Those monsters in my post 50 are what most Dealers fitted when the cars were new. Both of those units are Artic Kar in Mk2 & S type. The Delanair Gallay units fitted by Jaguar for US & Asian markets only were very much the same. All were pretty much made up from generic parts. Chair condenser being the only unique part IIRC. Development was done in the US ~ TX.

Artic Kar was authorised by Jaguar. Controller bottom left.

I was thinking of Gregory's Mark 2, that had dealer installed AC and is an underdash unit similar to the link I gave to Rockauto. His is a Canadian delivered car, so different AC than US dealers developed. I have worked on the AC on his car, and the compressor and mount is the same as the Jaguar drawings in the JCNA air conditioning guide.

We lubricate half of the world's automotive HVAC compressors. You can't buy a serious AC system for $70. You can add a nought to that for a decent Denso swash plate compressor alone. About half that ($350) for a half decent clutched unit. Then there is all the rest Condenser & it's fan, Drier, Evapourator & it's fan, Expansion valve, Pipework, fittings etc.

First things first:

1) high torque Starter, no more Lucas starter. $190. free shipping and quick reply to inquiry.

2) Dynamator to replace the generator, will purchase the same unit that Cass fitted.
$270. + shipping and quick reply to inquiry.

Been trying to contact retroair.com about their a/c but noone answers the phone, noone replies to emails. Noone minding the store. If that is their service before the sale, I don't want to do business with them.

UPDATE: we removed engine today. The mother of all jobs. I had to remove the rear center support cross bolt but also the 4 bolts with two eared brackets bolted to the transmission bell housing. The accelerator pedal Bar that goes side to side was slightly bent forward. No way to avoid it.

Man I don't EVER want to do this job again,I was scared that the engine could fall over the body. It didn't but never again. Separating the DG250 from the engine was not exactly easy either. But it is done. Thursday we are rotating the engine and removing the sump and the truth will be visible.

Making good progress anyway. It's a heavy combo.

Anyway I've given some thought to satisfying the red-head for future consideration. Our Latin America offices are in Coral Gables & man it can get hot there.

I wasn't suggesting that. You can buy the evaporator in a housing with a blower for that though. I have considered adding AC to my car, and I think the hardest part would be the compressor mount and condenser. Belts wouldn't be easy either. It would be much easier to start with a 4.2 block simply for the extra mounting bosses.

Even that is going to be pretty cheap & nasty.

IIRC they used to use old York clutched compressors when the cars were new.

Yes, they used the York "Thumper" compressor. Back then the choice was York or GM A6, there wasn't many options. Chrysler used the York as well, on the 440 engines they have a special pulley set to dampen out the vibrations.

Jose,

You might check this company, https://www.classicautoair.com/shop/...ioning-system/

I used the Retro-air but for me I would not say it is the greatest but my view could be biased due my car having the aluminum block LS1 V8; for me I thought the housing in the engine bay should have been better insulated, and thought the fan could be more powerful.

Hi Jose,
I would use this system from Vintage Air, since it is similar to the OEM system. The air vents are similar to the Jaguar outlets. They also have compressors, condensers, hoses and electric cooling fans.
https://www.vintageair.com/instructi...685000-VUY.pdf
Vintage Air did the A/C systems for both of the Ford GT programs.

I've been in an S type with one of those & it worked pretty well. Wasn't a very hot day & I did not look behind the scenes. Sanden/Behr compressors are made in China these days but what isn't. I would not let that put me off. Cabin wise it was very neat. That picture is taken from a lot lower than the driver sits.

Just for information the Foundation has some rear outlet units reproduced in better material. https://www.ebay.com/itm/18478106725...4AAOSwP3Fgfzot

This is the dealer-installed (in 1966, Motor Sales, Winnipeg) AC system in my Mk 2 referred to by Craig:






Nothing in the trunk:



The original York compressor, converted to R134A; and as by 1966 Jaguar had foreseen the installation of AC compressors, this car has the factory indentation in the inner fender; the air produced by this system is icy cold (unless there is a refrigerant leak!):



The fender indentation is hard to see but the compressor pulley fits into it nicely (this is a pre-restoration photo): You can also see the AC condenser quite clearly at the bottom of the photo.




