Yea! Got A/C on the 68 now :)

[ValiantOne]

After many hours of research, measuring, ordering and waiting for parts, I finally have a completely upgraded R134 A/C system on the 68 Val   Now if it just holds its charge I'll be in good shape!

I went with a parallel flow condenser in the front. The upgrade I did on the radiator last year necessatated some work to get the fan shroud back on the car. I had been running without it.

I re-routed the suction line to run across the front of the core support, effectively making the line about 5X its original length. But this allows me to take the compressor off the engine and set it up near the wiper tank if I need access to the front of the engine. Without having to discharge the system of course.

I still have many various clamps and things on the way in the mail to neaten things up. Yes the wire ties are temporary! I also may swap the curved steel high side line at the compressor to a straight line for asthetics. That is on the way too.

I also have a couple of questions for you a/c guys out there, but will post in engine section.

Cheers,

CE

[dangerdawg]

good going!

[thebankerstoy]

Hi Chris,

Good job my friend! Please let us know how everything works out on your car after you have had a chance to operate your system for a few months ok?

Here in AZ, air conditioning is not an option, it's a MUST HAVE in ANY vehicle that your going to spend any amount of time in! I took all of the engine compartment a/c equipment out of my 66 Coronet while I was drag racing it in the 80's and 90's, but now that I'm putting it back on the street full time, I will be doing a COMPLETE restoration on the cars interior, which will  also include restoring the factory a/c and heater-defroster system and the factory power window systems. I want the car to be COMFORTABLE on the street. Like you, I have been doing a TREMENDOUS amout of research and have been purchasing LOTS of nos and new a/c and heater-defroster parts in order to make SURE everything works as the factory wanted it to when the car was new. Finding nos or reproduction parts for a 43 year old Dodge has NOT been an easy or inexpensive task as I'm sure that you have found out while working on your car!!! 

COULD SOMEONE OUT THERE IN THE AFTERMARKET WORLD PLEASE START MAKING REPRODUCTION A/C AND HEATER-DEFROSTER PARTS FOR OUR MOPAR'S........PLEASE!!! I don't mean "generic" crap that can "be modified" to fit, but REAL made to fit reproduction parts that are made to FIT our cars! There are MANY a/c and heater parts that are interchangeable between 1966 through 1970 B-Body cars and I'm pretty sure that's the case for the 1967 through 1972 and maybe even 1973 through 1976 A-Body cars, so I'm waiting for you aftermarket folks who might be reading this rant, to start cranking out those parts that EVERYBODY needs to keep their cars cool in the summer and warm and defrosted in the winter!!!

Richard

[67Dart34dr0]

I have almost all of the factoy A/C components and am eaning towards doing this swap, any details would be helpful.

[ValiantOne]

I have almost all of the factoy A/C components and am eaning towards doing this swap, any details would be helpful.

Ask away! After doing all the legwork (a lot for me anyhow! ) I'll be only too happy to share. Anything in specific?

Richard, one thing I would recommend doing NOW would be to get a shaft seal for your compressor, assuming you are using the V2. Apparently there is only one outfit still making the carbon seal for these things and they are getting pretty hard to find. I'm probably going to get 2 or three of them. One for the 73 dart, and two just for future builds.

Cheers,

CE

[67Dart34dr0]

I have almost all of the factoy A/C components and am eaning towards doing this swap, any details would be helpful.

Ask away! After doing all the legwork (a lot for me anyhow! ) I'll be only too happy to share. Anything in specific?

Richard, one thing I would recommend doing NOW would be to get a shaft seal for your compressor, assuming you are using the V2. Apparently there is only one outfit still making the carbon seal for these things and they are getting pretty hard to find. I'm probably going to get 2 or three of them. One for the 73 dart, and two just for future builds.

Cheers,

CE

What needed to change for the R134? I'm looking for a complete list as I plan to be tackling this soon, probably August or so.

I've seen some of what it is and now havin been using R134 in my R12 radiator (Factory A/C not yet hooked up, most parts minus compressor there) for around 4 months.  Just recently decided it might be good to get an overflow and get the cooling system setup for the stuff.

