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John's Cars A/C Unit


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Has anyone purchased John's Cars air conditioning kit. If so, does it work and did it mount easily. Pictures would be great. I have been pleased with all of the other items he provided, and am thinking of adding air. The car came with air, but I lost it in the LS1 conversion process.

 

Thanks in advance

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As with all of John's products, it is an easy bolt on application. The only thing I was dissapointed by was that the comressor is for R-12. I used a conversion kit and filled it with R-34. With the kit you get new hoses and a new drier. You will have to put spade connectors on the pressure switch plug, but thats it. The wire to the compressor will just plug in from the stock harness. I installed mine before dropping the engine in but I don't think it would be very hard in the bay. Check out the pics on car-domain (link in sig). I think there are some there.

Mike

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As with all of John's products, it is an easy bolt on application. The only thing I was dissapointed by was that the comressor is for R-12. I used a conversion kit and filled it with R-34. With the kit you get new hoses and a new drier. You will have to put spade connectors on the pressure switch plug, but thats it. The wire to the compressor will just plug in from the stock harness. I installed mine before dropping the engine in but I don't think it would be very hard in the bay. Check out the pics on car-domain (link in sig). I think there are some there.

Mike

 

I had my harness reworked without ac? So would the wiring be a problem?

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Great picture Gary, thanks. Was yours R-12 also. I didnt think you could buy it anymore. Mike, any issues with converting. I converted the old 280Z before the LS1, but was never sure what it was doing to the compressor. Where did you mount the dryer?

 

I'm using the stock Evap core, but will be doing a custom condensor, drier and lines. There is no problem converting any R12 system to R134a as long as the system is evacuated and a new drier is put on. We do those conversions all the time at the shop. Hope that helps.

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I'm doing a custom lines to the condenser & drier, so it can be mounted anywhere, which will be infront of the radiator core support. I'm also running the lines low along the frame rails, so it's fairly hidden. More work, but should look good. :)

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  • 2 weeks later...

I know most people will convert over to R34 refrigerant for their AC systems but if you need R12 for a system you can purchase it on EBAY. For about $30 a can (1lb) which is not cheap but if you need it….. The one caveat is you must tell the Ebay seller that you are purchasing the refrigerant to re-sell to a qualified licensed installer of the gas. My 18 year old Honda Civic was down 2 cans (Most R12 have a sight glass while R34 systems don’t). I could tell with all the bubbles that I needed refrigerant. So I ordered 2 cans with a recharge hose and under the supervision of a licensed professional (wink wink) put the two can into the system and now I can hang beef in there it is so cold! I swear R12 is a better refrigerant then R34.

 

Danno74Z

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I know most people will convert over to R34 refrigerant for their AC systems but if you need R12 for a system you can purchase it on EBAY. For about $30 a can (1lb) which is not cheap but if you need it….. The one caveat is you must tell the Ebay seller that you are purchasing the refrigerant to re-sell to a qualified licensed installer of the gas. My 18 year old Honda Civic was down 2 cans (Most R12 have a sight glass while R34 systems don’t). I could tell with all the bubbles that I needed refrigerant. So I ordered 2 cans with a recharge hose and under the supervision of a licensed professional (wink wink) put the two can into the system and now I can hang beef in there it is so cold! I swear R12 is a better refrigerant then R34.

 

Danno74Z

 

I remember a dealership telling me that R12 is actually 15* cooler than R34. I believe it, no new car can touch my truck's AC.

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Savage42. I received the kit and installed it over the weekend. I noticed that your belt and pully layout is different than what John's cars had layed out. You did not mount the idler pully in the far right position in the alternator mounting hole. How did you get it to fit and why did you do it??

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Actually R12 is a little more effecient that R134, so in a system designed for R12, it does work a little better. This can easily be over come by having a larger more effecient condenser installed, but unless you live in the south, like myself when it's 32 days of 100F+ heat, you probably won't care. For me, I'm buying a larger more effecient condenser from Arizona Mobile Air I love this site and they've helped me with all kind of suff, http://www.ackits.com/ and a forum to ask questions. Rebuilt my 80ZX a/c all by myself...(and for those who know me, that's saying something)

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I am using the old Z harness. Wire from dash switch to relay. Pressure switch on dryer and then one wire to A/C. I think I can bypass the pressure switch since I am getting a new dryer, and run the single wire to the A/C. If it works it will be just like the old A/C. Just have to find the wire to the compressor on the drivers side Z harness. Did you actually pull the A/C wire from the old Z harness. If you did I think you can simply run a new one from the relay. I think I am going to do that also.

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I have the original JCI compressor & bracket set-up. Mine's not as pretty as Gary's. There is a product on the market called Freeze 12. It is an R-12 substitute that does not require any equipment changes like the R-134 requires. That is what I'm running in my system. Trust me, if you're using most of the original stock AC equipment and blower you need all the efficiency you can get. My system is good to about 100°F but takes a while to cool the car down if it has been sitting in the sun.

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Can anyone help me with my question? I want to use vintage air with johns kit. Problem is I had my harness reworked without ac. Will this be a problem?
It's not a problem. The vintage air kit is complete, so you don't need any AC wiring in your harness. The problem you may run into is finding a way to tell your PCM to bump up the idle when the compressor kicks on. I never did resolve this issue on my LT1 and the idle is too low when I'm using the AC. Has anyone else figured out how to handle this problem?
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