73s A/C - Is It Original?

[admin_old]

The early 911 A/C systems were marginal at best... still are (air cooled 911s anyway). The PO probably installed the late dash (ducting as well?) to increase airflow and cooling. It looks like your car still has the original York compressor which is not as efficient as later compressors. You might be in a quandry here as to authenticity vs. higher efficiency. How many condensers does the car have? As Jack mentioned, early cars only have a single condenser under the rear deck lid. Later 911s have an add'l condenser under the front pan area for increased heat transfer (read cooler air). What do you want, authentic, almost-cool air or not authentic, late model-almost-cool-but-more airflow?

The windshield must come out. It's about $65 to have a mobile glass service R&R it, new windshield weatherstripping ($75?) and a replacement dash ($200-$450). You might consider removing the windshield yourself, take your time to replace the dash, then call the mobile glass guy to reinstall the windshield w/new seal. Make sure it doesn't leak.

The urgency to make it "right" right away depends on how many factors. If you plan to concours it, and this car hasn't been, you've got a lot of other things to work on.

Sherwood

[caproader]

Not sure where you are in Michigan, but if you can handle a road trip down I-75 to Cincinnati, I am having a get together of the Cincinnati area Early 911/912/914 registry at my house on Saturday 25 January 2003. I have an almost stock 73 Sportomatic 'S' with under the dash a/c and a 73 cis T (Targa) that used to have under the dash a/c. Happy to swap info with you.

john aka caproader, johnandmarsha@fuse.net

[JCR]

Hey, thanks for the invite. That's a bit of a hike from here (northern Detroit suburbs). I have plans to be on vacation someplace warmer at the end of Jan. but I'll keep it in mind.

It's good to hear there are groups (no matter how large or small) meeting east of the Mississippi!

[caproader]

If you are interested and if you will send me your email address, I will add you to the list. We have about 35 cars so far with the furthest from Cincinnati being Akron, Ohio. Detroit can't be that much further as the crow flies.

John

[JCR]

Well, if anyone is interested, I got to the bottom of the modified A/C questions I had.
Today I removed all the condensers, hoses, blower and compressor… WOW what a lot of crap. Haven’t weighed it yet – must be 60 – 70 lbs.

Somebody had re-routed the blower duct with a PVC elbow pipe and duct tape too blow out the incorrect center dash vents. Unfortunately, they cut unibody metal (it pains me to say it) along the back edge of the smuggler’s box to make room for the PVC pipe. The *%#^@*# hacked notch is about 3” in diameter. WHY do people do this?

Also found a poorly installed Alpine alarm (rats nest of wires and relays) that was tapped into ignition wires and the ashtray support was also pretty well (and unnecessarily) hacked up to mount non original A/C switches. I may need to replace mount to install ashtray. I also removed the Alpine CD player and all non factory wiring in anticipation of finding an original Blau.

Any suggestions for closing/sealing the holes left by the removed A/C hoses and bracket screws?

[wit61]

I can relate !! Last weekend I removed the after market installation from my 73.5. Not only did they cut the unibody behind the smuggler's box, but there was a leak which caused some corrosion in the box itself. Aaaaarrrrghh !!

At least I've removed the system and filled the small holes along the underbody and fender wells left by the hose mount clamps (I used POR-15).

Now for that gaping hole in the bulkhead, knee pads,.......

[Silver Surfer]

Wit61, I'd sure be interested to hear what you do about the bulkead. My 73 had some of the ac removed when I bought it, and I think I might just remove the rest of it and bring it back to pre-dealer-molestation.

Silver Surfer
Mark Carlson
73 911 S Coupe #1270

[yopurp]

Jared & Mark,

Insomnia caused me to find this old post (actually it was my 3yr old asking for a drink of water). I found out from my CoA that my AC unit was not factory. After we pulled it, an noticed the VW mfg plate on it, we decided to box it. However, I was left with the same hand cut hole in the smuggler's box. Apparently, dealers just hacked into the wall by hand. We decided to cut up some patch metal, hand fit it, then weld and cover. Here are a few pics. I will take a new one w/the smuggler's box open, but it cleans up pretty well. This may be moot, since your post was 5 months ago, but here it is anyway.

[yopurp]

inside smugglers box

[yopurp]

whole thing is finally getting there