Adding A/C to a P-20

[st63]

I've recently acquired a 1950 P-20 project car, and since it needs a complete re-wire anyway, I'm considering switching over to a 12 volt harness and adding air conditioning.  I've always left my other old cars 6 volt and never had trouble,  BUT, it sure would be nice to have A/C here in Southern California.  Has anyone else added a "Vintage Air" (or similar) unit to their old Mopar?     If so, I'd love to hear how the swap was made from the old heater system to the new. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

personally I prefer the Hurricane 1000...and I do not mean the 2000 which is vacuum controlled or the 3000 electronic controlled..they got you with proprietary software at that point....the 1000 will connect to your original heater controls with no problem..but then it is your money, you baby and your time, given, you doing the install yourself..else if farming out you may be subject to the shop's favorite poison

[Oldguy48]

I agree with Plymouthy. I installed a Hurricane 1000 (Old Air Products) in my P15, and it works great. And the evaporator unit in the passenger compartment took up about the same space as the original heater.

Wayne

[DJ194950]

(1) P-20's had the heater box under the hood with one fan mounted near the grille in front of the heater core box with a fiber tube to the firewall and some fancier models also had a second fan for good defrost function mounted under the dash.

 

I like the idea however of replacing the under hood heater box with the heat/ac also mounted under the hood on the passenger side inner fender . How to hook up the heat/cool ducts to the interior would have to be figured out. Maybe Tim (PA) has done this?. Under dash area is extremely short-front to back- so a under hood solution is very appealing.

 

Do a forum search  on this forum to what several others have done to mount a compressor to the motor for the ac. That should give you some ideas of your own and the issues to be dealt with.

 

I would certainly follow your journey with this as I also have a P-20 4 dr.

 

I say go for it, but it's your time/money. Best of luck with this!

 

 

DJ

[st63]

I appreciate the input....I'm definitely leaning towards the Hurricane 1000, as it seems to take up less space than the Vintage Air units, and I like the idea of using my factory original heater controls.  I think it can be made to work by installing it on the engine side of the firewall, since there will be a whole lot of space there once the original heating system is removed. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

I would never install the evaporator in the engine compartment of the older cars.   The install of the Hurricane 1000 in my 51 Plymouth Suburban has it placed inside and is truly out of the way.  Your call though...it is your car...the install of the unit caused me to make a mounting and transitioning bracket that allows flush fit and takes into account the curves of the firewall...it is a bit of custom work but truly anyone can come up with this on their own if they are truly motivated...
 

[st63]

That's probably a good idea...especially since the unit is fairly compact anyway.  I haven't found anything in the forum archives for where the compressor and pulley would mount best....where did you mount it on your 51, and did the Hurricane setup come with brackets to mount it or did you fabricate your own?

Edited August 28, 2016 by st63

[Labrauer]

This is an interesting topic. I was always under the impression that you couldn't put air conditioning in the P15's simply because of the Flathead engine and the power it has being able to maintain the performance without bogging the motor down. I am very interested in where can someone get one of these Hurricane 1000 units and also am interested in some pictures of the set up in peoples cars to see just what it might involve. Down here in south Texas it gets mighty hot on these long summer days. 

[Young Ed]

This is an interesting topic. I was always under the impression that you couldn't put air conditioning in the P15's simply because of the Flathead engine and the power it has being able to maintain the performance without bogging the motor down. I am very interested in where can someone get one of these Hurricane 1000 units and also am interested in some pictures of the set up in peoples cars to see just what it might involve. Down here in south Texas it gets mighty hot on these long summer days. 

I think that was probably more true in the past. The modern compressors are quite efficient and I don't think rob much HP.

[Dave72dt]

That's probably a good idea...especially since the unit is fairly compact anyway.  I haven't found anything in the forum archives for where the compressor and pulley would mount best....where did you mount it on your 51, and did the Hurricane setup come with brackets to mount it or did you fabricate your own?

I don't think PA"s going to be a lot of help for the compressor mount on that 51. if you notice in the right side of the pic is an engine that does not look like a flathead.  Most of his cars do not retain the flathead.  Mounting and driving the compressor is going to be troublesome, similar to mounting and driving a power steering pump.  You might try searching power steering to get some ideas.

[Plymouthy Adams]

bingo.....my Suburban I bought was a rusty hulk with locked up engine etc and the main reason I bought it was not to feel bad cutting and retrofitting the 3.9 EFI V6 with A500 OD automatic  into it with modern 8 1/4 rear axle upgrade not to mention losing all the antique suspension components...not everyone's cup of tea but a soothing sip for myself.  Frankly put, I love the old body styles...the flathead, while an excellent example of the era is not on par with my wants for a road machine.

 

Making an adapter for the modern Sanden compressors that rob little power is not a hard task. 

[RedBay]

http://p15-d24.com/topic/29644-flathead-ac/page-3

[Plymouthy Adams]

as for the link above...the dual dyno setup.....I will say this....if you not careful and know just what you probing...finding way high voltage is not uncommon on that car...while unique, the next owner carried the car to my house for some work....it is very redundant, easier ways to do this...

 

remember ..if you got a -40 and a -60 power supply you automatically have a +20