Rebuilding my heater...

[RX7SA]

Great thread Ian, I am thinking of getting this done on my SA and was wondering where you got the foam from? Another great job as always Ian, did you blast the metal or was it a rust inhibitor, wire wheels and POR15? Thistle route I'm going down I think.
Thanks
Simon

[ian65]

I used some of this stuff Simon....



air conditioning fitters use it and I got some for free off an a/c fitter but it can be bought from loads of places including here...

http://www.pipelagging.com/armaflex-pip ... g29s57kd75

to clean the tinware I used a wire brush in the electric drill and then gave them a heavy coat of cold zinc galvanising out of a spray can

if you have the opportunity to take the heater box out and refurb it, it's well worth doing..... it's surprising how they deteriorate... as a test, look at your heater box and you will see the bottom flap just inside the heater box. Run your finger over the foam on the flap and the chances are that it will just turn to dust.

[luiml73]

Hey guys, I own a 78 JDM Sa here in the United States. The car does not apear to come with AC from factory, The blower is there, but there is no evaporator, just a plastice pipe/tube. Will I be able to fit a LHD evaporator in my car? I already found someone with the condesner and all the lines. The compressor i will purchase new.

Thanks

Luis

[KiwiDave]

Hey guys, I own a 78 JDM Sa here in the United States. The car does not apear to come with AC from factory, The blower is there, but there is no evaporator, just a plastice pipe/tube. Will I be able to fit a LHD evaporator in my car? I already found someone with the condesner and all the lines. The compressor i will purchase new.

Thanks

Luis

Hi Luis
I assume your SA is RHD then? Rare for a JDM car not to have AC as standard fitment. LHd/RHD use the same evaporator core, it's the casing that differs so the mounting points are all in the wrong place. I have the same issue trying to retrofit AC to mine. RHD evaporator casing is a rare thing. I assume you could make the LHD casing fit, it's just not plug and play.

[luiml73]

Thanks for the quick reply. Yes, the car is RHD. It has a very early vin Sa22c_103668. god knows how many owners the car has had before myself. The frenders and front winshield have been changed to US Spec. I already purchased the parts needed so now it's just a matter of mounting the evaporator to the blower somehow. I will post pics of my progress, once I begin.

Thanks again

Luis

[A7RXY]

Luis
Your car looks great you should consider sending it to me in the UK as we do not need AC here. good luck with your conversion.

dibs

[DeanRX7]

Hello all....re-start this old beauty.

My 7, a UK, RHD version does not come with air con, unlike the ones I had in Aus. I have seen the great and detailed thread Ian put here but since then has anyone heard/read of any easier options to get Air Con into the car.

Is there a MX-5 set up? or maybe I have been watching to many Jay Leno upgrades where he always just puts in a new/vintage looking system in his cars.

[ian65]

Parts you need are:

Evaporator to suit RHD (the hens teeth of the entire enterprise!)

I think that you could maybe use an early MX5 / Eunos unit or maybe one out of a 2nd gen RX7 but it will take lots of modifying to fit into a FB, The evaporator sits between the heater fan housing and the heater unit itself and there isn't as much room as you may think..... although in theory it's possible I personally wouldn't go down that route.
The firewall already has the holes in it to suit a proper 1st gen evaporator and the studs are also in place ready under the dash to secure the unit into place.... just remove the plastic flexi duct that sits between the fan and the heater unit and the new evaporator will slot straight in.
I'd try and find one in AUS, plenty of guys decide to build track cars and lose the A/C so you might be lucky.

Condenser

Doesn't need to be from or for a 1st gen RX7.... any condenser that fits should do the trick.... check out Gregs thread from AusRotary.

Dryer

Easily available... Ebay or Rockauto

Compressor & bracket

Use a TII compressor and bracket...... comp is quite widely available on Ebay etc. The TII bracket is alloy and really light compared to the iron 1st gen bracket. The TII bracket is more finely adjustable and sits lower in the engine bay keeping the comp out of view a bit better.

High pressure hard and soft lines

You can have these made up or buy an A/C flaring and crimping kit off Ebay and make your own.

Pressure switch

Widely available - Ebay or RockAuto

Loom & relay

Make your own.... can copy mine if you need to. Relay is nothing special, a standard Bosch relay should work.

A/C switch

Your car may have one fitted if it was a late build otherwise I'm sure a forum member would donate one

Set of 'O' rings

Rockauto... about 5 bucks a set.

Fill ports to suit modern refrigerant.

Ebay

[myatt1972]

Now thats what I call an answer You don't get that on Faceache

[DeanRX7]

IAN, how many times can I can you a legend???? Again, great clear info....many many thanks.