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Fitting Air Con to an old Campervan

I was considering the possibility of designing an air con system for my 1987 campervan by removing a system from an old car and tying to fit it to my VW LT35. My biggest concerns so far have been how to fix the compressor to my engine. My initial thoughts are to mount the compressor and run a separate belt to it. This may mean attaching a new or adapted pulley to the existing crack pulley. The other problems of fitting the evaporator inside should not be that difficult as lots of space and the same with the condenser as plenty of room behind front grill.

Failing this, I may look into a roof mounted air con units as used on some coaches or some of the smaller ones' made by electrolux for motorhomes.

Graham

Reply to
Graham
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"Graham" gurgled happily, sounding much like they were saying:

That's how it's done on the old-shape Saab 900. All you really need consider is making sure the belt runs are straight.

...which would mean an upgraded alternator to supply the power for it. Mind you, if you're using it as a camper in hot climates, it may be worth looking at, especially if it can be powered from 240v as well as 12v.

Reply to
Adrian

You'd need one hell of a size alternator to run half decent air-con - it needs several horsepower. That's why the compressor is driven directly in car installations.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Find a vehicle that uses the same engine and is fitted with AC and get the bits from a breakers yard. The cost of new parts would be high.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

Porshe 924 might fit.

Reply to
Duncan Wood

I suspect he'd probably have more look trying to find an aftermarket AC kit - I had a Mk2 Golf which had aftermarket AC.

Reply to
Pete M

Could be - but I'd guess the difficult part is engineering the compressor fitment and drive. With plenty of space fitting the condenser isn't so much of a problem. The interior installation could be tricky, though, so I suppose that's where an aftermarket one would score. But there's no reason why you can't mix and match.

Reply to
Dave Plowman (News)

ISTR VW blocks have stayed very similar for a long time - a lot of bits bolt straight up on the MK2 to MKIV 1.8T conversion for example. I wouldn't be suprised if you could fit MK4 AC to an old 4cyl VW block without great hassle. The other obvious option is second hand kit from South Africa or South America.

Reply to
Doki

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