I'm looking to install air conditioning in a 1983 GSL. A member has written to alert me that s/he has an evaporator and blower both in their duct work plus all of the duct work for an 84-85 dashboard. I'm curious to know if that assembly will fit an '83 model. Thanks in advance.

 

In a word, yes,

You will not need to replace anything in the dash, the evaporator housing fits in between the blower and the heater core housing, underneath the dash, nothing else will need to be changed,

Is your car complete, with a blower and heater core housing and vent ductwork in place? If so all you need dash / duct work wise is the evaporator housing. If your car is a complete non AC it will have a filler piece in between the blower and heater core housing that the evaporator housing will replace.

 

Thanks for the prompt reply. My car is completely original. It pains me that I used to run a Mazda dealership and the A/C kits came in a nice box. I just wish I could find one.

 

@rwatson5651 He'll need a switch of some kind to turn the AC compressor on right? I'm not familiar with the S2 dash, but on S3's (like my '85) there are buttons to turn on the compressor and re-circulate the air within the cabin (to cool faster).


These aren't on the non-ac cars. Im sure any-old toggle switch could engage the compressor but I'm not sure how the re-circulate feature works. I would assume it operates a motor-driven flap.

 

Correct,
I didn't think of that.

Somehow I was under the impression that the 84-85s came with factory air, and that they all had it.

And, On the 79-83 cars the recirculate control is on all the cars AC or no.
So that raises the question , will the non AC dash panel accept the switches, or will he have to find a panel from a AC car?

 

Hmmmm. IDK. I may be wrong about base S3 cars not having AC standard. I've seen sale ads for them saying "base model - no AC or sunroof" so maybe I just assumed.
We need somebody like @j9fd3s or @mazdaverx713b to chime in.

 

ok i was surprised here, i was expecting AC to be an option on the S and then standard on everything else, but its not.... it is really really rare to see a car WITHOUT AC though

 

@j9fd3s THANK YOU for that features list. I have seen many "What trim level is my car?" threads but have never been able to sort out what exactly my car is (S vs GS). Now I KNOW it is an S, which is exactly what I was looking for when buying it. Bare-Bones. It was actually much more difficult (and maybe expensive) to find an S than the more common GS and GSL's. THANK YOU.

Max

 

More often than not air conditioning was port installed and added to the price of the car. A little more money for Mazda and for the dealership. With that said, all non GSL-SE or Nippon Denso A.C. equipped GSL trim levels will have the Sanden system which is port installed. The Denson system was the only factory installed A.C. system that I'm aware of.

 

I agree, especially on the early years, but I was under the impression that for 84-85 most AC cars were factory AC.

I do know on one 80 model that came with factory air.

 

there was (is?) a tax on imported cars with AC, so Mazda port installed the AC up to the early 2000's , the exceptions were where it was a high end, or too complicated to do the port install. so every GSL-SE has the factory denso system, along with every 12A with PS. the other cars 95% of the time will have the port installed Sanden system

 

oh here is the 1985 one,

 

Yep, mine's definitely an S. Thanks again.