Thread: air conditioner evaporator

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what is the best condenser to use on the 32?? I was putting my grille, grille shell and radiator together today and fitting it all to car and there is not much room in front of radiator to fit an condenser and run all the lines back. Any suggestions???

Originally Posted by daytonagary

what is the best condenser to use on the 32?? I was putting my grille, grille shell and radiator together today and fitting it all to car and there is not much room in front of radiator to fit an condenser and run all the lines back. Any suggestions???

Gary,
Shift the radiator back in the grille shell? When I bought my roller from Duane he mentioned that he had a PRC radiator & condenser on hand because a customer had changed his mind about running a Ford engine, and I got it for his cost as a matched pair. Seems the easiest is to buy the radiator & condenser together, then fit it into the grill, setting the radiator back a bit if needed for clearance.

Run as big a condensor as you can fit. If really worried, sneaky trick is to lengthen the grille shell. Look at the photo of this one, owner needed to run electric fan but did not want it to show on motor side. Compare thickness of grille shell to yours.

Give Yogi's a call. That is where I got mine, but I cannot remember which part number one it was. They have a lot of experience with this and could tell you which one works. They are very good to work with. 800-373-1937.

Regardless where you get the evaporator, you need it on hand before you mount the radiator relative to the shell, IMO.

I agree with Roger. You need it to mock everything up. I was concerned when ordering my Dan Fink grill insert that it would not clear. He was good enough to send me the dimensions of the insert before I made the big purchase. Mine clears without needing to move the AFCO aluminum radiator back.

this is what I ordered from Southern Rods. 12 inches wide and I can move the radiator back a little and trim the back of the grille to get it in there but getting the lines down and running below the radiator is the next challenge. anyone have photos of what fittings, etc etc. they used for this task??? Little to no room on passenger side to get top hose down beside the lower hose once I put a 90 degree fitting on the lower hose to get it pointing down plus have to get all that through the bottom of the grille shell to run hoses under radiator. ???????????? Last car I built I used the condensor and fan unit Southern sells to move condensor under the vehicle and it works great but no room on this car to move it under the body.

Gary,
I used a pair of "U-Bend'Em" lines from VA - http://www.vintageair.com/2012catalo...Page%2072).pdf in the 12" length, female to male to extend the connection points. My bottom line runs out and sweeps up about 3" to 4" before laying over to horizontal along side the radiator; and the upper drops down 5" to 6" before sweeping back parallel to the bottom line. Both are clamped tight against the side of the radiator outer shell using a piece of aluminum strap and some pieces of rubber to cushion the clamp. Mine hide behind the splash apron, and transition to flex lines up to the compressor (top line) and another to receiver/dryer that I mounted along the passenger frame rail. I tried to take a picture, but since I painted the front of the radiator, condenser & exposed lines flat black (something I'd strongly recommend to you, BTW, just for appearance) it is all but impossible to see them behind the grille. I'll look through the pictures of the build to see if I can find anything to show what I'm talking about.

OK, thanks, hated to move radiator back as I had it bolted to shell and fitting perfectly but made some brackets and redrilled some holes to move it back half an inch. Wanted to run lines below radiator so I didn't have to drill side of shell but getting them up to where they have to go will be easier running them like you did. will order some hard lines tomorrow and see what I can do. You would think after all the thousands of deuces built with air conditioning someone would have a bolt in solution for this instead of having to notch grille, cut holes in grille shell, move radiator back from standard postion, etc., etc. etc.

Gary,
No reason you can't run your lines below the radiator. Those hard lines come in 12", 18", 24", 30", 36", 48", 60" and 72". I'd think that a 12" or 18" on the bottom would get you clear to transition to a flex line; and up top probably 18" or 24" would do the same. You could even drop down, under and back up to an easy transition point if you wanted - just figure out a way to secure the hard lines at or near your final transition to eliminate shake and work hardening. I did not find any photo of those lines in my build records, BTW.

how did you mount the condensor?? brackets to the grille shell or ????

Gary, I have a PRC radiator like Roger's but mine is for a '32. I ordered the radiator/condensor/fan & shroud as a package deal from PRC. The condensor has 4 tabs off the sides that mount to the outer frame of the radiator. I can post a pic this evening if you would like.

Mike

sure, please post some pics. this car has been a joy to assemble with no major engineering feats to conquer but this grille shell, grille, condensor, radiator and electric cooling fan all going together in a small area is a PIA.

Gary,
On your condenser the four tabs appear to project about 1/2", while on the one from PRC they extend more like 4". You can easily take pieces of aluminum stock, nominal 1/8" thick, 2"x4" or so and attach them to the existing tabs with small bolts & nuts. Then drill holes to align with your outer frame, tap the ones in the outer frame and bolt them in place. Piece of cake.

Gary, sorry I took so long to post pic, I needed a photo editor for the new computer I built a few weeks ago. Roger described the way the PRC condensers are mounted except the tabs on mine are welded to the condenser, not bolted. I'm sure you already know this but allow the needed clearance for the nuts/bolts to clear the radiator core if you go that route, don't want to rub a hole in the nice, new radiator.
I hope this helps.

Mike

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