Serban Posted May 30, 2014 Share Posted May 30, 2014 Hey everyone, I've had the Z for about 8 months now, and I'm starting to drive it more and more, and coincidentally, it's starting to get hotter and hotter outside. From what the previous owner told me, this was a CA base model Z, it looks like an aftermarket A/C system was added on. It blows cold when you first fill it up, but there must be a leak somewhere because over time, it loses freon. Does anyone have any info on this aftermarket setup? What kind of compressor that is? I'd like to know in case I ever need to replace it. Next question is about the blower motor. I've spent the last hour going through blower motor upgrade threads, and saw some about the Civic blower being talked about. Was there any difference between on the A/C and non A/C cars blower motors on the Z? Could I really benefit from it if my car was the base, non A/C model? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Standard ARA or Frigi-King setup that utilized a York AC compressor. You will find them on many domestic cars as well. If you want better performance and a quieter compressor, just swap to a Sanden Rotary off a 280Z or 280ZX. You can run their front pulley and accessory drive with the larger belts. Common conversion to get that klunky York corn popper compressor off the side of the engine. They do make nice air compressors as they pump to 250+ psi! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Oh, and the biggest thing you can do to boost your AC efficiency besides making sure ALL the air goes across the evaporator, and NO leaks for warm air to get into the fan without going across the EVAP....is to boost your fan capacity and get more air exchange across the EVAP/cooler. The aftermarket cars used the same fan as stock, the most people did was put the later 280Z fan onto the existing motor. That is a fart in a windstorm compared to the Honda blower. You get more air at "Lo" than you did on High before! You want to seal all those leaks when you drop the cooler to get to the fan. I used HVAC duct foam to make a proper gasket, and a small bottle jack to get it positioned and compress the gasket (and hold it in place) while I re screwed the brackets. That setup with a rear window louvre (and tint if you can--I didn't have it) ran 70F inside the car doing 80+ across I80 in 103F heat! "Acceptable"! They get a bad wrap mostly from air bypassing the cooler, and insufficient fan delivery for adequate air exchange. Fix those two things (and get that nice quiet Sanden in there) and that system should work great. I use Freeze-12 in my setup when I replaced the compressor...but even with the York and Freeze 12 OR R134, I could get 37 degrees center-register air temps. There is sufficient capacity on compression and condensing...it's those leaky evaporator housings that let uncooked air bypass, and poor fan volume that kill the system after a few decades! Get it sealed up, and you will be surprised how well it works. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 Now, realising I misread 240 for 280.... Everything still applies, but all the components exist in junkyard cars to put the factory AC system in the car that blows THROUGH the evaporator, instead of sucking air over it. From an efficiency standpoint, that is better. On a factory system, you just need the better fan volume from the Honda to boost system efficiency. If you get the 1974 260Z FSM, in fact, the back of the AC Section has a whole section with step-by-step instructions to convert a stock non-AC heater system, and swap in a factory system. Read that and weigh your options. I took out my aftermarket system, and reinstalled a stock factory system using that as a guideline (retaining my higher capacity fan) and was happy with the results. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 7, 2014 Share Posted June 7, 2014 My girlfriend says "You should not be drinking and writing e-mails!" Too Late. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted June 7, 2014 Author Share Posted June 7, 2014 Tony, thank you for the very useful info. I do have a 280, with a 240z a/c setup it looks like. I think I will start piecing together a compressor from the 280z or zx, this one does shake the car pretty nasty at idle, wasn't sure if its a bad compressor, or that's just what they do. I only really use it when it's raining out and I put the windows up, otherwise, I deal with the heat. I found a blower motor from an early 90s civic, and it does blow harder, it is noticeable enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 8, 2014 Share Posted June 8, 2014 They all looked the same-- it wasn't really model specific. The heater components were either 240 or 260/280. Basically "early or late"--they made the ARA for the later models as well. It's a pretty simple universal application between the model years. There was an application that put the York Compressor on the other side of the engine, under the distributor like where the Sanden goes on the stock turbo bracket (forged aluminum instead cast iron...) All sorts of oddball kits out there back then. The Japanese under-dash kits were Refrigerator Box Truck Efficient! Blow smoke out and get condensation on the outside of the windows cold! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Powerglide Posted June 9, 2014 Share Posted June 9, 2014 Get the Sanden style 709 with the bracket that eliminates the tensioner. Get the airflow THROUGH the condenser and the evaporator and you'll get mid to high 30s center vent temps as mentioned above. Might check that fan clutch to ascertain whether it's functioning properly. You'll love that cold air in 95 degree weather. My 76 280z stays cool inside in July in South Florida. Stock blower and squirrel cage on the 280z works well enough. But a friend's Honda blower motor will mess up your hair it blows so strong. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Serban Posted June 11, 2014 Author Share Posted June 11, 2014 Get the Sanden style 709 with the bracket that eliminates the tensioner. Get the airflow THROUGH the condenser and the evaporator and you'll get mid to high 30s center vent temps as mentioned above. Might check that fan clutch to ascertain whether it's functioning properly. You'll love that cold air in 95 degree weather. My 76 280z stays cool inside in July in South Florida. Stock blower and squirrel cage on the 280z works well enough. But a friend's Honda blower motor will mess up your hair it blows so strong. Did the Sanden 709 come on the later ZX model? By the way, the A/C setup in this car was pretty hokey, it just has an on/off switch for the compressor, there's no pressure switch or anything, it can stay on even if there's no freon in it. Is there a better way to run it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tony D Posted June 15, 2014 Share Posted June 15, 2014 There should be a capillary tube sensing evaporator temperature and it's adjusted to 35F, it controls the cycling of the pump. If you use later components, incorporation of a low pressure or high pressure cutout switch in the compressor pump circuit is a simple series connection in basic form. If you use relays on the switches, the same interrupt features are possible, but you can illuminate a light then to indicate low suction pressure, or high discharge pressure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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