Since I got my '85 Series III on the road, the air-con has never been particularly wonderful. I live in Thailand which has a tropical climate, so the A/C is something of a necessity all year round. I was finding that it would be fine when first starting up and driving, but after parking and doing the shopping or whatever, on re-starting it struggled to get the car back down to temperature after sitting in a carpark with the windows closed and the heat soak from the engine probably also affecting the efficiency of the cooling.

It also got worse recently, so I took the car to a local A/C technician to see what he could do. He found that the gas was low so kept the car in to trace the leak. Next day I got a call saying he had hit a snag and could I come to look. It turned out that, when removing one of the hoses at the bulkhead to the evaporator, one of the unions had twisted off.




So I took the car home to remove the evaporator. This is quite a big job as the dashboard and centre console all have to come out to remove the Delanair II unit.



Once I had the evaporator unit out of the car, I could see that it was badly choked up with dust etc, so the job was going to be a worthwhile exercise as it couln't have been working very efficiently. I took it to the AC tech who had a new union brazed on and cleaned it all up thoroughly.




After I got it all reassembled, the AC man re-plumbed and re-gassed it. However, it was not noticably any better than it had been originally. On carrying out further checks, I noticed that one of the tubes of the condenser was badly kinked, probably causing a restriction to flow.



The condenser looked pretty old and past its best, so I decided to replace it with a new one available locally. The original was 13" x 28" and the new replacement was 14" x 26". I had to make new mounting brackets, but other than that, it was fairly straightforward to fit.


Then the car went back to the AC workshop again. He had to change some hoses as the fittings on the old and new condensers were different. The new condenser is the modern parallel flow type which I read is around 25% more efficient than the old serpentine type.

So now, after re-gassing, the aircon is definitely cooler than before. It can cool the car down to desired temperature in a few minutes after having been driven and parked, whereas before it always struggled. So a worthwhile exercise and not too expensive as the new condenser was surprisingly cheap on the local market (about $40 equivalent).

 

Wow, quite an ordeal ! You definitely earned "Jagman" status

Cheers
DD

 

That job looks like a nightmare. My 84 Series 3 still has the original R12. I purchased the Air Drier etc. Hopefully i won't encounter your problem.

 

Excellent work! Yes, changing the condenser to a more modern style will make a big difference, as you have noticed. Being able to get rid of the heat is a major upgrade to the system.

I was cringing as soon as you said the pipe twisted off, I was expecting that. Great care has to be taken to remove those hoses and the expansion valve.

 

I noticed that mine blows colder since the lt1 swap, thought it was to do with the Sanderson compressor being designed to use 134a, didn’t think about the condenser having anything to with it, but it makes sense, being as I used a newer one designed for a 94 Camaro because it all fits together with radiator.

 

Indeed, you have to get a spanner on the valve, which has flats cast into it for the purpose, so as to counter the torque when undoing the nut.

 

Andy, I agree with Doug, that's quite a feat of accomplishment! How long did it take you to do this? I think someone here retrofitted a modern vintage-air system in an XJ recently, prob would be a big improvement to the evaporator and blower units too but maybe costly? Yours was a big job, very impressive.

 

It took me 2 mornings to remove the evaporator and about the same to re-install it.
Changing the condenser was relatively straightforward - just a case of removing the radiator closing panel and A/C hoses, although I had to make new mounting brackets as the new condenser is an inch taller than the old one. When looking for a suitable one to buy, I noticed all the generic condensers advertised are sized in inches, not metric. Must be another of those automotive things like brake cylinders that have stuck with imperial sizes when most other things have gone metric.
The only part of my A/C now which is original is the evaporator. I had a Sanden compressor fitted a while back when I first got the car on the road.

 

I don't think one of those Vintage Air systems would actually gain much. The stock evaporator has a good capacity, changing to a better condenser as done here will make much more of a difference.

 

Big job is right!!
I'd never attempt that job.
Well done!
Rob

 

Wow, great job. I may have a similar job ahead of me as my A/C is on again off again in my S3 but when it works, it works well. Parts and labor rates are a bit higher here in the US than in Thailand.

 

That was me. I liked the old-school nature of the Delenair but parts were expensive and hard to find; I felt a modern unit would be more efficient. I also replaced everything (compressor, condenser, hoses) so I can't compare to the stock setup but I never had any complaints about the Vintage Air unit. I think the unit I used was the Gen II Super but I just looked it up and wow they got expensive.