Chillin' Louie (Part V: The Clardy Evaporator Assembly)

The Bigger Picture of the Evaporator Assembly and Console

This whole thing started because a) I did some work on the bone-stock Clardy system in my friend Jose Rosario's 2002 and was very impressed with how cold it blew after shooting just one can of R134a into it, and after that b) I happened into a full-up Clardy system at The Vintage in 2017 for a price I couldn't pass up. As I say in my a/c book, whether you're doing an installation of a system like the one I bought, or a rejuvenation of an already installed but long-dead system, the smart path is to:

• Re-use the original evaporator assembly (but first disassemble it, flush it out, then replace the expansion valve) and its original console.
• Throw nearly everything else away.

In other words, you're going to use a new Sanden 508 compressor or clone thereof and a bracket to mount it to the block, you're going to use a modern parallel-flow condenser whose size is limited to about 10x18 unless you cut some metal in the nose, you're going to use as big a fan that fits between the hood supports (12"), you're going to use some generic inexpensive receiver-drier, and you're going to make all new hoses. All those things are moderately-priced components that are easily sourced. Commodities really. So the only thing that really matters is that evaporator assembly and console.

I've said in my book and here on the FAQ that, although you can try to fit an evap assembly from another car (there were persistent unsubstantiated rumors here on the FAQ that an evap box from something weird and small and Japanese like a Moparbishi Colt/Champ would fit), or a generic universal evaporator assembly, or a generic climate control box (an evaporator and heater core in one box that creates a blended temperature-controlled output), I think that most people will be happy using the evap assembly and console from one of the original three dealer-installed systems (Behr, Frigiking, Clardy), as that way they'll have something that looks like it's been engineered to fit as opposed to, well, hacked. I'll freely admit that that view was influenced by trying, 20 years ago, to retrofit a/c into my E9 coupe, starting off with a generic evaporator assembly, and realizing that, even if it fit under the dash, there was no way in hell it was ever going to sit inside a console and look well-integrated. I'll come back to this in a moment.

In the first installment of this series, I included photographs of the evaporator assemblies and surrounding consoles of all three dealer-installed a/c systems (I've read here on the FAQ about a fourth that was mounted on the parcel shelf, but I'm not familiar with it). Personally, I think that the Behr system is by far the best looking of the three. It's got a real console with hard sides that wrap completely around both the evap assembly and the shifter, looks very similar to to the non-a/c console, and gives a family resemblance to the Behr a/c systems in the E3 Bavaria and E9 3.0CS coupe. I always thought that the Clardy console was just plain weird-looking, too angular in a 2002 interior and dashboard that's otherwise bereft of hard lines and hard angles. I never would've given it a second thought if Jose's hadn't worked so well after I fixed it.

Having bought this old Clardy system and installed the evap assembly, I've learned a bit more. 

Physical configuration: As I showed in the first installment, the Behr evap assembly has everything (evaporator core, expansion valve, blower motor) inside a hard plastic case that's kind of a pain to crack open and disassemble. In contrast, the Clardy has the blower motor hanging out to the right and the expansion valve behind on the left. Further, the Clardy doesn't really even have a "case" like the Behr; it's more two thin halves of plastic shrouding that are screwed together. In comparison with the Behr, it's light to the point of being flimsy, and way the the blower is screwed to the side almost looks like a kluge. However, it does make it so the expansion valve and blower motor can be replaced without tearing the thing apart.

Clardy evaporator assembly. Photo courtesy Earl Meyers.

Evaporator core size comparison: I was curious if the mystique of the performance of the Clardy system was because it has a larger evaporator core than the Behr. It doesn't. The Behr evaporator core is about 8.25 x 7.75 x 3.375 inches (about 216 cubic inches). The Clardy core is about 10.25 x 3.75 x 3.625 inches (about 139 cubic inches). So it's about 35% smaller than the Behr evaporator core. Most surprising.

Expansion valve and o-ring fittings: As I said in Part I, both the Behr and Frigiking have old-school externally-regulated expansion valves, but the Clardy system has a modern block-style internally-regulated expansion valve. What I didn't realize until I took mine apart to replace the valve is that both the external hose connections to the expansion valve and the connections between the expansion valve and the core itself are o-ring connections. This is great because it means that it's possible to put an a/c system in a 2002 that has only o-ring fittings and no flare fittings. This dramatically increases the chance that, when you put the system together and tighten the fittings down, it'll be leak-free. It's also surprising because I believe that the original Clardy system's other components are not o-ring fittings; they're flares.

