Trunk/Boot aircon

[Aussiecsi]

Hi All, anyone have any experience with this type of aircon ? ...it was fitted here in Perth when the car was delivered back in '74 . I plan to recommission if practical to do so. It's located under the rear parcel shelf with vents mounted at rear of back seats . Way down the list at the moment but may as well start planning . It was made in good 'ol USA if that helps . Please tell me this system on a E9 is rarer than a barn find Batmobile ! Cheers, Simon

 

[Arde]

It would be rare to sacrifice horsepower for the thermal comfort of the backseat passenger.
US made probably means that it was meant to cool beer cases on the rear seat.

 

[Tierfreund]

Not as unusual as it seems. The very first aricons fitted to cars were often that way. With smaller dashboards and privitive heating and ventilation upfront and the huge components for the first aircons (basically a refrigerator) and the "afterthought nature" of these things, they were often mounted in the trunk and blew some cold air into the cabin through the parcel shelf.

 

[Simufly]

E9 aircon

One system that I came across was the evaporater in the glove box on a RHD car. The outlet for the cooled air was through the usual blower ducts. Almost certainly anAmerican import as the two settings on the controls were hiway and urban.

 

[jefftepper]

A google search for trunk mounted A/C systems brings up the history of automotive A/C systems produced by several Texas based aftermarket suppliers including ARA. Apparently the aftermarket beat the major automakers to the market. By 1974 most factory automotive air was integrated into the dash with the few aftermarket units being under dash. My guess is that Perth vendors were a bit slow to adapt and still had some of the trunk mounted units available which fit this car. Given the technology involved, I suspect that someone like Classic Auto Air in Tampa may have vintage parts or can refurbish vintage parts to restore functionality to the system.

What is interesting is that the earliest installations included a 1941 Cadillac. Click the link below:

http://forums.aaca.org/f215/looking-41-cadillac-factory-air-photos-339429.html.

 

[Aussiecsi]

Thanks Jeff, yes, one of the labels did have some reference to Texas . My recollection ( from 20 + years ago ) is that this unit was quite effective in cooling my mobile greenhouse . I suspect it will be worth repairing given the cooling ability of some "asthmatic " console units I have experienced . Cheers, Simon

 

[loloe13]

Hey Simon,
I also have a rear trunk A/C monster unit that blows air from the back parcel shelf. My unit is black colour but made by Mitchell-Discal Ltd from Hong Kong!
I suspect it was a dealer fitted item, likely in the 70's, as 'made in Hong Kong' products faded in the 80's
Gavin

 

[Aussiecsi]

Hi Gavin, does your "monster" aircon do the job ? ....I think the evaporator is a pretty simple piece and not a lot to them ? Cheers, Simon

 

[loloe13]

With my A/C, the air is cold enough.
Certainly not like the 'icy' feeling that a modern car A/C may give, but cold enough for me even when its a 33'C (91'F) day here in Melb.
And as long as you are comfortable with the feeling of cold air blowing to the back of your head rather than front. Kind of nice actually.

I recently changed to the smaller Sanden style compressor as the old York was leaking. Still feels the same to me.

Hi Gavin, does your "monster" aircon do the job ? ....I think the evaporator is a pretty simple piece and not a lot to them ? Cheers, Simon

 

[Aussiecsi]

Well decided to bite the bullet and pull this good ol' USA monster out ; finally found a use for my pristine imperial sockets and spanners !

So, apart from some rust on the casing ( go figure !) the guts are in remarkably good condition for 40 + years so hopefully not a big spend to get this baby up and running . Thought I would post a few pics for those not familiar with this type of a/con [/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

Cheers, Simon

 

[Aussiecsi]

...a few more [/ATTACH][/ATTACH]

 

[Aussiecsi]

Slightly OT, given the size of the a/con, it pretty much obscured the entire rear panel of the boot/trunk ( under the parcel shelf ) ....once removed, it revealed "as new" elephant skin and light fitting...the "skin" was noticeably a darker grey /gray from the rest so obviously 40 years of light deprivation does wonders :-D ...the pics don't really do the original skin justice but here they are ..