keep the A/C?

[Foreman72]

anyone seen any gains between a/c and non a/c? cuz if i'll loose possible power due to belt drag and whatnot i'm gonna look @ not keeping it...its not like its a rare car...its a sales bank so there are probably a million of them...SO...does the a/c bring power #s down or am i just stupid...

[A383Wing]

If the AC is turned on, it will take the power down.....if it's off, it's just spinning the bearing...no drag

As far as the "stupid" part of your question..... 

[Foreman72]

If the AC is turned on, it will take the power down.....if it's off, it's just spinning the bearing...no drag

As far as the "stupid" part of your question..... 

thats what i was hoping for...i just don;t want a cluttered engine bay u kno...also have to do A/C resto then...that'll b mad cash

[Charger1973]

I got rid of mine, I like the clean look and I always drive on nice days with the windows down anyhow.  If you want to do it right its a lot of work to convert one to non a/c though, including a new heater box and firewall section.  Those are the 2 things I have yet to change on mine but I plan to do both. 

[Foreman72]

I got rid of mine, I like the clean look and I always drive on nice days with the windows down anyhow.  If you want to do it right its a lot of work to convert one to non a/c though, including a new heater box and firewall section.  Those are the 2 things I have yet to change on mine but I plan to do both. 

so what would be doing it "wrong"

[Charger1973]

Probably the way mine is done right now.   

[Foreman72]

Probably the way mine is done right now.   

care to share

[flyinlow]

I took the A/C out when I switched 318 to 446. Have not gotten around to installing new system yet. V2 compressor ,condenser and plumbing remove about 50 lbs.  

Car weighs about 8.5 lbs per HP.   Thats about the same as a  six HP gain without the AC.

I read a sales ad by a replacement AC compressor company that said the V2 compressor required up to 8 HP on a hot day. vs 3 HP for the newer style 134a compressors.


Faster or cooler  

[A383Wing]

What a lot of people have done is remove all the factory AC stuff from the engine, then remove the condenser from in front of the radiator....what you are left with is all the wires, & AC connectors sticking out of the firewall not connected to anything...looks kinda tacky....

Either keep it all AC under there, or you will have to find a non-AC heater box, and weld up all the extra holes in the firewall that went to the factory AC system...big job, not a lot of fun....I did it to my car....wish I hadn't now

[Charger1973]

I simply removed all A/C components underhood and changed my heater controls to the non A/C (they arent hooked up yet, since I dont have the matching heater box yet).  I also changed my dash panel to the one without heater vents, removed all the ducts under the dash and filled in the driver side vent in the dash frame.  

These arent the best pics but you can get an idea of the difference in the dash alone, looks much cleaner without the vents.  

[Sublime/Sixpack]

I think the engine bay looks much better without the A/C set up, but that cold air blowing on a hot day sure feels good! If the car came with A/C I'd probably keep it that way, but thats me. 

[Foreman72]

i think at the least i would just yank the compressor and whatnot and just clean up the lines...i would't make it look like it came without A/C...but keeping it equals clutter, more $$ spent and to top it off i don't think i'll really need it...

[Corellian Corvette]

I say do it right. You can get a much more efficent compressor from Classic Auto Air that wil be less power draw when in use and weigh less. When it's not in use, it's only costing a little in weight.

I'm the kind of guy that likes it when everything works - so I'm ALWAYS the "repair and fix" guy over the "remove guy". Plus, fixing stuff makes the car more valuable, and personally I just prefer to have everything the way it's supposed to be. A ton of guys would KILL to have an A/C car! On a GM car, since they have the condensor on the engine side, you pay a penalty for having AC in terms of access to to working in the engine compartment, fortunately the Chrysler setup doesn't have that problem - and really what's a couple hoses in your engine compartment?

Any weight gains you are going to save are really not going to be meaningful - the A/C parts probably weigh less than a couple gallons of gas.

[Nacho-RT74]

A/C TO ME, FOREVER!!!

Comfort and power can live together

Hey Matt, did you finally find the correct dash frame ?

[Charger1973]

A/C TO ME, FOREVER!!!

Comfort and power can live together

Hey Matt, did you finally find the correct dash frame ?

Nope I havent touched my car since last summer to be honest.  Thats the one I modified, but if I find the correct one later I will grab it.  Chances are I will find one though, since i'll need to raid a non A/C car to get the other parts anyway. 

[1969chargerrtse]

i think at the least i would just yank the compressor and whatnot and just clean up the lines...i would't make it look like it came without A/C...but keeping it equals clutter, more $$ spent and to top it off i don't think i'll really need it...

I left just the compressor in and didn't mount the lines ( for a clean look ).  In the 69 you need the compressor for the belts, but I guess a non A/C car would route the belts differently.

[TUFCAT]

If it was me.....I would have working A/C!  I hate to be sweaty. 

[COKE]

I have a 69´non A/C car.
I will install a Classic Auto air kit as soon as i have the money.

There are a lot o people here who have removed the A/C and the heater box from their cars,just to save  the "Extra weight".And they run the 1/4 mile two or three times a year .

I hate to see the A/C controls without function there  or the vents without nothing behind.

A/C for me too

[Rallye]

Foreman, if you're going to be driving the car a lot, like I do mine, then you'll need the A/C.  Mine's originally a non-A/C car, but I will definitely be installing the Classic Auto Air this year.  Since you have an original A/C car, it won't be "mad cash" to restore the system if most of it is already there.  There's nothing worse than a nice long road trip with your hot girl-friend bitching the entire time about how we should have taken her Honda because it has A/C.  Save yourself the headache, get that A/C blowing cold and enjoy life.         

[Rolling_Thunder]

There's nothing worse than a nice long road trip with your hot girl-friend bitching the entire time about how we should have taken her Honda because it has A/C.  Save yourself the headache, get that A/C blowing cold and enjoy life.         

hmmmm     well...    good point there...   That is why my Charger will have Vintage Air in it and my Satellite will have a referbished factory A/C system...   I have all the parts so I figure "Why the hell not" - better to have it and never use it then to say "my dumbass should have...."

[Foreman72]

many thanks for your thoughts gents 

how much did restoring your a/c run you ralley?

it's going to be a 3 season car and it doesn't get too scorching up here in NH...but i think for car value and functionally sake i guess i'll hold on to it

[Foreman72]

man the more i look at engine bays w a/c the less i want it ...but if i can find a way to do it cleanly...so its a un noticeable as possible...then it'll be considered...i just don't want a messy engine sanctuary