Contemplating installing trunk mounted AC in my 71 XJ6/350 Chevy.
Studying Vintage Air and Old Air models. They both sell 2 different units.
Anyone already done this and how did it work out? Live in west Texas so has to be efficient.
The very early USA cars with AC used trunk mounted units. I recall the clear plastic tubes in the cabin from the package shelf to direct cool air to the front.
? is where is the compressor mounted and be driven. Conventional. In the engine bay and with condensor and dryer up front, with all else astern?
Yes everything else under hood as normal. My stock Jag evaporator sprung a leak and I am not going to go to all the trouble replacing the stock evaporator and be right back with a so so AC that doesn’t do a very good job here in the heat of west Texas. I have already added the 2 extra vents in center of dash
Jaguar used a trunk-mounted evaporator in the early Series 1s. It was the same unit as had been used in the Mark X/420G. The elevated section of the boot just below the rear window is designed to perfectly accommodate the Mark X unit. The air outlet/air return are in the parcel shelf…under which is the top of the unit. Normal stuff under the bonnet; expansion valve is in the rear of course.
Carl, we had a 54 Cadillac with those clear plastic oval tubes from the parcel shelf to above the headliner–feeding ceiling vents front and rear. Worked great!
have you made any progress on this as of yet?
i’m looking for an ac solution for my '71 as well and do not want to tear out the dash.
i was looking into rear mount as well.
i’d have to relocate my deck lid speakers
I just switched from the rear window speakers this weekend.
I like the Vintage Air setup but the base of it is so large it really extends into the trunk area more than my liking. The Old Air unit size is much more to my liking. I’ll probably go with the Old Air. Both companies are right here in Texas not very far from me.
I also had just happened to have 2 rear armrests from a 72 which has the speaker mounts as part of them, even the exact color as my 71s. Have fun snaking some new speaker wires through the existing rubber sleeves.
| JAY_COOLE
July 17 |
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have you made any progress on this as of yet?
i’m looking for an ac solution for my '71 as well and do not want to tear out the dash.
i was looking into rear mount as well.
i’d have to relocate my deck lid speakers
vintageair.com
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I finished up the Vintage Air trunk mount this weekend. All charged up and really working good. We are still getting high 90’s weather so will be giving it a real test. I will try to get some pictures posted next week.
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Awesome! Yes pics please!
Is there a reason you went vintage air vs others?
The vintage air uses a rectangular plenum for the air going to the unit compared with a flex tube from the OLD Air unit. It all fits very well in the package tray and the ac hoses tuck up under the car real well.
I already had the Vintage Air compressor mount and Vintage air condensor. Used the Vintage Air extended hose kit. The #10 hose was about 2 ft. too short, so I had to use an extra fitting to make it longer. It comes with the bulkhead fittings which fit through the trunk floor in front of the evaporator. I mounted the drier right next to the evaporator. The switch mounts in the dash where the original ac switch mounted and the original knob fits right on it.
I have been thinking about using a trunk-mount ELECTRIC AC compressor, like used on all the electric cars. I have seen many hotrods are switching to this (as long as you have an adequate alternator (100A or more).
I’m thinking this might save on some excess hoses – although I have not plotted this out yet.
Anyone using elctric AC compressors instead of engine/fanbelt-driven compressors?
OEM electric compressors run on 300V and spin at up to 10,000 rpms. The OEMs pay $200 to $300 for and electric compressor. Belt driven compressors can use up to 7 hp cooling down a hot car. 7hp = 5,250W divided by 12V = 437 amps. Even if it only consumes 3 hp, that’s 188 amps. 100 amps at 12 is 1.6 hp. These numbers assume 100% efficiency.
The long hose kit only cost about $100 and that included all the fittings.
It sounds mathematically impossible, or at least incredibly difficult for any battery/alternator to keep up-- if your assumptions are correct.
So how in the world do all the e-cars do it??
Do the manufacturers know about this ? 
The AC system has the compressor, blower motor(s), controls and cooling fan(s) drawing electricity.
A compressor using 5250 W at 300v is 17.5 amps. The 7 hp is at the initial start under high loads, say Houston Texas. After the car is cooled down the power is substantially reduces. Then there is all the games they play to extend driving, such as turning the A/C off when you’re stopped and reduce the blower speed. Or using different and new sensors to increase driving range, they don’t just turn it on and let it run anymore. Basically there is a computer running the A/C system, balancing the passenger needs against driving range. The new glazing (glass) helps reduce the thermo loads on the A/C system. It’s not the old blue or green tinted windows.
Yes, the OEMs are well a were of this. I worked for one of the OEMs for 40+ years, 30+ years in their HVAC department.
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very nice! i need to do this. what vintage air unit did you use?
set up as primary or auxiliary unit?
is there anything you’d do differently?
Wow, cloth seats! Nice!
It’s their largest trunk mount unit. My car came with factory AC, but the evaporator sprung a leak, so I’m not fixing that one. So this one is being used as the main unit. It works very well. It has a large air return so it can really move some air, and I’m here in west Texas where we get 100 degree weather on a regular basis.
I don’t think I would change anything. I’m going to make a partition to cover the rear unit on the sides and back. The drier is mounted right next to the evaporator in the trunk. Their is room right in front of the trunk floor to run the bulkhead fittings. The hoses tuck up under the car very well and run down the driveshaft tunnel.
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My car came with the leather seats. I’ve owned it for 20 years and got tired of hot leather here in Texas. I purchased a real nice 72 XJ6 which had the seats. I don’t know if these were factory or a real nice new upholstery job. I know they were offered in cloth on cars sold in Europe. But they are sure more comfortable winter and summer.
The 72 that I parted out was way to nice a car to do that to, after I got what I wanted from it, I sold parts to almost 50 different people around the world, so It must have helped all those people with their projects.
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