Designing A/C System Using Other Cars Parts?

[HusseinHolland]

Removed the heater box

stripped to replace the foam on the door (and clean)

the other thing I've been avoiding is the holes they made for the evaporator drains -the ARA unit has a drain on each side. So, they punched a 1/2" forward facing hole on each side of the tunnel, apparently with a pick. The only way to address it is to drill new larger (30mm) holes that will accept a grommet for the drain tubes rot pass through

primed & painted 

after that I put the heater box back in

In removing the control panel I found this I need to address - the fan speed gear is cracked

Edited August 28, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[SteveJ]

2 minutes ago, HusseinHolland said:

In removing the control panel I found this I need to address - the fan speed gear is cracked

I saw that on the AC controls that I have sitting around.

[Yarb]

Thought I saw a thread where someone here made one on a 3d printer. Fairly recent.

[HusseinHolland]

Put the controls & evap box back in, connected the AC lines. installed the capillary tube in the center of the evaporator, inserted to full depth. The old one was shoved about an inch into the duct side of the core, not doing much in the way of registering core temp. As the PO said, the AC never worked very well. Need to get the AC circuit wired so I can wrap that aspect up.

fixed the evap box drains by adding a elbow that is rear-facing, so air won't blow up the tubes when in motion.

Edited September 1, 2023 by HusseinHolland
typo

[HusseinHolland]

Enlarged the existing firewall spare hole near the heater ports to 30mm, and added another 30mm hole below it. One will be for the AC-related wiring & Bosch CIS system, the other will be spare for when I do the V6 conversion at some point.

Using color coded wiring I've salvaged from a Fiat X1/9 and from a variety of Volvos

figuring out suitable layout/routing. Have to remove the water port & drill & tap the old EGR sender port to 12x1.5 for the CIS ECT.

I have various waterproof 2.3mm terminal/connector housings to use for the firewall connections

 

Edited September 1, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

After I worked on the clock this morning, I worked on the AC wiring harness today, in conjunction with the harness needed for the Bosch Constant Idle Speed (CIS) system

2 10 pole connectors (one tucked under the hood catch, for CIS) & one 4 pole. The 4 pole covers the AC control signals.  

AC cutoff & AC cond. fan relays will go here. The details on the ID tag weren't legible anyway

wiring inside. Made sure it doesn't interfere with the heater fan box

CIS module will go up here

K&N (RU-4650) filter arrived, so I put that in. Required since the AC condenser fan interferes with the stock airbox fitment. I have a plethora of 2.75" & 3" silicone couplers & aluminum pipes from various Volvo projects, so I used a 2.75" - 3" elbow coupler & 3" bend to fit the 3" inlet filter. Made sure the filter surface area far exceeds the demands of the engine displacement at redline (calculator for that)

hopefully wrap up the bay side of the wiring tomorrow.

 

Edited September 6, 2023 by HusseinHolland

[HusseinHolland]

More wiring. Realized I have to remove the compressor as I didn't drain the mineral oil - I forgot that this compressor (TM15D) was setup for R12. Have to refill with Pag46 

wiring overview

Tucked behind hood catch, secured to firewall to make sure no issues with throttle linkage. Low pressure cutout on accumulator in foreground

Harnesses routed alongside stock wiring. Have to secure the 2 relays

Edited September 11, 2023 by HusseinHolland
add pics - revised schematic

[HusseinHolland]

Added a heat shield for the AC lines

[HusseinHolland]

Haven't been able to work outside with all the rain. Just to keep things moving, I did a small amount of wiring inside the cabin - just the T/stat connections here, and routing wires for the delayed engagement relay

VO 1363449. uses a sense signal from the alternator to only engage once the alternator is charging. The white/black wire to the V/reg (F terminal on alt) should be appropriate.

Have a more compact low pressure switch that can go on the backside of the Accumulator facing the firewall, instead of the sticking out over the manifold VO 9144340

a bought a number of single pole waterproof connectors, so the bullet style will work for the D+ splice at the v/reg 6 pole connector, and at the AC compressor. 

 

[HusseinHolland]

Wired the compressor & the delay relay signal from F at the V/reg

swapped out the pressure switch

[z3beemer]

Not sure what refrigerant you have in your car R12 or 134A but if you're swapping out the compressor it is most likely is set up for 134A.  If the old system was R12 you need to flush the entire system and  replace the oil using a polyoester synthetic oil.  R12 systems used a mineral based oil and since in a refrigeration system the oil travels in the refrigerant you need to flush it before converting to 134A. Otherwise the mineral based oil will turn to sludge.  If you decide to stay with an R12 system expect to pay big bucks for R12 (if you can find it).  I'm talking $60+ per pound.  I used Auto AC Solutions out of Texas for my 73 restoration which formerly had an ARA system.  Nice guy, really helpful.  If you decide to go that route and would like more info on my install, contact me and we can talk about it (good & bad).  I have a post on here with some of the details of my install.  I believe it is under the Heating / AC category.

[HusseinHolland]

On 9/14/2023 at 2:49 AM, z3beemer said:

Not sure what refrigerant you have in your car R12 or 134A but if you're swapping out the compressor it is most likely is set up for 134A.  If the old system was R12 you need to flush the entire system and  replace the oil using a polyoester synthetic oil.  R12 systems used a mineral based oil and since in a refrigeration system the oil travels in the refrigerant you need to flush it before converting to 134A. Otherwise the mineral based oil will turn to sludge.  If you decide to stay with an R12 system expect to pay big bucks for R12 (if you can find it).  I'm talking $60+ per pound.  I used Auto AC Solutions out of Texas for my 73 restoration which formerly had an ARA system.  Nice guy, really helpful.  If you decide to go that route and would like more info on my install, contact me and we can talk about it (good & bad).  I have a post on here with some of the details of my install.  I believe it is under the Heating / AC category.

Everything in the system is new, besides the evaporator. I will be using R134a. The compressor I have was intended for R12, which is why I have to remove it & drain the mineral oil before I go any further with it.