My wife's 91 RS gets so hot in the summer that it is almost undriveable. I decided to add AC and bought most of the parts for a conversion on ebay last week. I have all the major stuff, the condensor, blower/evap box, compressor, lines, and control panel. The only think I am unsure of is ducting inside the car and the wiring part. Has anyone done this swap? I don't think it is going to be that hard, but any info will certainly make it easier. A search turned up nothing.

Thanks

 

Easiest way to do that, in 2 REALLY EASY steps:

1. Sell the AC challenged car
2. Buy one with AC

Next easiest way:

Find a donor car at the junkyard.

whatever you do, DO NOT cut any wires or attempt to "modify" what's there now. The entire HVAC wiring & vacuum harness is one single unit.

It would be wise to take a sheet metal nibbler with you to the junkyard, so you can get the entire pass side of the firewall off the donor car; you'll have ALOT of hole creation and maybe some filling to do.

See "2 easy steps" above.

 

The AC challenged car is too heavily modified to sell it and start over.

Have you done this swap? I think the under dash part is going to be the hardest. Is there somewhere I can get a wiring diagram for this car?

 

Does it have a body kit or an expensive paint job or something? That's about the only kind of "modification" that's material to the issue at hand. Basically anything else... engine, running gear of any sort, interior, etc. ..... will swap right over. In probably less time and with less trouble and better results, than doing it the other way.

No I have not done the swap, and wouldn't ever do it, not least because it's not the most efficient way to get to AC from no AC. However I have removed my evaporator housing and interior ductwork in its entirety from the car, in order to get the stench and reek of cigarette smoke out of it. And I have also seen the firewall of a no-AC car stripped of the blower housing, so I know that they're different.

Don't worry about what you "think", at this point; until you do some research, it's probably wrong anyway. Instead, go look at a car in the junkyard that has EVERY LAST PIECE of the AC still there; and very carefully and meticulously, remove it all, and install it in your car, including the firewall section that's different.

You'll find incidentally, that the ENTIRE refrigerant part of it - the compressor, condenser, evaporator inside its housing, and the lines - will all lift right out AS A COMPLETE UNIT if you plan ahead carefully. Much as the COMPLETE wiring harness with the vacuum lines will lift out of a donor car as a complete unmolested assembly. That's how it all got put in as the car rolled down the assembly line.

You don't need a wiring diagram. Get the harness, and you'll find that it has exactly ONE plug that interfaces it to the entire rest of the car. It's a brown wire under the dash that feeds power to the whole system. That's it. All the rest of it, will come with that harness. Leave your dykes in the toolbox, CUT NOTHING, and follow the wires to where they go, and unplug them; you'll find it's much easier that way.

 

Thanks for the condescending reply. I'm quite certain that installing AC will be easier than swapping a drive train and welded on subframe connectors. I'm aware that it won't be pleasant.

I'll get the harness.

Maybe someone with experience that can talk to me like an adult will reply. I may not have 4500 posts, but I know what I'm doing and I'm not an idiot.

 

donor car will really be the only good way about this one

id love to go the other way with my 82

and go to non a/c

no one is really ever happy with what they have in this world lol

it seems to apply to everything