Greetings all,

The rebuild of my 130 continues along. I've got the dead engine out of the car and used this opportunity to pull the Heater box.

It's a good thing I did, as the box and heater core are quite nasty. The core was clearly leaking, and the drains in the box were all completely clogged.

Before I decide to have the heater core recored / replaced, I got the crazy idea that this would be a perfect time to fit an air conditioner unit in the car.

I've scanned over a few of the aftermarket universal AC websites. Vintage air has a combined heater / AC evaporator unit that looks like it could almost work.

Has anyone else done this? I'd appreciate any details or suggestions.

I'd love to have AC in the car, but I'd hate to have to use the under dash (and bulky) original unit.


And now for some pictures of the on-going project!

Under the hood with the engine and heater box removed:





Here's the leaky heater core sitting on the hood of my 245:


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I have an "original" a/c unit in my sedan. It works okay, except it blows cold air directly on the passenger, takes up a lot of knee room, is noisy and is generally archaic. I have a friend who has spared no expense building a hot rod out of a '35 Ford 2 dr sedan. It looks almost completely stock inside and out, but has a modern aftermarket "hot rod" a/c installed and it's no where to be seen, not even the controls. This approach might interest you. I think you can Google something like "hot rod a/c" to find out more.

Previous post on this subject...Dan
http://www.brickboard.com/RWD/volvo/1281279/120-130/ac_parts_list.html

I assume you will replace all the seals on the various flappers in the heater box; it's well worth it. Better defrosting/defogging and more heat.

Don't forget about the molded drain hose in the bottom of the heater box; they tend to dry out and break off. Failure to replace will leave a puddle of water on the floor the first it rains...

If you're not planning on having a family any time soon, blocking off the air duct on the bottom that supplies heat to the rear passenger footwells will give more airflow up front, or just do it anyway and make the little ones suffer; builds character ;)

Bill

Nice. I sandblasted and rebuilt my heater a couple months ago. My core was fine though. I have pics if you want them.

I've wanted AC since I got the car, but the cost has always turned me off. I think those combo units are over a grand right?


Your alternator tensioner bracket looks like it's about 3/8" of an inch thick. Is that stock?

I picked up the alternator bracket at the Ipd garage sale last year. I don't remember who I got it from, but there were several more there.

It's a LOT stronger than the then bracket I originally had, and it does a better job of holding the alternator straight.

I have no idea if it is an aftermarket part, or if Volvo supplied them on some models.

It was certainly worth the $5 I paid for it.
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http://dylans122.blogspot.com

Dylan!
I think the later models (140s, etc) had the sturdier alternator belt tensioner.

Before you spring for a combined AC/Heater unit look it over really well.
Remember that it takes about TWICE as much air to cool as to heat so you'll
want a big blower and big evaporator coil so as not to impede the air flow. That will make putting it in the space now occupied by the heater sort of problematic.
I would also recommend that you NOT be a pioneer/hero and be the first one you know of
to put this unit in a car like yours - find someone else who has done it and talk to him
before you cough up the $$$.
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George Downs, Bartlesville, Heart of the USA!

How about a climate system from another car? Off the top of my head, the 740s have their's tuck under the passenager side.

Paul

One of the things I like about the idea of using a Vintage air unit is that I think I can futz it to use the original in dash controls for routing air and setting the temperature. I don't know what the 700 series climate control system is like, but if it's anything like the 200 series, I don't think it would work.

This is very much an "idea on paper" at this point, though I do have one of the mock up in-dash evaporator units that I'm going to play around with this week.
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http://dylans122.blogspot.com