I'm looking for help/advice on air conditioning my 911 street/track car. I've spent the winter building a track car that will also spend a fair ammount of time on public roads, mostly to and from the track and PCA club events, some pleasure driving.
The car is a 70 911t with an RSR spec motor and a 915 transmission. I needed a car that I could drive to and from the local tracks and although the ride is going to be lousy (lots and lots of track oriented suspension upgrades). I don't want to give up civility entirely. My local tracks are Willow Springs and Button Willow. Both tracks are in the middle of the Mojave desert and, except for the dead of winter, the heat is miserable.
Someday I will have an enclosed trailer, but right now, with two college bound kids, this car is already way more $$ than my wife can tolerate. I've heard that the original Dealer installed AC Systems were not the most effective units ever made and because the condenser blocks the engine grill they caused an un healthy ammount of heat to build up in the engine compartment.
Is there any one out there that has upgraded an older 911 with air conditioning? what were the results? Where can I start looking to find a system? Am I going to be stuck with a recycled dealer add-on that I'll have to re-furbish or does someone make a more modern system? Are there any fixes that make air conditioning systems work better with the older cars?
Is it possible to retro-fit a system out of a later car that actually had factory installed Air? I have the original dash and it is in near perfect condition so a center vent is not a possibility.
Also, I'm running factory 906 cams and I'm concerned that the high power band of this cam set up will over spin the compressor. I would think that rotary compressors should handle rev's better than the original piston design. Am I correct?
Any one with any experience, advice and thoughts on this project, your imput will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Jim

 

After this 3.1L was installed, I realizeds my A/C was not working. New to the town, I take it to a shop that specializes in German cars. He convinces me that due to the leaks it is prudent to switch to R34a, or whatever it is. New compressor and much more. The shop that fired up my motor apparently let it idle too much. I did not know this at the time, but when I drove it to No CA., it p/u maybe 75 h/p. At any rate. The new A/C is marginal. So when it's warm, I leave it on. First week. 20# boost and A/C does not work. Stripped all the 3/8"` bolts off the clutch housing. Covereds under warrant with a jaundiced eye. I gotta be careful. On boost, the comp. has to be off.

 

There are at least two companies that advertise in Panos and Excellance that specialize in retro fitting A/C to cars with either R12 or R134. I don't have any copies now, but pick one up and that's a start. One I think is called ICE in CA. The other Griffiths? FOr the track, you could remove the belt and add it back on after. A quick job I think. Never used either one, so there's no reference for them good or bad. Just throwing it out there. Maybe someone else has used them or has better ideas.

Jim

 

Wow that is a bummer. Have you ever thought of going with a cool suit? Or is it mainly to and from the track so it would be a pain? Have used them and they work great and are pretty light.

 

Sean:
The AC is pretty much to be used traveling to and from the track, not on the track... I plan to take the AC compressor belt off when on the track.
I've heard about the cool suits, and am very interested in finding out more about them. Not really practical for daily driving though. Have you used one? As I understand it they have two small water-filled lines running in and out, use a fish tank pump for circulation and rely on a small cooler filled with ice to serve as the Heat transfer device. Is this correct? Where do you get them?
Thanks, Jim

 

You could get a few of those mini-fridges that plug into the lighter and leave the doors open.