Im working on a 91 vert i got on march, swapping out the motor, the a/c dont work and it didnt kill me this past summer in NJ so im thinking of going a/c delete.

Do you think im making a mistake? If the car wasnt a vert i would never do it, plus it is my second car and when it raining ill just take my other car. I gotta imagine it would be terrible no a/c on a july day in the rain....

 

Mine came with no A/C. You won't miss it.

 

Mine is just a toy. I literally never ran the A/C while driving as it only went out on nice, sunny days. I used to run it periodically to keep the seals soft, etc. When I swapped in the 350, it was like, "why am I doing this" when I was debating whether to go to 134 or keep the 12. It dawned on me that I was wasting time/effort on something I never used. Plus, it saves about 50 pounds which is the equivalent of about 5 horsepower. So, definitely lose it if you have another ride for those 95 degree, 80% humidity days.

 

I've never owned car that has had A/C, or for long except for my Accord.

I don't care for it.

 

I've had a few convertibles, and the one I have now is the first with A/C. I only drive it in top-down weather, so A/C is completely uneccesary.

Very occasionally, if I'm stuck at a red light with the top down in the beating hot sun, I'll blast a shot of cool A/C up my shorts.

 

Not at all. Looks cleaner, drives better, less drag on the motor. I would miss it if it was my DD. But who DD these things :P

 

me lol, i dont have ac yet but i will be getting it back here soon. but when i am out driving and it rains and i gotta put the window up i turn the vent on cool so that it sucks the cool air in through the cowl and into my cab while im moving. works well.

 

me too and i get terrible mileage i go through half a tank just going to work and school

 

couldn't live without ac. In the summer with the top down I still run my air

 

i daily drive my t-top camaro, and once it hits like 85-90 outside, its like driving with a hair dryer in my face. and there's always that ONE day, when its like 100 every year where the news says no rain, and your out driving and suddenly DOWNPOUR!

 

My car came with it so i might as well use it. Its been converted and everything.

 

Notice how 90% of the people who posted about liking or needing A/C have a stock 5.0/2.8.

When you start pouring money into appearance and performance A/C becomes a thing of the past, With the exception of a select few who try to keep their A/C.

 

exactly.and the humidity in a thunderstorm is unbearable.

 

Lol. What does their engine have to do with having/wanting AC or not? Quickest street car in the U.S. has power windows, full interior, runs on street tires, is actually street legal. Makes over 2,000 HP and traps over 200 MPH in the 1/4.

I completely gutted my IROC. No ac, no heat, no radio, no carpet, no interior lights, no back seats, no interior panels, no console. The car may not even have side windows whenever I get it built one of these years. Might just throw manual doors and glass on it to pass inspection, then mount fiberglass doors with no glass or lexan, to shed another 100+ pounds.

But what fun will it be in extreme heats of mid summer, the winter, or in rain?

That's why I'm building my Mustang the way I am. Full interior car with AC, heat, radio, electric windows and locks, all that comfy stuff. The weight reduction will come in the suspension, engine, body panels. Other than that, it's going to be a boosted, relatively high HP street car that'll be super comfortable/fun to drive. Selling the Vortech supercharger setup before I even throw it on and going turbo instead. Full boost sooner, more low end torque, more efficient.

But OP, if you feel you don't need it, get rid of it. If you feel there will be any regret at all, keep it. You can always take off weight in other places if that's the idea. Fiberglass hood, tubular K, battery relocation. Three simple things that'll help out the weight distribution big time.

 

I deleted my AC and wish I didn't. On those Summer days when the temp is 90+, you don't want to be driving with the top down. Nothing worse than being in stop and go traffic with the top down and sun is cooking you alive. Granted, my car is only a weekend toy, but for the extra 1-2 hp I saved in getting rid of the AC, I wish I would have kept it.
The engine bay looks much cleaner though!

 

I deleted mine on my lsx engine, still have no regrets. i like warm weather quiet a bit so it doesn't bother me.

 

Just down to pure facts my friend. Ive been in the business for awhile seems as though budget minded racers and show cars delete the A/C. At least by my tally.

"With the exception of a select few who try to keep their A/C."

With money all things are possible. I bet that guy with the "fastest street car" had his fair share of A/Cless cars before he TRIED to make a statement on how fast he can make a street car.

BTW Past few posts prove my original statement as well.

My own car is built for fun and on my budget, its never "finished". Its not about the HP saved or the weight shaved, its the look of a clean bay with the previous things as a perks. If there is a 100 degree day and its too humid I don't take it out, its just that simple. That's why I have my unmodified daily driver.

 

I regret that mine doesn't work! It's low on the list of repairs but it sure would be nice to be able to kick that joker on when I'm sitting in traffic.

