Re: Alfa A/C

[Mike Grace <mgrace@domain.elided>]

Just a few comments to add to the thread:

1) Like John H., I too have an "aria condizionata" sticker in the rear 
window of my 74 GTV. I don't know if it was factory-installed or not, but 
my battery is in the trunk on a welded-in pedestal with a look that says 
"factory".

2) When I rebuilt my car, I tossed the York behemoth in the dump with the 
idea of eventually replacing with a rotary unit. Jay Niederst rebuilt my 
motor and replaced those studs in the head with the normal plugs. You'll 
want to do the same, but beware, he said they were hard to get out.

3) I would agree with Mr. H. that getting a used evaporator and condensor 
from a 74 is the easiest way to go, especially for the compact evaporator. 
But if you go that route and fill it with 134a, I have been told that you 
will suffer reduced cooling efficiency.

4) As to where to mount the compressor, I would think that if you removed 
the Spica (though I wouldn't), you could use the Spica drive belt to run 
the compressor, using a custom-made bracket to fit the compressor to the 
Spica mounts on the engine (very beefy). Add a Spica block-off plate and it 
would be neatly out of the way! And, if you're adding A/C to a car which 
didn't have it originally, you wouldn't need to rebalance the crank when 
you put a new pully on the front end. On the other hand, I guess the 
factory didn't worry about that if they designed the retro-kit which must 
have included the two-row pully to be installed without rebalancing.

5) Finally, if you already have the battery in the trunk as mine has, then 
you *need* the weight of the (rotary pump) A/C equipment up front to cancel 
the weight of the battery way out back, thus staying close to the original 
weight distribution and not requiring you to change springs! ;-)

Mike Grace
74 GTV
Santa Barbara, CA

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