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looking to swap a parallel flow condenser into my FC.
I had the AC compressor lines on my FC go out recently. My radiator also sprung one too many leaks and thought since I was in the area, I thought I might see if I couldn't get a parallel flow condenser in the car. I live in central Florida and have had constant problems with the AC not working when I need it most, even with the R134 conversion. I heard that there is a night and day difference between the OEM condenser and a parallel flow condenser. The only issue is I'm not very good at custom fabrication and only know 1 or 2 people that can, but they're not very close.
I know there are a lot of "universal" condensers out there, but my main question is which one would be best to swap into a FC and how did you sort out the hoses? I saw a post on ausrotary forum and a guy that used this condenser: UNIVERSAL CONDENSER 525mm x 355mm x 16mm PARALLEL FLOW O-RING – Auto Aer
only issue with it is, its not sold or shipped in America.
My other question is: is it possible to get one custom made? I saw this 3rd gen post and people were throwing around a company called "Malloy" but I couldn't for the life of me find it. (anyone put different AC condenser in? - RX7Club.com - Mazda RX7 Forum)
in terms of what I'm willing to spend, I'd rather spend more and get a close-to-OEM fit as possible than have to rig something up myself (because that has never gone well unfortunately -_-)
So what are my options? Please and thank you
I'm also interested to do the same, since my AC is not installed right now and I have a good opportunity while it's out.
FWIW, I can tell you that the "Malloy" they are referencing in that post is Malloy Mazda. They are talking about asking Ray (is it Ray? I've never contacted him myself) Malloy about finding an OEM condenser, not a parallel flow.
Jackhild had a few posts about the parallel flow condenser here on Rx7Club, but he's no longer active on the forum. I sent him a PM awhile back but received no response.
I would like to do something like this, but I would have no idea how to sort out the lines. on the one on my car the input and output are on either side of the condenser, but every parallel flow condenser has them on the same side. Bear in mind I am basically doing this on my own and any custom fab shops are few and far between where I live (as far as I know).
You'll really only need an A/C shop. Since the fittings are hard to come by, they cut up my old stock condenser to use them for custom lines. I simply mocked up the hoses and took them back to the shop to crimp. I think they charged me like $100? That was to weld the OEM metric o-ring fittings onto a fitting for reduced barrier hose and then the four crimps - two in each line.
Mocking up the condenser was easy. The spacers I got from McMaster made for a clean install, all I really had to do was trim one bracket and drill a couple of holes.
So a shop specializing in auto A/C work or just a general A/C shop? And how would I mockup the tubing so when they make the custom lines all fits?
I found a condenser that is 22 x 22 so it should fit within the stock bracket but I'm waiting to pull the trigger because I want to make sure I can actually do this properly before spending the money.
So I finally decided to take out my old condenser. Bit of a pain in the rear because I had to do it the hard way. I didn't want to un-bolt the oil cooler and because the pinch welds on my car have all but collapsed, I don't like the idea of putting this thing on jack stands anymore. I ended up having to unbolt the hood latch, one of the feed lines going to the orifice tube, the drier and the pressure switch. I did get it out though and without messing up any wiring, which is a rare occurrence for me.
As for what I am going to replace it with. I think I am going with this one: AC Condenser 14" X 21" Parallel High Flow Street Rod Truck Universal | eBay
Its a 21 x 14 which is similar to the OEM one I just took out. Not sure if I am going to be using the bracket on the new condenser or find a way to use the OEM ones, but wanted to get thoughts before I pulled the trigger.
The condenser you linked is basically the same one I have. I ordered mine from either ackits.com or coldhose.com.
You can basically do the same thing I did. The only other thing you would need to order or source from a shop that does custom A/C work is some hose and a #8 and #6 o-ring fitting to match your hose (either standard or reduced barrier).
The condenser you linked is basically the same one I have. I ordered mine from either ackits.com or coldhose.com.
You can basically do the same thing I did. The only other thing you would need to order or source from a shop that does custom A/C work is some hose and a #8 and #6 o-ring fitting to match your hose (either standard or reduced barrier).
How hard is it to sort out the mounting brackets? did you use the one already on the new condenser or did you somehow finagle the OEM one on the new condenser?
It was not hard. A little trimming on the driver's side bracket top portion, a couple holes drilled, and I used aluminum spacers to offset it to the middle of the OEM bracket.
@Paulc19 What you're trying to do isn't all that difficult. Basically if you can bend 1/16" thick AL stock to your will and drill holes in it, you'll be able to figure out the brackets. Most aftermarket universal condensers have pre-drilled mounting tabs around the entire perimeter, so it shouldn't be too hard to find places to bolt an OEM or DIY made bracket to it. Using cardboard boxes and such for mock-ups & measurements during the design process is also helpful. Follow Jerry's lead & advice, looks like he did a great job on his.
While it's an FD, the general process & skills needed will be the same. AC resto info starts around post #12, and I also have a bunch of links for suppliers I've used for the necessary AC fittings & hoses. When I did mine, I had no luck finding a local shop to crimp the fittings on my custom hoses, so I picked up a hydraulic crimper (about $100) on Amazon to DIY all my hoses.
09-26-22, 06:51 PM