 

exactly, those of us driving our cars and not doing full restos/mods leave something thats not broken alone mine works, works good, i dont need it now as its getting to be winter, but this summer, i'll be glad i have it

 

 

I am in the process of installing an ls376. For a few hundred bucks more I was able to buy a bracket that allowed me to keep my original ac compressor with my corvette front drive accessories. It was worth it to me. I am old enough to remember days where there wasn't much ac and it sucked. I only drive my car on nice days in the summer and where I live the summers get pretty hot. Just an old fat mans opinion.

 

i wont be "trying" to keep my a/c, my ac worked with my 2.8 and still does with my new 3.4 in my daily driver. my a/c in my 85 iroc works, and will still be in there when i put my built 407 in. the bottom line is everyone thinks oh well the compressor wastes hp, yes it does.. when you run it. and i highly doubt that ill be drag racing everywhere i go. some people just dont want to spend the 64 bucks on 0-rings and freon. others say that it frees up weight in the front of the car, ok i could see that weight reduction being good if you are TRYING to pop wheelies, but to the every day street car thats trying to run faster than a 13, you can do so with a/c. and i for one will always have it in my drag car, cuz it's black, it gets hot outside, and it's not worth the extra 5 hp.

and to what blackbmagic said, my 85 iroc is having a 407 built for it (by me) it will have a/c
and my 87 has a 3.4 in it wich is far from stock as well, again, a/c

 

I'm debating on whether or not I should have my AC serviced. Here in California it's warm almost all year round. It's a plus to have AC and really depends on where you live.

Funny how most of us are deleting our AC and most guys out there that restore older vehicles are always plugging in an AC unit. Go figure!

 

personal opinion, a/c seems scary to the people who know nothing about it, its easier to remove it and call it "performance" or 'weight reduction." honestly i think only 5% of the people who do a/c deletes are hardcore drag racers and really are trying to squeeze every last drop out of their cars. the other 95% just didn't want to spend the money. you can tell those people by whether they have an hvac box or not. no box? hardcore. box? typically with the evaporator still in it with the receiver/dryer still bolted to it? well that's self explanatory

 

Just re-stating a general survey of information. I wouldn't be correct if I said EVERYONE who modified their power-plants for appearance and performance delete their A/C. For the most part its totally true.

BTW I am ASE A7 HVAC and EPA certified for inspection and servicing of automotive air conditioning systems.

I wouldn't say most people who delete their A/C don't know anything about it but its a good opinion non the less. I personally would say the least amt of poeple delete their A/C because of performance or weight reduction. The number one reason IMO is because their system is damaged in one way or another. The number two reason which usually coincides with reason one is they want a clean looking bay. Yes, having no A/C system especially in our cars really does clean up the engine bay.

If I had a stock/stock running motor mostly original it top working condition I would keep my a/c as well. Why do people get so offended when you point out their cars are stock? Since we have no real pictures here is mine without a/c.

 

im not offended about my car being pointed out as stock, the attitude behind his post was what was offensive

 

Behind my post? there was no attitude behind my post, just pointing out a fact that was interesting to me.

Not the first time a post about stock vehicles offended someone, that's why I was asking.

Back to the subject. It really depends on your location. I feel if you drive the car often, more than 800-1000 miles a year a/c is a nice thing to have. If your cars a track car and/or you go to a couple of local car shows/meets here and there a/c is not really necessary.

 

it doesn't look clean though, to me and this is imo it just looks empty where it used to be, like its missing something

 

Just because you are used to looking at something in its place. It looks like its missing something because it is. But if you didn't own a third gen you wouldn't know, there are no holes, lines, or any equipment left behind to show there was previously something there.

But your right it doesnt look cleaner than this....

 

That has got to be the most awesome looking 3rd gen engine bay I've ever seen. VERY nice work! I bet that motor is stupid easy to work on.

 

yes the second pic is what i was referring to, that looks aweful

 

I used to live in the north east too and I didn't think A/C was that critical. But down here in Kansas this summer we had 7 Weeks of triple digits. So unless you like sitting at a traffic like with the interior of your car reaching 115+ A/C is kind of a must.

 

i removed all A/c heat and vents and heater core and bought an aluminum boltin plate to cover the holes in the engine bay.

i live in florida with a black leather interior and its great with the windows and ttops down.
no regrets

 

It's how you worded it. Unless you live in a colder area, just love heat, or don't plan on using the car much at all, it's stupid to ditch the AC. IMO any "performance" aspect has nothing to do with it unless you're going for major weight reduction. That's what my idea was with this car, get rid of pretty much everything.

Now the newer car on the other hand, the '01 GT, it's keeping everything. A quick car that I could have a girl tolerate riding in = win.

I don't know if you noticed or not, but your original post was pretty much like "heheheh they keep dat AC cause dey losers wit stock engine and dey dnt kno how 2 go fast" I've ridden in my fair share of cars without AC, and it's not the most fun. I may regret doing it with the IROC whenever I drive that car again. Could throw in a cammed, full bolt on LS1, maybe even a turbo LS1, just won't be as convenient as it could with AC.

