At some point a previous owner of my car chose to fit the an aftermarket / dealer fit air-conditioner - the type with a York compressor under the bonnet and the evaporator in place of the passengers pencil tray.
Unfortunately, it was a bit of a hack job and subsequently the passenger side dash vent was disconnected and the same side vent was connected to the A/C (ie no fresh air or heating).
I don’t believe any of the Series 1 Cars were imported to Australia with the in-dash units, however we may seek to find one and install in the future. For now though, I’d like to correct the installation so that the fresh air and heat comes through the normal vents and the AC comes through the centre console fitted into the pencil tray.
What I am seeking to learn is how the plumbing for the various air streams was done when the components were dealer fitted. Were a number of the components produced for this change? Does anyone have any images of how this was achieved or what these components looked like? Better still perhaps a period instruction manual?
I suspect the components used in my car are not correct.In my current setup the pipe feeding the AC to the centre vents essentially has meant the removal of the pipe from the air direction box to the dash vent. (please see photos)
I have found a number of secondhand ducting components (for the fresh air) but would prefer a ‘non destructive’ install if possible.
Further, when these systems were installed was it always the case that the centre vent had to be removed inorder to open the fuse box?
Sincerely appreciate any thoughts, instructions or photos!
Though I only know the - seriously improved and altered SII heater unit I’d be fairly sure that the SI non a/c heater unit has two inlets for fresh air and four outlets for heated/blended air: two up to the front screen and two out to the dashboard. There are no footwell vents and no central air vents. So I don’t know what you mean by “centre vent AC inlet”.
The heat exchanger 1 seems to fit into the heater unit 9. The ducts 19 lead to the dashboard outside air vents, the ducts 8 to the defrost air vents. Maybe you could include pics of your aftermarket setup to clarify.
Hi Ed. There are of course some different parts for factory installed a/c in a S1 - not the least of which is the evaporator box - but it has the same basic functionality and vent routing as a non a/c car.
From your photos it looks like the most damage was done to the right side where those various pipes are bodged into that silver metal and silicone ‘plenum’. What is supposed to happen is the area where they attached that thing is actually supposed to attach to a squarish pipe that goes up to the screen vents on top of the dash pad - seems missing in your pic. The squarish pipe is basically a mirror image of the left one - which looks intact but cut in your pic.
The round tube you labeled ‘Re-installed fresh air heater duct’ in the first pic is supposed to go to the fascia vent. The dented looking center vent thing is probably some sort of bodge to get air across the aftermarket evaporator. Get rid of it. The duct labeled ‘no duct to dash vent’ is also surplus to requirements.
From your pics it looks like all you really need to replace is the squarish duct on the left side BD33151 that goes up to the screen vent on the dash. Looks like the hole in the other side is already closed. The other stuff you need is the round cross section ducting to the dash vents - looks like they may have repurposed some of that for that right side ‘plenum’
Once you remove the mess on the right side, take a look inside the box under it because there is a door in there controlled by the dash lever. Gotta make sure that is okay too.
I can get you a pic later of an intact LHD version which is pretty much the same.
Edit I see from re-reading your post that you want to keep the aftermarket a/c working through it’s onboard vents. The only problem I see is routing the intake air through the evaporator. Once you solve that and restore the damage it should be fine.
~Mike
Thanks Jochen. I’ve found the parts to return it to original.
For now, I was wanting to keep the aftermarket A/C. I don’t think this model shipped to Australia with a built in A?C unit, so I am trying to figure out how the aftermarket was correctly installed.
Well, I’d assume that if the aftermarket unit hasn’t worked correctly during the last 50 years, it’ll be quite a job to change this now. Even though I really like original setups, I’d probably go for the retrofit of a factory a/c setup. Maybe you find one elsewhere and shipping isn’t prohibitive …
One possibility is to retrofit the early (68-69) Series 1 a/c setup, which employed the rear evaporator from the Mark X/420G. The unit fits nicely on the “shelf” in the boot just aft of the rear seat. The compressor and condenser are the same as on later (70-73) Series 1 cars. The evaporator (the weakest link) is twice the size of the later fascia-mounted one.
My '72 XJ6 had similar. I pulled all of it out when we stripped the car. Finally replaced with an aftermarket unit. Modern under passenger dash evaporator, Sanden compressor etc. Had it professionally plumbed and gassed and it’s great.
