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TR6 TR6 A/C

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bigbadbluetr6

bigbadbluetr6

Jedi Trainee
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I was just wondering about the A/C on the TR6. I've seen some cars on ebay where there are vents coming out from under the dash. Is that correct? Also they have extra stuff in the engine compartment. My TR6 came with an A/C unit but nothing else. My car also has a wood dash and no glove box. The cars I've seen on ebay with A/C's have a glove box. What is the deal here? Was the A/C a factory option or a dealer option? Was the wood dash a dealer option? Does anyone know? I don't know that why I'm asking.
 
I'm sure someone in here will be positive about these things but here's my take. The only A/C units I've ever seen on a 6 were dealer installed. There was a big compressor mounted on the engine, and the vents were a molded plastic piece that ran along the bottom of the dash.
The wooden dash was only an "option" on the early TR4s. They were standard equipped with a painted white metal dash. After that (around the start of the TR4A )the wood dash was standard, and the painted metal dash was dropped altogether. As far as I know all the dashes had a glove box. I would be inclined to think that someone fabricated the dash in your car if there is no glove box.
 
I just sold my 1976 TR6. The car had the dealer installed air conditioning. The previous owner told me it was dealer installed and given the fit and finish, I had no reason to doubt him. The vents were circular and sat just above the radio speakers. The flexible tubing was pretty much shoved anywhere it would fit behind the dash. The car had a standard glove box.

Two other points. One, the A/C did not knock your socks off to say the least. The fellow who bought the car last week already removed all the vents and tubes. As for factory installation, I saw one TR6 for sale on Ebay that had rectangular vents that were attached very neatly parallel to the underside of the dash. The seller claimed the unit was factory installed.

Cheers,

TED

PS Keep you fingers crossed gang, now that the TR6 is gone, I am hunting for a Stag - a lot more room for our son, that's for sure. However, don't tell my wife - I plan on breaking the news to her by just pulling up in the new Stag, should go over just fine!!!!
 
Definitive answer. During the period the various distributors were independently owned. I worked at the port of entry for Continental Cars, the distributor that covered most of the central US.
Each distributor designed and purchased its own accessories, and that includes both a/c and radio. There were some common items, such as luggage rack and stripe kits when there was a major sales campaign going around. For example, the TR7 was not moving, so BL (USA) arranged for a kit that included luggage rack, white spoke wheels (they were confused with Jeeps I suppose), stripe kit and vinyl roof.
As to the a/c question in particular, it simply depends on the section of the country the car came from. We did not allow the dealers to install any accessories, doing them instead at the port facility in the hopes of better quality control.
Any car that was sold from Continental's dealers was fitted with an ARA air conditioner (best I remember, that was the brand), and Panasonic radio. The radio mounting kit was designed by myself and purchased from a company in New York city. Every car was given an undercoating treatment before being shipped.
So the answer really is, then, whatever you have might or might not have been in the car at the time of retail delivery. It might have been installed at a dealer, at the distributor level, or at some local shop down the road from the dealer.
What I can tell you for certain is that there were no a/c units installed in England, or Belgium (where the cars were loaded and shipped to the U.S.)
All TR6s in the U.S. came with wood dash. Hope that helps a bit.
 
Just as an fyi - If you ever decide to sell it for any reason, you'll be happy to know that the pieces (with what looked like the rectangular vents in the pic) went for $455 on Ebay a couple of weeks ago. I dropped out at $200ish which is how I know - I nearly died when I saw the winning bid.

Check out #7996999312 for pictures if the link is still valid.
 
My dealer installed A/C has not been too much of a problem. It has the YORK looking compressor and has been reliable. The aux fan blowing (push) on the condenser even worked until I put the car in moth balls for a few years. I think I can renew the electric fan motor by lubing the bushings. Frankly, the A/C was a real life saver when I drove the car to work with a tie around my neck in the Atlanta heat.
 
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