So I have a car I saved from going completely underwater during a hurricane here in Long Island back in 2012. The entire car was completely gutted and slowly I’ve been rebuilding EVERYTHING w just the bare basics to get her driving again. ALOT more work than I had anticipated it being & literally NOTHING survived.

So I’d like to get the AC working again bc summers here are HOT af especially in traffic.

I’ve been eyeing up a universal kit off of Summit but was also wondering if I started piecing back together a stock Mazda AC system if that would be easier.

ANY input would be appreciated. I hoping making this post will get the ball rolling for me since I’m on my third summer now where she’s running w no AC. Thanks….!! 😊

 

Lots of folks rip out the AC. Post a WTB on the FB site.

there are several different units that were installed either at the port, or at the dealership, so buying a complete unit would be ideal. Otherwise, you’ll have to piece it together.

mine was a dealership installed unit and I found that a compressor from an 82 or 3 Honda Accord fit the lines. The only downside is that even on the lowest setting it’s freezing, if that can be a bad thing??

many hydraulic hose makers locally can remake the lines for you, that’s what I did.

there’s lots of folks on here that have done what you want to do.

 

You really do want to source a new dryer and condenser at the very least. I'd also go with new hoses.

 

You could probably swap over some other parts sourced from other cars. For example, FD owners are starting to retrofit RX8 a/c parts.

Having never done this sort of thing, I'm not sure which would be easier but sourcing FB and GSL-SE parts ain't easy

 

There are two different A/C systems, factory installed and port installed.

The systems are as basic as you can get and still refrigerate. The control system is just a temperature probe in the evaporator to shut the compressor off before it gets to 32F, a high side pressure switch to shut the compressor off if the high side gets extremely high. I forget if it has an expansion valve or just a fixed orifice. When the compressor is engaged there is also an idle-up vacuum solenoid that send vacuum to a vacuum servo on the carburetor. The evaporator sits between the fan assembly and the heater/controls box and is really easy to remove and replace, probably because the car was designed for the A/C to be installed at the port or dealer to avoid a tax/tariff.

 

This attachment is for the 1980 AC install, but it gives a good idea about the general parts.

 

I have more AC work than I have ever liked to. I am actually going to eventually put AC back in my FB, here is my plan.

Use stock Evaporator
Toyota Echo expansion valve
Condensor off of a small car, maybe RX8?
Custom AC Lines so I can tuck them as much as possible
Stock LT1 AC Compressor (Shh)
Potentially an aftermarket drier if the condenser I use does not have one.

 

I would use the biggest condensor that I could get in the nose, and from as modern a car as possible. The newer they are, the more efficiently they transfer heat, and the larger it is, the lower the high side pressure needs to be to remove heat, which means less load on the compressor and less overall heat in the air in front of the radiator.

Granted there is not much room to work with here, but every little bit helps!

 

That’s a lot of info for nice start to this mission. Thanks fellas.