Preparing to remove the original block-style expansion valve on my Clardy evaporator assembly.

And beneath it, o-rings!

Let me expand on that flare/o-ring observation. In most vintage a/c systems including the original Behr system, every component—compressor, evaporator assembly, condenser, drier—had flare fittings. When you rejuvenate a system, you almost always need to make new hoses anyway, so you'd be silly not to replace the compressor, condenser, and drier with components with modern o-ring fittings. However, there's no getting around the fact that the fittings on the Behr evaporator assembly have flares. You can use flare-to-o-ring adapters (and I usually do), but it doesn't solve the fundamental issue of those fittings, as well as the expansion valve fittings inside the assembly, having leak-prone flares. Flare fittings use a metal-on-metal sealing face. You have to crank them down really tight to get them to seal. It's possible to tighten them so much that you actually crack the flare. I've done it. Believe me, few things are a frustrating as installing an evaporator assembly, hooking up all the plumbing, charging it, and finding that you have a leak inside the evaporator assembly and have to pull it out and take it apart again. With the Clardy's evaporator assembly having o-ring fittings on the block expansion valve, it means that, once you update the other components, there are no flares in the system. Zero. This alone is a HUGE advantage of the Clardy evap assembly.

Form factor and how it affects installation: You've seen the photos that show how the Clardy evap assembly has that big blower motor on the right side, hanging into the passenger compartment. What you probably haven't seen is what the consequence of that is in terms of mounting.

The Behr evaporator assembly basically sits on the transmission hump. There's a metal stand for it that's a pain and probably a bit over-engineered—the stand screws to the hump, attaches to the bottom of the assembly, and there are 10mm bolts on sliding slots that you try to reach in and tighten, but even without the stand, it still basically sits on the hump. And it's fully surrounded by a hard-sided console that wraps completely around the shift lever. It's got a trapezoidal faceplate that's held in place to the console by screws through the sides. 

In contrast, the Clardy assembly does NOT sit on the hump at all. Instead it has two little metal tabs that you need to screw into the corners of the heater box, and it hangs from those. Yeesh! And the Clardy console isn't really a console at all, at least not as compared with the hard-sided Behr console. Instead, the faceplate is the business end, and two flappy thin plastic side pieces screw to it, rather than the other way around. Two other pieces extend around the shifter to make it look like it wraps around it, which it really doesn't, at least not in the way that the Behr console wraps around the shifter. I'll photograph all this in a later installment when it's all buttoned up.

But the point is that the whole Clardy setup is a little weird and kind of flimsy as compared with the Behr system. 

Faceplate bracket: In the photos below, you'll see that there's a metal bracket above the evaporator assembly. I'd already screwed it to the underside of the dash as part of the test fit. If you're going to retrofit a Clardy system, you need this bracket, as it holds the faceplate. The installation of the faceplate and ashtray will be a pain without it. (This is an example of why it's always handy to buy a full-up removed a/c system even though you know you'll throw out the compressor, condenser, fan, receiver-drier, and hoses. You never know when there's a piece like this without which your installation life will be difficult.)

Evaporator assembly maintenance

Okay. So you've bought a used evaporator assembly. You do NOT just throw it in the car. First, with the old expansion valve removed, you flush out the evaporator core. This removes dirt, traces of old refrigerant oil, and other contaminants. Why anyone would install a used a/c evap assembly without disassembling and flushing it is beyond me.

Are you feeling... flushed?

Next, if you're smart, you replace the expansion valve. Some enterprising soul here on the FAQ had already figured out that the two fittings on the front of the expansion valve are like they are on most evaporator assemblies (#6  input) and #10 output), but on the back of the expansion valve where it mates to the actual evaporator fittings, it's two #10s, and that a Four Seasons 38881 expansion valve fits. I got really lucky and found one on Amazon for $10.31 :^). Because it's new, I assume it's a valve meant for R134a.

