AC for Chimaera
Discussion
Hi JC, Nice answer :-) but did that while traveling through Italy and France this summer. Got some nasty sunburn and it was near 40 C. While the Chimaera is at its best with the roof off I like traveling in Europe through the Alps and these hot countries in Summer but you need both so I can enjoy no matter what the weather.
Some of my first posts were about exactly the same thing. I was starting to look for a Chimaera, and I wanted aircon for exactly the reasons you state: sometimes it's too damn hot with the roof off, and travelling long distances at high motorway speeds with the roof off gets wearisome after a while. The Chimaera is, after all, a GT car as well as a sports car, and you don't necessarily want the roof off for the whole of a long day's driving.
I'm afraid to say that I drew a blank when asking about retrofitting aircon to a Chimaera, and ended up accepting the fact that my choice of car would be severely limited by requiring one with factory-fitted aircon. I was lucky: I found exactly the spec I was looking for, with aircon, in a colour scheme I liked. But cars with aircon don't come up very often.
That said, I can't imagine it would be impossible to do, if you could source the parts. Every engine has the bolt holes on the right hand side ready to accept the compressor, and there's a bit of plumbing that sits over the right-hand rocker box (the heat exchanger, I think). It would require a hole to be made in the right-hand inner wing for the refrigerant to travel down towards the condenser, which sits in front of the radiator - and I think the dryer is down there as well. Behind the dash, I guess you'd need a different heater box to incorporate the evaporator. There must be some control circuitry as well because the aircon causes the cooling fans to cycle on and off as well.
You could try talking to the technical guys at some of the major independents to see what they think of the feasibility of it. Try talking to Jason at Str8Six, for example. My gut feeling is that it should be possible, but finding the parts will be the tricky bit.
I'm afraid to say that I drew a blank when asking about retrofitting aircon to a Chimaera, and ended up accepting the fact that my choice of car would be severely limited by requiring one with factory-fitted aircon. I was lucky: I found exactly the spec I was looking for, with aircon, in a colour scheme I liked. But cars with aircon don't come up very often.
That said, I can't imagine it would be impossible to do, if you could source the parts. Every engine has the bolt holes on the right hand side ready to accept the compressor, and there's a bit of plumbing that sits over the right-hand rocker box (the heat exchanger, I think). It would require a hole to be made in the right-hand inner wing for the refrigerant to travel down towards the condenser, which sits in front of the radiator - and I think the dryer is down there as well. Behind the dash, I guess you'd need a different heater box to incorporate the evaporator. There must be some control circuitry as well because the aircon causes the cooling fans to cycle on and off as well.
You could try talking to the technical guys at some of the major independents to see what they think of the feasibility of it. Try talking to Jason at Str8Six, for example. My gut feeling is that it should be possible, but finding the parts will be the tricky bit.
Edited by Dr Mike Oxgreen on Sunday 11th November 19:12
Anything's possible and there are companies that retrofit generic A/C systems, but obviously you would be better off with the OE stuff. Find out what bits are needed and check ebay/breakers, most will be standard parts.
I looked into this on a different car a few years back and it was going to cost about a grand - a lot on a cheap car, but maybe worthwhile on a nice Chim you are planning on holding onto. Perhaps best to get a TVR specialist to do it rather than an A/C specialist as obviously they know the cars...
I looked into this on a different car a few years back and it was going to cost about a grand - a lot on a cheap car, but maybe worthwhile on a nice Chim you are planning on holding onto. Perhaps best to get a TVR specialist to do it rather than an A/C specialist as obviously they know the cars...
The achilles' heel of the chimi ac is the evaporator which is very special. The evaporator is fixed dircetly closed to the heat exchanger into the matrix which is install under the dashboard/foot space on copilot side. Take a look to topic
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If you dont get help send me an PN. Regards from far....eu - continet.
Regards
Gregor
http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...
If you dont get help send me an PN. Regards from far....eu - continet.
Regards
Gregor
Not OE but lots of parts and kits in this excellent catalogue.
http://www.nfauto.co.uk./download/catalogue.pdf
http://www.nfauto.co.uk./download/catalogue.pdf
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