Air-Con Fabrication - Fittings

[DaveG]

I am installing air-con in my Griffith 500 using custom components and the standard Sandon compressor (TRS105). I have finished most of the work, but I am having trouble locating the standard pipe/hose fittings which connect to the compressor. The larger No:10 hose/pipe which connects to the fuel cooler/evaporator seems to be availble from Dom (Power Performance), but the other (left hand) No: 8 hose/pipe conector appears to be a TVR 'special'. - see snapshots below.





(sorry about the rotation!)

Can anyone a) enlighten me as to a source? or
b) does anyone have these parts for sale?
Any other advice is welcome.

[8Speed]

Sorry, can't help but would be interested to hear how you get on.

[trev4]

Hi Dave, I had the same problem when I did mine. I ended up importing fittings from America and making up my own route. The company were called Vintage Air and their UK dealer was Arnold's Automotive Services Ltd. I routed the pipework through the inner wing on my Chimaera, not sure if that's possible on a Griff.

[DaveG]

Thanks Trev4. Not so easy on a Griff. Once into the drivers wing you then have to get to the Evaporator which means going around the back under dash , back out through the wing to back of engin, or going round the front across the radiator and bck through the passenger wing. A bit too complicated.
Thanks for suggestion.

[snarfy]

Bit late on this one but I finally completed my a/c retrofit. I routed everything through the wings and across the front above the radiator grill. I also got custom made parts for the connection to the original compressor. I'll get some pics and upload soon but omg. It's *ing marvellous having cold air.
My aim was a clean install in the engine bay..

[NicBowman]

Worth the bother? I tried to get an ac car with pas, but so rare dropped the ac. I don’t drive it when it goes over 30C! So never had an issue..

Nic

[DaveG]

I finished my AC setup last summer using the standard configurational setup. (Evaporator, dryer, condenser in std positions.) I had to custom make the connectors to the compressor and I have completely removed the existing heater - blower - micro switch setup. This means the small Dash has been modified to accommodate the AC controls and the normal alloy button/switches removed.
I can attach only one engine photo as I am currently on the opposite side of Australia in Perth and will not be back in Melbourne until Mid-October.

[WBoudreaux]

I’m just starting the process of adding AC to my 97 Griffith. Were you able to use the existing blend box and control head? My understanding is the 500 Griffiths used the same equipment for AC and non-AC cars for those. Any other advice would be much appreciated.

[DaveG]

Hi Wayne,
Not sure I can be of much help, as stated above, I completely removed all the original heater components and replaced these with my mini AC unit. I can attach a few snapshots whic may clarify some of your installtion queries. I can also put you in contact with Tim Benfield in Sydney as he has installed and fabricated his AC with heater.

[WBoudreaux]

Thanks DaveG! I'm going to have it done by a local British car specialist and he asked me to get as much info as I can. No one has ever seen a Griffith here so it's best not to start at 0 if possible.

[olivierfr]

hello,
I am currently thinking about installing the air conditioner on my Chim 400, so thank you for all this sharing.
Could you let me know the power in kW of your evaporators, if you’re happy with it (at what temperature) and if you have systematically moved the fuse box and battery to install it.

[DaveG]

Hi Olivier,
I do not have the power figure for my evaporator. It was a Southern Air 3 vent mini unit and was probably not quite big enough.
The battery was in the boot and fuse box in the usual place. Having removed the old heater I mounted it there with brackets to the bulkhead.

[olivierfr]

thank you for your response @daveg.
Do you still have photos during the assembly so I can observe the details, because I don’t want to touch the fuse box or move the battery?

[olivierfr]

thank you for your response @daveg.
Do you still have photos during the assembly so I can observe the details, because I don’t want to touch the fuse box or move the battery?

[DaveG]

I have a some photos. I have attached a couple which may help.
Parts removed:

Mounting with fuse box temporarily removed:


I have photos of side and mounting plate depending on how much you remove of the original.

[olivierfr]

thank you very much, you posted these photos on the previous posts, they are very useful but if you have other views, it could surely help me.
Did you move the fuse box (certainly because since it s not in the photo, there s no need to put it back where it belongs, which is too convenient!!!) but they could have kept it with the battery like they did originally despite the air conditioning installation? Was it powerful enough to make cold weather with a temperature of 30°C outside?

Edited by olivierfr on Tuesday 15th September 17:24

[DaveG]

The fuse box was returned to its usual place. My ECU (Megasquirt) sits in front of the fuse box. With the aircon I went for a small size and if doing it again I would probably go for a larger unit (4 outlets). The temperature here in summer is often in the 30's and I have managed for 20 years with no aircon. Summer is coming and so I need to re-gas and retune idle on full load.

[olivierfr]

In France, in the southwest, we are now regularly at more than 35°C, which is why I want to equip my chimera. Do you think your model is too weak? According to your photo, it just fits into the compartment; a more powerful model is at least 8 cm wider and I feel like it won’t fit anymore (or else you have to remove the battery and the fuse box). What would you recommend, if you were in my shoes?

[DaveG]

It is a 2 speed fan and I used the three outlets as follows, 1 (left) for passenger dash vent, 2 (centre) for passenger knees and 3 (right) for the existing vent tube across the back of the bulkhead and out to the drivers knees. Probably better for driver to take 2 (centre) to drivers dash vent for more driving comfort. The unit just copes, never a big blast and not very cold - a regas may help this summer.

[olivierfr]

Thank you for this connection clarification, which is very important. You have already been equipped with this air conditioning for several years; in previous years, when it was sufficiently charged with gas, what was the result when it was hot, it was cool in the car, or do you think that wasn’t enough fresh?