Date: Fri, 16 May 2003 07:52:14 -0700
From: George Graves <gmgraves@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