 

How often do you drive your car?

One thing I've noticed with 1LE cars in FL and TX is that they are all extremely low mile cars. Particularly the black ones. I can't say as I'm surprised. Who would want to drive a car like that with no A/C in this climate.

To me, removing the A/C is no different than removing the heater core. To a southern person who uses their heater about 5 days a year, you can survive with the heater core bypassed/removed whatever. For somebody up north and particularly on the western side (drier air), the lack of A/C is alright. The cars without A/C from the factory will be a bit better as they have floor vents that the factory A/C cars don't have. Obviously with a convertible, the floor vent isn't as crucial as it is on coupes.

My car is a coupe. But I saw this thread from the main list of forums. Personally I'm the other way when it comes to performance and A/C. But that, I mean I want a higher performance air conditioning system. One that blows ice fog out the ducts. One that makes your arms shake from shivers. One that has immediate cold air upon starting up in the summer months.

Location most definitely plays a role in all of this. I live in Houston. As of 9AM today it was 72° and 89% humidity. This afternoon it's supposed to be 84°. This is not the unsurvivable heat that summertime was. But it sure makes the car not fun to drive if you don't have A/C. I daily drive my car and run the A/C pretty much every day all year.

 

I fully regret buying a car without a/c. When I got it I was like sweet! T-tops! I've wanted those since 3rd grade ill never use the a/c!
Two summers later im so sick of those july and august days where I have to rip *** everywhere just to develop a subtle breeze.
My opinion is if you're driving it daily and you don't live in canada then keep it.

 

I don't regret it at all. Seeing as how I haven't been able to drive it all summer anyway. D'oh! But seriously, My thoughts are that In a car like this, its best enjoyed windows down. Plus it really cleaned up my engine bay when I did the motor swap.

 

mine is a daily driver so about 15,000 miles a year. i take it on 200 mile highway trips every other week

 

You sir deserve some respect. A daily driver in FL with no A/C. And battling highway traffic/noise with no A/C is just that much more of a feat.

I can always tell who doesn't have A/C here in TX. They're the ones on the highway going 70 mph with all the windows down.

 

thats me im the one doing 80 on the highway with the windows and ttops down

 

its summer its supposed to be hot, i can deal with it. this winter **** blows

 

Winter is a great time of year. Time to park the cars in a warm garage up north and mod them. Time to enjoy driving them in the south without overheating, running the A/C non stop, and having low power from the heat and A/C.

I sure the heck don't miss this from the summer.



Fortunately, living so close to the Gulf of Mexico, the utterly high humidity keeps the temperature down during the summertime. Houston only gets 3 days on average of 100° weather. This summer, we had 45 days of 100°. Some of the drier places farther north in the state had 100 days of 100°. Florida is much the same in not getting to 100 very often due to high humidity.

There were times that I would get into my car after work where the temps were 170° inside the car. I've heard of numerous people in Arizona who have gotten 2nd and even 3rd degree burns from sitting inside a leather seat convertible wearing shorts.

I vote for keeping the air conditioning.

 

I still have a/c on all my vehicles and wouldn't delete it. There is something else to consider when you are deciding whether or not to delete the a/c. So far no one has mentioned that the defroster mode uses the the a/c to help remove the moisture from the inside of your windshield to clear it quicker.

Lon

 

Nope do no regret deleting the ac at all. The ease of working on the engine far outweighs the PITA of having the ac in there. With that said, I do have a full setup in my shed that I could always put back in. Just have to call March for the correct pulley setup. On the really hot days, I jump in my 04 GTO and drive that. The ac in that car kicks ***.

 

that just looks terrible, either do an engine bay up nicely, or leave it the hell alone
now his/her (idk everyone on here) has one that still looks nicely done, somethings still there so it doesn't look as though it didn't come that way

 

ive had 7 of these cars, none of which came with AC. Lol

 

I live in NJ and AC availability was a major factor in my choosing the 3rd gen. I had been looking at late 60's Chevelles, but the lack of AC on most of the convertibles made me look at other options and I'm glad I did. I like to take my wife and kids out in the summer and my 4 yr old already doesn't like the top down because of the noise and what not, so I'm glad I can blast a cold AC and keep them happy. Granted, I could care less what my 1/4 mile time is and I just want a completely original low mileage car that I can keep for years and enjoy as a weekend ride and fun car.

 

deleted mine this year, I never used it!

 

Thanks.

I agree that bay looks like complete crap.

 

I deleted mine when I did the engine swap. It's a weekend warrior in dry weather only, no need for defrost or ac with it being a convertible and not getting driven in wet weather.

When it was my DD I had issues with the system keeping a charge so I decided to ditch it completely when I did the swap. I have a factory delete box on the firewall, no condensor of lines or any other remnants of it are left.