A/C for '73, factory or dealer installed?

[moonpup]

Boy Alan, I don't know what to tell you.

I've never owned those particular models, but I've been a junkyard dog for 30+ yrs, scavaged thru hundreds of Z's and I don't ever recall seeing a LHD with the blower motor on the LH side. Seems like it would get in the way of the pedals.

Have you seen a RHD with the blower on the RH side?

[sblake01]

Well Alan, I don't know what to say either other than I've never seen a LHD S30 with the blower motor on the left. I must be dyselxic because I didn't notice the blower motor was on the left in your earlier scan. I was looking at the other components in the system. As far as the other scans, the one that is post July/August 73 has me confused. Here is one from one of my manuals that depicts the system in a 1974 US LHD 260Z.

[HS30-H]

Alan, I don't see why that system wouldn't have worked on LHD cars. I doesn't appear that anything from the system is in the footwells nor would it interfere with the steering column regardless of what side it was on. It looks rather similar to the system that they started using here in 1974.

Well, it looks to me as though the original Japanese market system would not be a 'bolt-in' fit to the first LHD cars. The heater casing of the pre-August 1973 LHD cars has its inlet duct on the right, the fan housing is on the right and the air intake from the cowl is also on the right. The LHD cars would therefore need their own design of air conditioning components rather than sharing the Japanese market parts.

I've never owned those particular models, but I've been a junkyard dog for 30+ yrs, scavaged thru hundreds of Z's and I don't ever recall seeing a LHD with the blower motor on the LH side. Seems like it would get in the way of the pedals.

Well, the illustrations I scanned and posted above are from the June 1974 issue Factory Parts Catalog for the 'Datsun 260Z. 240Z, model S30 series, USA & Canada' ( Nissan Pub. No. C-001OU ).

Section 27 ( 'Car Heater up to July '73' ) has 5 pages of illustrations showing the inlet duct and fan housing on the right.

Section 27A ( 'Car Heater from August '73 ) has 7 pages showing the inlet duct and fan housing on the left.

The same manual also has the ( new for August '73 ) Air Conditioner system illustrations in Section 29 ( three pages on the interior components ) and these all show the inlet duct and fan housing on the right........

Does this mean that the illustrations in Section 27A are actually wrong?

Have you seen a RHD with the blower on the RH side?

No, but then why would it ever need to be?

Well Alan, I don't know what to say either other than I've never seen a LHD S30 with the blower motor on the left. I must be dyselxic because I didn't notice the blower motor was on the left in your earlier scan.

I mentioned it because I thought it might be significant. I saw the illustrations showing the - apparent - movement of the air duct and fan housing right at the date the Factory air con system was phased in on the LHD models.

As far as the other scans, the one that is post July/August 73 has me confused. Here is one from one of my manuals that depicts the system in a 1974 US LHD 260Z.

All of this would be easy to put to rest straight away if the illustrations in section 27A of the parts catalog are incorrect. I've seen a few little mistakes in other Nissan parts catalogs and workshop manuals for the S30-series Z, but this one is a biggie and I've never seen any reference to it.

But going back to my original point - the Japanese market got the option of an air conditioner system designed for the ( RHD layout ) car and it was available right from the beginning of sales in late 1969. The USA & Canada market on the other hand ( a market that included territories where I would have thought an air con system was de rigeur ) did not get this until August 1973.

In the meantime - ie from early 1970 to late 1973 - some dealers and private owners in the USA were fitting aftermarket air con systems to their cars. That's a long time. Especially when the Japanese market ( which gets very hot and humid in Summer ) had a perfectly good system designed for the car and available Factory-fitted as a specifiable option.

Surely it would have been simple for Nissan to incorporate a Factory-fitted air con system into the LHD cars from the beginning of production? Why didn't they do that? I have my own theories, but I'm interested to hear what anybody else thinks.

Alan T.

[sblake01]

Wasn't the cost a large consideration when Nissan started building cars for the US? If I recall correctly the base price here was $3526 when the 240Z was introduced here in 1969. Optioning them out with things like a/c, power steering, etc. surely would have raised the selling price.

