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MGB ac for '80 mgb

GBT

Freshman Member
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hello to all....has anyone any experience with fitting an ac kit into one of these? southern Florida does get hot occasionally...I know, just put the top down...but possibly this may help resale in the future...if I ever decide to sell it....LOL
 
Putting the top down just makes it worse.

If you add the A/C let us know how it works out.
 
Bill, Fair price for a complete system. Do you know who's compressor their using? That's what pulls the engine down on the older AC kits. One of the tiny compressors on some newer foreign cars uses very little power from the engine. PJ
 
I just found the site yesterday morning so am not too familiar with the systems but the compressors shown are all Sankyo imitations and all appear to be 5 to 7 inch (per the ID numbers) so that would make them the newer "efficient" type ones.
Back in the 80's we has a 4" compressor for Datsuns, etc (Uniquela) but I haven't seen any reference to one of those for a LONG time.
BillM
Just for reference that Ford compressor at the bottom of the list (a common Ford type compressor) is 9" displacement.
 
FWIW you can search some hot rod sites and they sell small electric air setups.
 
GBT said:
hello to all....has anyone any experience with fitting an ac kit into one of these? southern Florida does get hot occasionally...I know, just put the top down...but possibly this may help resale in the future...if I ever decide to sell it....LOL

I have a/c in my 74-1/2 GT; Micky has a/c in his GT as well.

I sourced mine through Nostalgic Air; I think Mickey did the same.

My compressor is a Sanden 508.
 

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GBT said:
hello to all....has anyone any experience with fitting an ac kit into one of these? southern Florida does get hot occasionally...I know, just put the top down...but possibly this may help resale in the future...if I ever decide to sell it....LOL

The evaporator fits nicely under the dash in the passenger footwell without taking away too much space.

My unit is a heater-a/c combo unit (note I did a heater delete in the engine bay).. I did sacrifice one of the facia vents to supply air to the windscreen demister tubes.
 

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Yep - as Rick said. But we each have a V6. Actually, mine is installed, but not hooked up yet. The evaporator unit takes up surprising little space in the passenger footwell.

So far, I haven't heard/read any reports about the A/C on the stock B engine. Don't know about the strain it might put on it...

Still, a small price to pay for a cool cabin.
 
Back in the 70's and 80's the shop where I worked put AC in 4 cylinder MGB's that used the big York (Ford type) 9" compressors and they weren't too bad but with the 6" rotary ones it would be much better and smoother (6 pulses per rotation instead of the York's 2 pulses per rev)
BillM
 
York units would cripple the later engines to uselessness, IMO.

ANY of the compressors will drop the 1800 MGB engines from about 1975 forward to the end, right to their knees.

a 1980 B has a hard time gettin' out of its own way with everything working at peak. Suffer the heat or get another car. That's just the way it is.
 
those York units could cripple just about any engine, not to mention make the dang car terribly nose heavy. I believe that's the real reason why the titanic sunk: too many York compressors on board. A local friend put a Sanden based setup on his TR-7 and noticed very little difference in performance.

If you've got a later B and considering Air Conditioning it's not like you're going to be racing it anyways.
 
Mickey Richaud said:
Yep - as Rick said. But we each have a V6.

In reality, my cylinder count is two higher than yours, Mickey.

:cheers:
 
rick_ingram said:
Mickey Richaud said:
Yep - as Rick said. But we each have a V6.

In reality, my cylinder count is two higher than yours, Mickey.

:cheers:

Numerically challenged here! :blush:
 
The Sanden "beef-roll" setup is about the only viable choice, IMO.

Those York/Frigidaire lumps are about as big as the engine itself. :smirk: :jester:
 
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