Saturday Evening
8/26/06

Pat,

As indicated by Craig, there are several vendors out there that offer A/C systems, but I question the prices that they charge, when it is nothing more than a "glorified" street rod kit, that I see in the Hot Rod magazines for around $1K.  The prices that the aircraft vendors charge start around $7K.

We paid $7K for our system 3 years ago and then we had to:  1.  Fabricate our own evaporator cover.  2.  Buy the thermostat control that would reach from the overhead console to the evaporator (the control was originally on the unit itself - hard to reach in the back from the front seat).  3.  Buy extra fittings for the hoses furnished with the system.

After my experience with installing our system, I would take a long, hard look at the street rod systems and study the components they use.  You need to talk with Bob Pastusek (who will probably respond), because he designed a compressor mounting bracket for the engine (and could probably have one fabricated for you), selected a condenser and evaporator for his system and didn't have anywhere near $7K in his system.  Selecting the components is not all that hard - installing it is quite a chore.  We used aluminum tubing in the cabin area as much as possible and hoses for those "impossible areas".  The compressor mounting bracket we used is the one made by Continental for the Malibu engine, but that requires relocation of the battery - more work!  Bill Hogarty used the same bracket for his A/C compressor and if I remember correctly, he designed most of his system. Bill also posted some pictures of his system a couple of years ago - maybe he could furnish you copies.

I will guarantee you one thing - buying the system is the "easy part"! <grin>  They don't make a "bolt on" system that will just fit right it - it has got work written all over it, but I think the results will be well worth the effort.

Hope this gives you some help and insight - let me know if I can answer any questions.

Ed Smith
Chesapeake, VA