[moonpup]

Originally Posted by HS30-H

The heater casing of the pre-August 1973 LHD cars has its inlet duct on the right, the fan housing is on the right and the air intake from the cowl is also on the right. The LHD cars would therefore need their own design of air conditioning components rather than sharing the Japanese market parts.

So other than screwing up and saying S30 as opposed to 240Z, I was correct in the spirit of the thread that the 1973 HLS30, the original topic of discussion, was not designed for AC.

Originally Posted by HS30-H

Does this mean that the illustrations in Section 27A are actually wrong?

My guess is that the wrong illustration/s got sent to the printer.

Originally Posted by HS30-H

Surely it would have been simple for Nissan to incorporate a Factory-fitted air con system into the LHD cars from the beginning of production? Why didn't they do that? I have my own theories, but I'm interested to hear what anybody else thinks.

I would be interested to know the answer also, however, until someone who was there and involved in the decision making process enlightens us, we'll all just be speculating until we're blue in the face and we'll still not know for sure.

Hey, isn't it time for some of you 8/73 & up 260Z owners to pipe in here and shed some light on the subject?

Jump in, the waters fine.

[Bulldog Z]

I have the same aftermarket A/C system for my late 73' 240Z. If Datsun Z Guy doesn't want to keep his system I would like to buy it for my Z. I have the "how ya doin" box and the hoses, but I am missing the compressor, dryer, etc etc. I am debating about going with the "factory system or the company vintage air or something similar to them. In south Ga air is a must. Has anyone ever put a vintage air system on their 240Z?

[jackwarnock]

Hullo All

Some of the discussion here refers to Factory Air Conditioning. My 1973 JDM Fairlady 240Z-L was ordered in July 1973 by an Australian lady working in Japan at the time. I have the original brochure the lady used to select the car. The lady obtained an "Estimate" (Quote) from Nissan to supply the car including: "a set of tools, a spare tire, a set of service kit, a set of floor mats and an air conditioner"

The quoted cost for the air conditioner was 200,000 Yen.

Unfortunately for me the lady decided not to include the air conditioner in the final Order for the car. I am unsure if cost was the issue.

The Factory certainly offered Air Conditioning as an Option on the JDM vehicles.

I hope this helps the discussion.

Regards, Jack

[WDILL]

Stephen

I am ahving my 1970 240Z HLS3003435 restored and want to add a good A/C system. It had the ARA system shown in this thread but I want to change from the R12. Any suggestions on a system that will work well since I'll be driving in Al where it gets reat hot!

Pictures of the restoration can be seen at rodshopofmemphis.com site.

Thanks, Wally

[sblake01]

Well, there's the Vintage Air system. They're a bit pricey but they are the best system I've ever experienced. They are designed to use R134A. They cool the car down fast like a modern OEM system. The drawback for you would be that they use their own controls which would be a problem if originality or at least the appearance of originality is a concern. The main drawback of ARA system in the earler cars, as mentioned before, is that it sucks the cold air from the evaporator rather than blowing the cold air through it. The factory systems and the later ARA type systems like the one in my 78 as well as the Vintage Air system have the evaporator mounted in the center, behind the control panel rather than in the passenger footwell.

[WDILL]

Stephen, Thanks. Originality is not a driving factor. I want the car as near to original as possible but I plan to drive it so I want comfort where possible. I'll look at the Vintage systems.

Regards

[sblake01]

This is their website. You'll have to contact them about a 240Z system since it's a unviersal/custom type system

http://www.vintageair.com/index.asp

[Pop's Z]

Here's another after-market site: www.hotrodair.com. I think their system will go into the S 30. It replaces the heater core and provides a/c in one compact unit. Their parts are available individually. I'm going to do some research on this and see if it will fit. I have one of their catalogs and the only problem I can see (other than the complete tearout of the dash) is going to be fabricating up a mounting bracket for the compressor. I think that mounting it on the left side of the motor makes the most sense. I'm pretty sure that is where the factory units were mounted in the 260s and 280s. If anyone has a left side mount they would be willing to part with please send me a pm. Cheers, Mike