air conditioning a 356?

356 Porsche-related discussions and questions.
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Adam Wright
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#16 Post by Adam Wright »

JIm-
I like the luggage look, nice touch.
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Check out my Barn Find column in the Registry magazine, always looking for good stories.

Ken Gregory
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#17 Post by Ken Gregory »

If you don't like cutting a lot of 1" holes just make one big one.
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Charlie White
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#18 Post by Charlie White »

Jim, you do beautiful work! What would be a fair price you would charge to put a nice AC setup like you have in your pictures, in a customer's 356?

CW
Charlie White

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Jim Karaba
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#19 Post by Jim Karaba »

Well I am not a professional shop just a serious enthusiast. The pre-A was my personal car and the SC was my boss's car. If I were to charge for my labor I would put a ball park estimate in the 6,000 dollar range for parts and labor. I have not looked at the available street rod units available lately to know how much they are going for. There also might be a better suited unit available now then when I bought those units (about 6 to 10 years ago).

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Charlie White
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#20 Post by Charlie White »

While I wouldn't put AC in my 65C Coupe, and I live in Arizona, your work is a big improvement over the factory approved units offered back in the mid-1960's. Would love to ride in your car here in Arizona in Mid-August to see how it works.

CW
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Jim Karaba
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#21 Post by Jim Karaba »

Charlie White wrote:While I wouldn't put AC in my 65C Coupe, and I live in Arizona, your work is a big improvement over the factory approved units offered back in the mid-1960's. Would love to ride in your car here in Arizona in Mid-August to see how it works.

CW
I drove the boss' SC out there in Sedona and used the a/c just fine. Of course it wasn't 110 like you would see in Phoenix. We enjoy having a/c here in Louisiana to pull the humity out of the air. That is just as important as controling the temps. If you are stcky from humidity you are not comfortable. My 914 project is getting the a/c treatment as well. That car was purchased at the dealer with a/c installed but like the 356 installs, they did butcher jobs. I have repaired all the butchery and have improved the air flow over the condenser and mounted a modern fan which runs quieter and pushes more air. I also improved on the mount making the compressor more accessible and without the need to butcher the engine bay (using a modern sanden instead of a york of course).

Damon Gawley
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#22 Post by Damon Gawley »

I removed an older, somewhat decent, but somewhat hack AC job from my 64 C. If anyone wants the complete kit of parts to install (not resell), PM me.

Thanks,
Damon
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David Seeland
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#23 Post by David Seeland »

Jim,
I like your AC installation and would like to do a similar setup. Do you have any pictures of the compressor bracket on the 356 engine? Is the bracket attached to the two fuel pump studs and the distributor only? 1968 912 pulley? Why did you not run the generator directly from the forward groove? Could you describe the effectiveness of the AC? Outlet temp on high speed fan? Any improvements you would make if you did it again?
David Seeland

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Jim Karaba
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#24 Post by Jim Karaba »

David,
The tension bracket comes off the top exhaust stud for #4 cyl. The exhaust flange is bolted down with a barrel nut then the bracket bolts to that nut. The bracket at the fuel pump/distributor clamp is one of the pivot brackets. The other pivot bracket is built into a plate that bolts to as many existing holes on the front of the fan housing as I could find. I made a plate that mimics the shape of the front of the left side fan shroud and used as many bolt holes as there were to attach it (coil mounts and oil cooler holes). I then have a bracket that comes off that plate which serves as the pivot point for the rear of the compressor. I will be pulling the motor in about 3 weeks to dissasemble it (this long block actually goes in a speedster I am restoring). When I pull all the tin off to swap motors back I will take pictures of the brackets with the compressor not mounted. I can remove the compressor and drop the motor leaving the hoses connected much like in a 911. The reason for the un-orthodox belt arrangement is that the 12 generator is too long (large diameter not small diam.) to line up with the rear pulley. If I was to do it over I would find a small diameter 12V generator so I could use a standard belt arrangement. As for vent temps I think I was getting about 50 degrees out of the vent in the summer. Ideally I think it would be nice to have 2 smaller condensers mounted up front rather than the one large one (one on each side). I could not find any in the dimensions I wanted back when I built this though. 3 condensers like the delanair setup is just too much if you ask me. The a/c is effective though as my neck gets quite cold when using it (blows directly at the back of the seats).
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view of the front pivot mount
view of the front pivot mount
another view of the front pivot mount
another view of the front pivot mount
exhaust mount for belt tensioning
exhaust mount for belt tensioning

Dennis Grist
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#25 Post by Dennis Grist »

FYI: This company in Las Vegas does A/C installations in 356's, among other things. Scroll down on the website to see some photos. The owners name is Mark.
No affiliation.

http://www.356porsche-west.com/
Dennis Grist
1964 SC Coupe

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Chad Williams
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#26 Post by Chad Williams »

Jim, I also really like your setup.
Can this be done with the original 6V system?
I have a black 58 coupe, and Texas summers are hot as heck.
Thanks, Chad

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John Brooks
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#27 Post by John Brooks »

My 912 came with AC, worked for 25-30 years then blew a hose. Been meaning to fix it, Now I just use a Texascoovest, cheaper lighter and works better. http://www.texascoolvest.com
John Brooks

62 Roadster
66 912
84 Cab
getting pushed around in porsches since 1965

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Ronald Sieber
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#28 Post by Ronald Sieber »

Not sure if anyone here would be interested, but there is a small aircraft solution for this subject. An example of a portable a/c that runs on 12V plug-in is found at Sporty's. No hole-drilling, etc. Below's a link to one example; others available as well.

http://www.sportys.com/pilotshop/arctic ... -volt.html?

=rds

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Al Zim
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#29 Post by Al Zim »

Do not do install and air conditioner in you 356 or 912. al zim If you decide to you will need more electricity than the small 12 volt generator produces our 12 volt alternator kit provides that. We also have electronic conversions that do not require rebuilding of your gauges and wiper motor. I believe we have some of the 1968 two belt pulleys from the 1968 cars. al 800.356.2964 Zim's Autotechnik
Last edited by Al Zim on Sat Feb 17, 2018 10:58 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Thomas Sottile
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Re: air conditioning a 356?

#30 Post by Thomas Sottile »

Google Zero Breeze Is A Battery-Powered Air Conditioner For Cooling On The Go
Last edited by Thomas Sottile on Fri Feb 16, 2018 12:42 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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