Retrofit airconditioning

[GerardJPC]

I gather that some LHD cars, at least some Berlinas, came with air conditioning.  Has anyone here ever retrofitted aircon to a Coupe?

 

[DavidLaver]

Richard Fridd is an airconditioning engineer, but not necessarily cars.

The first issue with fitting a period system is getting the gas it was designed for, and if that's not available getting it to work with a substitute.  

The "if it was me" solution would be to fit something modern and aftermarket.  In fact I did do that to a 1987 Mercedes 300TE before my youngest was born, car and aircon have been great, but that supplier is long gone as it was over 16 years ago.

This thread is 2014, but the few links I tried worked:

https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?t=1429698

For me this is the best "food for thought" link:

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/air-conditioning

[Richard Fridd]

Briefly, 1960s?/70s R12 refrigerant was replaced by R134a in the 80s. (R1234 seems to be used now). The change from R12 to R134a compatible oil, affected hoses/ seals. Both refrigerants have reasonably similar working pressures compared with some others. Also 134a can leak from places where R12 does not. Smaller molecules? There is the well known blue Flaminia PF with retrofit? AC which I saw at at a LMC AGM a while ago.

[frankxhv773t]

I think the Flaminia is this one owned by Mr W. S. (Bill?) James. He has carried out a number of improvements on the car over the years to incorporate more modern comforts and conveniences.

[Richard Fridd]

That is the one thankyou. The blue paint looks good in the photo. Richard

[GG]

In Australia there is a 2000 coupe retrofitted with AC. It was a tidy install, and if you want, I can dig up the photos. The owner said it was not totally straightforward, but it was doable. It seemed like a fair amount of work - I think there was some repositioning of some things, but not sure.

[GerardJPC]

Thanks very much, all.  Maybe a job for some way down the line.

[frankxhv773t]

I dug out some pictures of original fit air conditioning in a Flaminia. I don't think it's the coupe, maybe the Berlina that Martin Buckley had for a while. The pictures illustrate how clunky the old systems were. Something adapted from a modern car would probably be easier to fit.

[Richard Fridd]

Crikey! Looks similar to the commercial cold storage equipment I have been familiar with in the past. 'Running the AC affects mpg' used to be a concern. Richard

[GG]

Found these from 2015. Australian RHD 2000 coupe with AC. Battery relocated. Tidy install.

[GerardJPC]

Interesting, thanks!  I have lots of more important things to sort out on the car, but aircon could at least potentially be a job for next year or beyond.