[thebankerstoy]

I have almost all of the factoy A/C components and am eaning towards doing this swap, any details would be helpful.

Ask away! After doing all the legwork (a lot for me anyhow! ) I'll be only too happy to share. Anything in specific?

Richard, one thing I would recommend doing NOW would be to get a shaft seal for your compressor, assuming you are using the V2. Apparently there is only one outfit still making the carbon seal for these things and they are getting pretty hard to find. I'm probably going to get 2 or three of them. One for the 73 dart, and two just for future builds.

Cheers,

CE

Thanks Chris, I will check into getting one asap. Would you want to share the company's name who sells the shaft seal? I have a V2 compressor that I bought new back in 1989, but I then took all of the a/c equipment out from underneath the hood in 1991 when I started racing the car seriously, so I'm sure that my compressor will need some tlc before it goes back into service again. If the Chrysler compressor becomes a problem, I will check into one of the Sanden compressors, as they are MUCH smaller in size and from what I've been told, takes less horsepowewr to operate.

As far as swapping from an R-12 set-up, to a R-134 system goes, I really haven't done much research on that yet, but I thought that all that was needed was a complete discharge of the a/c system, new seals and gaskets that are R-134 compatible and the R-134 refrigerant. If we have any auto a/c professionals here on B.B.D, maybe you could give us some information on this subject? 

Richard

[ValiantOne]

There is a TON of conflicting information on the 12 / 134 upgrade out there. I decided to go all the way, and do it right. There are some things that are factual.

-the rubber hoses on the r12 systems are too porous for the 134, as are the o-rings. They will bleed off / leak gas over time. So upgrade to 134 compatible barrier hose and o-rings.
-134 does not have the same efficiency as r12 did. The extra capacity and cooling cabability of a parallel flow condenser "buys back" some of the lost efficiency of the 134.
-r12 oil (mineral type) is not compatible with 134. The system should be flushed of any old mineral oil and replaced with PAG or another 134 compatible oil.
-the chrysler epr valve, used on most (but not all) 74 and up V2 a/c systems, works on the pressure generated by the r12 refrigerant. 134 has different pressure levels, and the epr valve type system doesn't work well in this situation. Luckily the epr valve can be removed and a thermostatic switch can be used to replace it.

Other helpful notes:
-134 will generate higher pressures, replacing the front seal on the V2 compressor is advised.
-rebuilding the compressor with all new seals will give you the opportunity to get all of the old r12 oil out of the system. And is rather easy to do.

I have also heard that the sanden compressor takes less hp to run. But I have also heard that this is a fallacy. And that the swash plate compressors that utilize up to 5 or more pistons have much greater hp losses due to friction. There is no doubt that they are lighter. But apparently the V2 takes less hp to run, but does have a higher head pressure and more sharp pressure curve due to to only 2 pistons doing the work, as opposed to five pistons.

Another advantage to the V2 (and the main reason I decided to keep it) is that it has its own rotary oil pump. Because of this they are very robust. The oil pump insures that the compressor gets the oil it needs all the time. As opposed to the swash plate type comressor which relies on circulating refrigerant to provied its oiling.

I'm sure there is a ton of other things I am forgetting.

Richard, here are some links for parts. Joe at Polar bear was most helpful.

seal kit for V2 compressor:
http://www.polarbearinc.com/PBPC/homepage/Search/Poly/products_PolyBag_Chrysler.html

shaft seal: confirm with joe that this is the correct "carbon seal cartridge" for the V2
http://www.polarbearinc.com/webstore/index.cfm?fuseaction=product.display&product_ID=343&ParentCat=24

If you guys need anything more specific please let me know!!! I'm happy to share! 

CE

[440Ken]

FYI:  Mineral oil does not mix with R134a. Why do you need oil in an automotive AC system? To lubricate the compressor..period. When I replaced my failed compressor on my 1994 Duster (Sundance) I replaced the PAG20 oil with mineral oil. Since the mineral and R134a don't mix the oil stays in the compressor where it is needed. After six years I sold the car with a nice quiet compressor and blowing ice cold air.

My car was one of the test mules for a major compressor remanufacturer. I believe they now ship all their compressors with mineral oil with instructions not to drain the oil when installing.