And a detail of the cabin unit:

A poor photo of the compressor mounting bracket:


and another equally bad photo of the mounting bracket:

Ah! Gregory's loverly Mk2 again:

That is a very compact unit for the era. About half the size (mainly length) of my late mother's '65 Chrysler Valiant unit.

Gregory

1) Missed it ~ it has been converted to R134A refrigerant ~ what effect? ~ Replacement on the way again.
2) Would it achieve comfort in Summer temperatures in the 30°C / 86°F range?
3) Is the only mod to the car the Compressor pulley dimple in the inner fender for cars without?
4) Where does it draw it's ambient/fresh air from?
5) Does it have some sort of idle compensator when the compressor clutches in?

Glyn:

The conversion of the system to R134A produces very cold air - but I had not recommissioned the system with R12 previously so I cannot make a comparison between the two refrigerants in this system. And yes, in 30 degree temperatures the cabin is very comfortable - in fact after a bit it becomes too cold.
As far as I am aware the only change made to the Mk 2 body was this concavity to accomodate the compressor pulley, and I think that was done around 1964. Here is a more clear photo of the concavity (please note that the engine bay of this car has purposely NOT been restored to concours condition. I want to use the car - and I do - and I wanted to do nothing that might inhibit such use); you can see the outline of the indentation to the right of the pulley bolt:



and a clearer photo of the mounting bracket:



Fresh air: this is drawn in simply by opening the scuttle vent.
Idle: while the York compressor has been described by others as a "thumper", to be honest it is very difficult to determine when it cuts in and out on this particular engine. No idle compensator has been installed and the engine does not falter at idle with the compressor on (but the amp meter obviously records a discharge at idle with the AC on). I should note here that the car remains on positive ground, and that it uses its original generator (C.48 high output fitted to Canadian cars from chassis 223984 - mine is 224363) - there has been no alteration to the charging system (yet). I have to say that given the antiquity of the system, it works amazingly well (when there is no refrigerant leak - Craig may want to comment further on this). As a matter of record the car today has just 27,056 happy miles on it.

Thanks. Goes to show you don't need these monstrous things & did not even back then. Jose can confidently fit a unit that saves an awful lot of space as I suspected. Trouble is those huge lumps actually hark back to the Mk VII if you do some research. All he has to decide is if he wants a compact evaporator front or back & where he wants the cold air to enter the car. I fully understand now how your system is configured. The XK engine has a heavy flywheel/TC Flexplate & crank so the York does not disturb it. In some vehicles those York reciprocating compressors could kick up quite a lot of low frequency vibration. Thanks again.

BTW. I kept my car positive earth.

Yes, but does your positive earth radio have one speaker and play a lot of Petula Clark songs? Mine does.

Yes it does. A vast taste in music. (High end audio is my other hobby but cars are a hostile environment for decent sound). While polarity switchable my radio is mono (NOS) with a single speaker. No cutting up the rear parcel shelf for me. Only effort at modernity was a new Visaton speaker with no shiny bits on it that would show through the left hand grill.

Gregory ~ I notice that you have placed 2 rubber U sections on either side of your bonnet/hood aperture. Were you getting slight spots of paint shimmy at the hood edge? I've done the same thing but shorter for that reason even with the S Type adjustable rubber hood buffers.

Last summer I visited Gregory in Victoria and brought my AC tools with me. The system had a refrigerant leak, and I found some of them, one being the valve stem core. I didn't have one with me of the proper size, so I cleaned it up and put it back. It seemed to hold vacuum, but after a month Gregory reported that the refrigerant had leaked out. The lines are flare fittings instead of the more modern O ring style and there was slight leaks there too. I tightened up the fittings ( they were only finger tight) but I suspect they may still have a slight leak.

The system is a recirculating system, it simply draws air from the cabin footwell and passes it through the evaporator. After charging I was able to get air at 2 C out of the vents with the fan on high, and that was the point where the Ranco switch cut out the compressor. I wouldn't charge to the point where I would get evaporator freezing anyway.

Incidentally, the under dash system is identical to the system Jaguar installed in the front of my 1990 Daimler DS420. The Daimler has different condensers, but the underdash unit is the same.

My 1966 S Type has the indentation in the inner fender, the same as Gregory's car. It looks like a factory pressing to me