust manifold heat crossover (when it worked anyway) but better than nothing. LA intakes are made for the heat crossover but that can't work since magnum heads are cast with that being blocked off.

I could still find a way to get the heads drilled for an LA intake if it "has to" have the smaller offset thermostat. I have a couple of 4bbl LA intakes that do. I wish that fixture was still floating around but I won't go any farther "there" as that's a sore subject around here.

As a plan B I was looking at bouchillon, for their AC mount brackets. They appear to have a couple of different options.
But if I'm reading their description right I'd need factory brackets for either an RV2 or a C171 (round aluminum compressor) plus their brackets? And I guess I'd need a "sanden" compressor (of which I thought the c171 was to begin with?) to work with what they offer?
Theirs they show are more of a "universal" type, on which factory ac hoses won't work?
At work we have several shuttle buses with add on "conversion" AC and am constantly having problems with leakage on the field crimped hose connections. So I'd rather use factory AC components. Especially since I already have a new OEM type replacement condenser and a set of OE replacement hoses (4 season brand) for the job.
Where do I go from here?
I do remember when my son did the engine in his ramcharger which has the c171, he had put an offenhauser intake on his engine first (don't remember the model of intake) but it definitely wouldn't work on that engine with that compressor. We ended up having to swap out for an Edelbrock performer.
As another idea does anyone make an offset/angled thermostat housing that could be used with the big Mopar thermostat outlet that works around that AC setup?
 
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Ok cool, that might be a possibility. Thanks.
Anyone else have any input on this?
 
i suspect the biggest issue you're going to have is that the M1 doesn't have a provision to mount the 80's support struts for the bracket. which, i think you've figured out.

but that's the rub, only a stock or performer intake has the mounting lugs. so, you're back to square one on the compatibility with heads/intake.

so it looks like drilling an intake or custom hoses is your best bet aside from fabbing up some kind of bracket and still leaving the possibility that you'd still need custom hoses.

i don't think there's a cheap or easy way out here and your distrust of fabricated hoses, further complicates the issue.
 
Does anyone have any experience with the bouchillon mounts or anyone else's aftermarket compressor mounts? The front of the engine will be LA and I would actually rather keep the individual v belts of an LA, I don't care if whatever I use retains parts catalog-listed sizes for belts. But ac has become almost mandatory/not for me so much as for the wife... with her asthma type issues... I'm actually happy most days with my arm hanging out. But she's not crazy about me building up an old truck, so I gotta give her this (A/C) I guess.
I'm not necessarily looking for the cheapest way out but the best bang for the buck.
I can make something off of the intake mounting bolts maybe to support the back of the compressor.
The problem with the other M1 I've seen pix of that has the offset TStat is the issue of adapting that to the LA water pump... Because the other one with offset thermostat has the bypass hose more suited to the Magnum front accessories.
I really don't want Hong Kong phooey under my hood....
 
i've used the bouchillon mounts and found them better than anybody else's. but, different application so that may not be an indicator as to your success.

it's a unique set up that you're going for, so you're kinda on your own with it. and the bypass brings its' own host of issues. i mean it's all solvable, but you're gonna hafta get a little saucy with it somewhere.
 
That's about what I figured, but also hopes at the same time that someone else here sees this that might have been down the same road, and could offer their findings/ experience.
Now that it's warming up some, I'm hoping to actually be able to get going on this rather than sitting on here "game planning"....
I have some other things going on besides old cars and trucks, as in trying to get mom's house sold, and until that gets taken care of (not totally, I have been pigeon holing gobs of parts over this winter) I'm a bit limited on what I can actually do.
 
If custom AC hoses are failing then someone isn't crimping the hoses correctly or not matching the fittings to the right hoses. This custom AC hoses are prone to failure is not the norm at all.
 
If custom AC hoses are failing then someone isn't crimping the hoses correctly or not matching the fittings to the right hoses. This custom AC hoses are prone to failure is not the norm at all.
Just telling it as I see it
 

Well I contacted bouchillon about their brackets. Randy bouchillon replied saying that basically the c171 compressor is junk, so nobody makes brackets for such a "junk" compressor. Strange as I e had to replay more sanden compressors than I've had to replace c171s in my work. Not saying "never" but not often.
I do have a C171 here I got from a buddy, and supposedly it was taken out because it needs a front seal. I also have a new (reman?) c171 here that is/was actually destined for my other truck (that one has a /6) but could end up on either.
 
With the earlier 80s AC bracket it can be made to work. You simply need to tilt the C171 stock compressor toward the passenger side by modifying the compressor brackets. I attempted this with the late 80s, early 90s AC compressor bracket in an 89 Magnum swapped truck and got pissed off, and walked away from it. That truck currently does not have AC hooked up because I have not yet revisited it.
I have the early 80s truck bracket set up on my Duster with an Edelbrock LA manifold with the thermostat on the drivers side. I am confident it would not be too difficult to modify the brackets to work with the intake you mentioned.

Cley
 
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