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MG MGB GT V8 Factory Originals Technical - Air Conditioning

Has anyone fitted air conditioning to an MGB V8? If so, how?
Regards
Tony
Tony Bates

Jim Stuart's web site has some good pictures. There was also an article in the last V8 newsletter.

http://mgbv8.com/air_conditioning.htm

Kelly

Kelly Combes

Does having a condensor in front of the radiator reduce cooling substantially? Does the condensor get hot when the A/C's on (it must get at least *somewhat* hot!)?? I fear that this one issue would be the downfall of an A/C installation of my car at least.
Ted

Yes, It does add heat. The condensor adds a lot of heat in front of your radiator. But most cars can deal with it as long as you have air flow. That's the key. If you are not sure about working on A/C, have someone else help you or do it for you. Making an A/C system work right is all in the details. With the limited room and air flow in the B, you will need someone that has seen all the tricks.


Kelly
Kelly Combes

The condensor does get hot as it is a heat exchanger. Modern cars are designed with cooling systems that will accomodate the additional heat load, unfortuanately, our cars are marginal with a V8, & undercooled when A/C is added.

Most V8 conversions involve at least some upgrades to the cooling system depending upon the climate & how the car is driven. It is certainly possible to build the cooling system to cope with a mild 4.2 Rover, that is a bit of a hot running engine, and A/C as well, & drive it regularly in 90 degerr weather & city traffic.

I would budget for an oversized custom aluminum radiator with 1 1/4" tubes, not 1" tubes. Additionally, plan on a 16" puller electric rated at 3000 cfm's. Plan on modifying the lower valance to allow for a longer radiator & provide some way for the hot air to exit the under hood area. Louvers, inner fender openings, RV8 headers, ceramic coating the headers are all good ideas.

As Kelly stated, it is all in the details. Lots of small things add up to a successful installation. Nothing difficult in installing A/C, anthough you may have to have a shop crimp the connections to the lines.

If you get serious about the project, or anyone else out there, feel free to contact me off line. My last conversion is under hood & in dash in a '66 roadster V8 conversion, with all switches & vents in dash.
Jim Stuart

Tony,

I am in the process of converting a 74 roadster to v8 spec. with a/c. My car came with a dealer installed a/c unit. I am going to use the original under dash fan/coil set up. My plan is to remove one of the battery boxes from behind the seats and mount a remote condenser/fan combo. The kit comes complete with condenser, 10inch s blade fan, 12"x7" shroud, and hardware. The kit list for $135.00 from a company called southern air. They have a web site---www.southernrods.com.

I hope this helps,

Mick
Mick McKelvie

This thread was discussed between 03/11/2002 and 05/11/2002

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