A word on this. You've probably read that the expansion valve should match the refrigerant—that you should use an R12 expansion valve for R12, and an R134a valve for R134a—but I haven't always followed that advice. Sometimes, when rejuvenating a Behr system, I've reused the original R12 expansion valve. Sometimes I've combed eBay to purchase a new old stock Egelhof expansion valve and used them with R134a. Sometimes I've bought a new and presumably R134a-compliant expansion valve. I can't say that I've ever found the valve to the the sole and obvious determining factor of either a system that blows so cold that it shatters the enamel on my teeth, or performs so poorly that it feels like something's wrong.

New o-rings wetted-up with Nylog Blue sealer

Newly-installed expansion valve

Lastly, I connected the blower fan directly to a battery to verify that it worked (it did) and that it didn't rub (it did; requiring a little jiggering of the fan motor inside its housing). The fan motor was then turned on and rechecked at several times during the evap assembly installation. You don't want to button everything up to find that the fan scrapes.

Evaporator assembly installation

Okay. Let's get on with it.

For the actual evap installation, I combed the FAQ for a set of Clardy installation instructions, found references to them, saw wiring diagrams and charging instructions, but never found a complete set of installation instructions. I pulsed some FAQers and they sent what they had, but I never got my hands on the part that describes what I was looking for, which is how exactly to install the evap box. Fortunately I did find this photo, unmistakably showing the little tabs on the evap box screwed to the corners of the heater box.

Photo courtesy of Conserv (Steve)

There was also the question of the position of that faceplate bracket. It's pretty clear from the above photo, but I also found this pic from the Clardy installation manual on the FAQ. It was unclear to me whether the two outer screws were supposed to replace already existing under-dash screws that are very close to those locations, but the ones in my car that those locations were solidly rusted in place, so I drilled new holes near them.

Clardy faceplate bracket placement. I forget who posted it on the FAQ, but thanks.

Looking at the photos, I first mounted the bracket under the dash, then test-fit the faceplate to it and verified that the faceplate's curved base sat correctly on the transmission hump.

Test-fitting the Clardy faceplate and bracket.

Once I was convinced that the faceplate sat about right, I took it off, supported the evap assembly on a block of wood on the hump, put the faceplate back on, slid the back of the vent openings into the opening in the front of the evap assembly, and verified that, basically, if you lifted the evap box as high up as it would go, the tab locations looked about like they did in the two photos above without making the vent ridge on the faceplate pop out of the evap box. I marked and drilled the holes in the heater box for #8 Phillips screws, but first looked at an old heater box I had kicking around to reassure myself I wasn't about to accidentally drill holes in the heater core.

A fair amount of time and stress over two very small holes.

With this done, I could finally hang my prize.

Yay!

I'll do a big wrap-up at the end of this series, but since I'm concentrating here on the evap assembly and I just talked about it in a fair amount of detail, here's a small wrap-up:

When I published my a/c book three years ago, I said that I thought most people would be happy building a system around one of the original three dealer-installed evaporator assemblies. Since installing this Clardy box, I know a little more than I did then. The 2002 a/c system that Bob Poggi at ICE AC sells reportedly uses an evaporator assembly that's very similar to the Clardy box. I've written to Bob Poggi to try and get some details on what the evaporator assembly actually is and how it differs from the original Clardy box (their website is horrible). The only detail he's provided me is "I can assure you it has no ties to the Clardy system aside from the offset blower assembly." From the occasional photos of the ICE evaporator assembly I've found here on the FAQ, the ICE box looks extremely similar to the Clardy box, right down to the little mounting tabs that look like they need to be screwed to the heater box the same way. The fact that the KoogleWerks faceplate is advertised as working for both the Clardy as well as the ICE system certainly indicate that, at least as far as mounting and form factor, the two systems are extremely similar.

The point is that, if I was doing a build on a car, and was looking for a new evaporator assembly and faceplate/console that worked better than a 45-year-old one but also looked like it wasn't a hastily-built one-off, I'd look at the ICE evaporator assembly, as it is, I believe, the only new commercially-available option that fits that bill. Yes, there is the Vintage Air mini-system (and the DTech system that I believe is built around it), but that's not just an evaporator assembly; it's a climate control system with layers of additional complication with which I have zero experience.

Next installment: The bulkhead connectors.

--Rob

(My a/c book Just Needs a Recharge: The Hack Mechanic Guide to Vintage Air Conditioning can be purchased here on Amazon, or personally-inscribed copies of it and my other books can be purchased directly from me here.)