Re: GTV6 condenser

[George Graves <gmgraves@xxxxxxxxxxx>]

Glad I could be of some help. It's funny, I just finished a major 
mechanical refurbishment of my GTV-6; new 3.0 liter engine, 'S-Cams', 
Steebro rear exhaust resonator, re-mapped ECU, power steering, new 
yellow Konis, AC resurrection, bigger cross-drilled rotors, bigger 
calipers, 'light competition' pads, etc., and the AC gave the most 
trouble of all. Even the engineering required to fit the PS system to 
the GTV-6 was not nearly so daunting as the damned AC refurbishment. 
Luckily, the Sanken AC compressor that I got from the boys at APE, is a 
very good one (makes no noise. I'm told that's unusual in one of these 
that's been sitting for a long time), and most of the other parts 
required are pretty standard (the dryer, in fact, came from GM!) and 
the new hoses were custom made on the spot. All in all, I'm pleased. 
Now I need to find a new interior (front and rear seats, tan leather), 
get the rear wheel bearings replaced, and fix that damned rattle in the 
transaxel, and then I'll be good to go (and broke).

George Graves
'86 GTV-6 3.0S




On Friday, May 16, 2003, at 08:16 AM, Spencer, Graham wrote:


> George,
> Thank you very much for the help. That's not what I wanted to hear, 
> but at
> least there is hope. I suppose if I had any sense I'd give up, but as I
> don't :) and as Tampa is a very humid 95 for 6 months of the year, and 
> as I
> WANT to drive the GTV6 all the time I guess I need to bite the bullet 
> and
> just keep plodding. I guess the good thing is I do have the Tropic Air
> system.
>
> I have yet to ask the guys in my local alfa club if any of them can 
> help
> with parts. I didn't even realize my condenser was gone until I went 
> check
> all the connections before putting the system under pressure. Then I
> discovered I have no condenser nor hoses.
>
> Yes, I checked GTV6.org and I have ordered a Milano conversion from 
> APE, but
> it's not going to do much good with part of the system. :) But thanks 
> to
> you, now that I know it's possible, I'll start calling around and see 
> if I
> can find someone to rig up a condenser. I'm sure I'll find someone.
>
> Thanks so much for the info, you saved me a lot of futile effort and
> frustration!!
>
> Graham Spencer
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: George Graves [mailto:gmgraves@domain.elided]
> Sent: Friday, May 16, 2003 10:52 AM
> To: alfa@domain.elided
> Subject: Re: GTV6 condenser
>
>
> Unfortunately, Graham,  the Milano condenser won't fit in front of the
> GTV-6 radiator, because there is not enough room. Replacement
> condensers are no longer available and good used ones are, apparently,
> as rare as hens' teeth. I just went through the same thing with my '86
> GTV-6 "Tropic-Air" system. Luckily, you can have a new one fabricated -
> and before you grab at your heart and stumble backwards like Red Foxx's
>   Fred Sanford character- let me say that it's not all that
> unreasonable. Most radiator shops know of places where this can be
> done. The radiator shop that my mechanic deals with sent my leak-ridden
> condenser to a place in Los Angeles (sorry, I don't know their name. It
> wouldn't do you any good anyway, they only deal with radiator shops,
> not mechanics or the public). For about $250 I got a perfect, bolt-in,
> custom-made replacement that actually had more coils in it and a
> greater amount of fin surface than did the original Alfa part (this is
> good, especially if you are going to use R-134 instead of freon). This
> is about the only alternative I know of unless, of course, you happen
> to luck-out and stumble upon a good used one (most have non-repairable
> holes in the elbow turn-arounds after years of flexing against the
> inside of the car's nose cowl.).
>
> Now a word about whether or not it's worth the trouble.
>
> If your car was fitted with the "Tropic-Air" system (Identifiable by
> way of the huge cylindrical plastic housing hanging below the dashboard
> on the passenger's side of the car. If you have nothing under the dash
> over there, you don't have "Tropic-air"), it's probably worth
> resurrecting the AC. It won't come-on cold immediately, like a modern
> R-134 system, but after a few minutes, it will start to pump-out really
> cold air. My mechanic measured 38 degrees F at the outlets which should
> be good. I say should be because here in the SF Bay Area, we've yet to
> have a day warm enough to test it out since my system has been finished
> and the volume of cold air is just as important (or maybe more so) as
> the temperature. The problem with the standard GTV-6 AC is not that it
> doesn't produce cold air, it's that it doesn't produce ENOUGH cold air
> to cool that glass house we call a cabin down sufficiently to be
> comfortable on a warm day.
>
> Now, a friend of mine just had his Balocco air conditioning system
> (non-Tropic-Air) refurbished, and is not happy with the result at all.
> I've read before (possibly here), that the standard GTV-6 AC is
> practically worthless. My friend's system backs this piece of wisdom
> up. Apparently sufficient cold air in a non Tropic-Air GTV-6 is little
> more than an unsubstantiated rumor. So if you don't have Tropic-Air and
> aren't inclined to find the bits to fit it, I'd say leave well enough
> alone and remove as much of the system as you can altogether and think
> about the lost weight and increased HP every time the mercury starts to
> climb.
>
> Interesting reading on the subject can be found at
>
> http://www.gtv6.org/ac.htm
>
> Good luck.
>
> George Graves
> '86 GTV-6 3.0S
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