Mega HVAC and Cooling

Here is the high pressure line fitted with the Sanden riser adapter to make the pump almost level like the factory York. Plus the oil fill tube does not get in the way, as before with the odd clocking.

If using stock radiator, the line will pass pefectly through the opening for factory AC.

Because my condenser is wide, a slight bend further out is required. 8ts not too bad considering, there is now plenty of room to be able to remove and install any sized valve cover without touching the line or its securing holdown shown fitted loosely near the hose and line portion of the line.



Because of the top port service valve adapters, the high pressure line will be taller on its location. But, when using a unit with service ports and line ports at the rear of the head, then the bends around the head will be closer along the outer contour around the front of the head, which would be the better option for picking a Sanden compresser. I use and recomend Artic Blue for sealing mating O-ring fittings.

Note... the angle on the fitting can be adjusted before tightening, which will raise or lower the line while bringing the hose in-ward/out-ward when making routing adjustments.




Edited by 304-dude - Jul/11/2019 at 6:28pm

Discovered the AC high pressure line block fitting to the condenser is a wee too big for the condenser block fitting. I may just obtain a Subaru line and swap ends, or replace and braze a proper block fitting. Its one of them flip a coin things, and may even have the block's high pressure input orifice resized properly for ease of line replacement if needed.

The output block fitting to the dryer is of proper size and fits the I chose for swapping the peanut fitting for a dryer connection... an expected mod, since I chose to mix components, and needed a line which had a proper angle on its output fitting.

Waiting on my order for the 2 connection power connector and ground eyelette terminals for securing separate grounds for fans, the soft start controler, and relays.

Will work on modifying the VW shroud a wee bit, in removing some of the open areas, to seal better. Already added another 1/4" strip of neoprene along the bottom tank seam to seal along the gap, since the VW shroud has an offset lip along its top edge.

For simplicity sake of electrical connections and maintenance, I chose to mount the shroud upside down, and isolated the fan controller from being sandwiched between the main fan and radiator.

My mods to make it work upside down and to change the fans wiring configuration are all optional... Even the neoprene is not required, as its a noise deadener and allows for assisting for gap on the mounting tabs that I chose to mount with. The mounting face on the shroud is flat enough for a good fit against the radiator, without need of an added seal.

One could have drilled proper holes to the side supports and mounted the shroud directly to the body, as a simple and cost effective option.

Here are some images of what has been done so far with shroud mods, A/C line fitting placement and routing for drier / receiver.

First the drier... took VW approach on placing it in front of the wheel, and under a support. Mine is right under the I6 battery tray location, for ease of installation and replacement.




The line from the condenser just clears both the lower support at the nose of the frame... about 1/3" clearance. Can be tweaked and secured by a hold down.

The only big mod was to drill the mounting hole a wee over sized for the size of the fastener being used at the block.

I will try a go at reheating the block end, to melt the braze, and rotate the pipe about 3° to tuck it close to the lower edge of the frame, for adding a hold down strap to secure it nicely.

Looks pretty good when viewed up close as it is, plus there is no drilling required to bypass the body structure.




I cut out the pressure vent to the fan shroud for 180° rotation. Will need to make a sheet metal surround to mount the frame to the shround opening.



Here is the opening that I will mount the surround from inside to hold the pressure vent in place to seal with and secure it.



Here is where i removed the bulge for the power cables, and filled to seal. Will drill a larger hole at the depression at the corner, to use a grommet to feed the modified wiring connection through.



The rest is to show the 1/4" square, neoprene padding used to fill gaps along tank weld areas, seal, and noise surpress.

Still needs some areas reglued, as one area bulged out from being missed with the adhesive.





Edited by 304-dude - Jul/22/2019 at 11:42am

Did try rebraizing the block fittings to allow some adjustment on the (long) output fitting to the drier, that will tuck along the corner of the frame and lower radiator support. It will also be partially behind the bumper bracket as it crosses under and around the frame. One can get by without need to adjust the tube near the braized end of condenser output block, by bending the tube near the bock fitting on the condenser. The tube is soft enough to make minor adjustment by hand.

Another reason why I chose this type of condenser, as it has enough pipe at the fittings to allow some light bending for adjustment. Others have fixed mounted bungs or blocks.

Being my first ever rebraize attempt with aluminum, I chose to remove the pipe from the Denso block fitting, which is too large of a diamter for fitment on the condenser. It worked out well enough for me to feel confident in adjusting the rotation of tube in the block. Did about 3°, and probably could have done 5°, but it was not critical to get too close in tucking the tube, as there is very little distance between the fitting ends for butting crimp ferrules, as i assume about 1/4" to 1/2" of hose will show.

I could use T-clamps for hydraulic lines, but many peeps think clamps on hydraulic lines are inferior. To me its an esthetics thing, and is far easier for maintenance when its time to replace a leaky hose. At 10x the cost compared to a crimp ferrule, cost on ones custom line is dictating reasons not reliability concern.

None the less my lines will conform to crimp standerds, even though I have T-clamps every where else.

On a side note... rebrazing small fittings like I have on a first time basis, requires some practice and patience. I failed in assuming one of the blocks for use on the input side of the condenser was braized to keep it at a fixed clock on the block. It was actually force fitted in place during assembly while creating the O-ring tube end. The aluminum seemed much easier to overheat and when trying to adjust the tube rotation in the hole, caused the tube to break apart. I know now not to try that again, and not to let any area that is not the braize to become a dull red. Only th braize should become a redish glow.

At this point a now have a couple of blocks to use in creating a custom block fitting, for the input block fitting on the condenser. So nothings lost, just a wee more work.

The A/C lines were about $14.00 each, which was a good deal for obtaining fittings, which was a wee gamble as for proper length of hose, let alone proper fitting blocks. Making it 50% workable on its own seems fair enough for the effort.

Will mess around with the two blocks to make my custom fitting... will end up sacraficing a fitting to braize with to complete the job.

Removed, due to consolidation to recent update.

Edited by 304-dude - Jul/30/2019 at 8:42am