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AC IN 02 A GOOD THING????

Guest Anonymous

By Guest Anonymous
in BMW 2002 and other '02

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Guest Anonymous

Guest Anonymous

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Hi,

I'm a long-time 02 fan and have heard (seen) mixed messages about AC in 02's. Some say it weighs too much and takes the place of sound deadening stuff. When looking for an 02 is AC an asset or liability? Also, can an AC be installed as an after-market in an 02 that doesn't have it? Thanks

Brian

[o=()=o]

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Guest Anonymous

Guest Anonymous

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I am pondering the same thing. I had originally decided to yank out the worthless Frigiking unit and go w/o ac altogether. Then I drove a couple of miles on a typical Virginia afternoon in August - disgusting. Has anyone found an effective ac system? The archives suggest using a new system from Vintage Air and ICE. Anyone actually tried these?

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Guest Anonymous

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This is the radiator-like part that goes in front . The bigger the condenser, the better the A/C will cool.

The problem with 2002's is that the space they have for it is rather limited. I am planning to install A/C in mine (looks like early next year and am fortunate to have several customers who distribute A/C parts. I will do a trial fit and will find out which is the largest size that will fit.

Another factor is the compressor. A Sanden rotary compressor will sap the least amount of power from your engine and will work great.

One of my customers installed a custom-made unit in a tii using the stock , non A/C console and some universal aftermarket vents installed on it. Don't recall what evaporator and blower he used, but I will try to find out. It works great in our 90 deg plus weather and super-high humidity.

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..unit, and it definitely adds some weight to the car and draws some power. My '75 originally didn't have air, but the prev. owner went to considerable expense to join a '74's Behr interior components with modern hoses, a rotory compressor, and a very nice custom mount to hold the compressor. Though I don't often use the a/c, when I want to drive along quietly, it's really nice to crank on the air conditioning.

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Guest Anonymous

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URL: http://www.vintageair.com/

Fortunately, there's a Vintage Air dealer about 5 miles from me who has most of their stuff on the shelf so I've been able to look at their under-dash units "in the flesh". Have discussed the installation with the dealer and they insist that the Vintage Air units can turn the interior into a meat locker if desired.

At this point, the plan is to us a Gen II Compact unit (heat/ac/defrost) in place of the original '02 heater box. Installation will require fabricating a blank-off plate for the hole in the cowl, shortening & rehinging the glove box, and running new water lines to connect the unit to the existing '02 lines along with plumbing the ac side. The car already has a Volvo crossflow radiator and 320 radiator fan installed.

The easy way to run the ac vents would be to run under-dash add-on units (Vintage Air has lots of options - see the attached link) but I think I'm going to do it the hard way and use 320 ac vents through the front of the lower dash.

If all goes as planned, it'll be blowing cold before the weather warms up next spring - will post progress on the board......

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It adds some weight, but I assert that the average '02 driver can't detect the difference; if you aren't racing, the extra weight doesn't much matter. It draws negligible power when not in use. Newer rotary compressors are 3x as efficient as the original compressors. Working A/C is an asset. If you go for it, be sure to get an R-134a rather than an R-12 system; same price, cheaper to maintain.

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bangle1.jpg

Otherwise not advised as if you ever have to remove the dash for any reason it's a pain_in_da_arse.

IMHO the Fridgeking is the best stock unit, the A/C guys can work on it easily and the console/faceplate is workable, good luck; -A (getting Fridgeking a/c up soon)

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I had my AC installed in Houston where it is a must. Behr console, fan and evaporator. Looks nice and the fan blows harder than the clardy or frigiking units. New Sandin rotary compressor, oversized condenser, and 14" electric pusher fan up front. We used a Nissan maxima radiator core and modified the tanks for use of stock hoses. Some sheet metal cutting req'd. It blows ice cold and the temp. gauge never ran over half way even sitting in traffic. AC is a good thing!

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I had heard that was the way to go. I'm looking into

options for my other '02.

I personally like the look of the Behr unit. I've got a

Behr unit in our '71 and it blows real cold. It's been

charged up real well w/ freon. It is definitely nice to

have. I'd eventually like to get around to installing it

on my other car. But that will be after I renew my

heaterbox and dash, so then, hopefully I won't have

to remove the console for a long time.

Even if I had to remove the a/c console at some

time, the benefit of having cool blowing a/c when

you want it, outweighs the trouble of having to deal

w/ all the trouble of working around the unit (IMHO).

Rob

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