• Hello Guest, welcome to the initial stages of our new platform!
    You can find some additional information about where we are in the process of migrating the board and setting up our new software here

    Thank you for being a part of our community!

Engine swapping foresight with AC unknowns

volvowagoon

Active member
Joined
Jul 19, 2012
Location
Franklin, IN
Hey guys, I was poking around the projects section and came out pretty shocked to find little to no information about AC compressor retrofitting. Eventually, I'm hoping to swap a 3800 and 4l60e into the '89 245 whenever it decides to roast its transmission or chuck a rod.

What I want to know is how people retain AC in their modern engine swaps if they do it at all. It seems like most of the LS swappers are ditching it completely, but I like my cool air. Adapter fittings and tube bending are simple. However, in a system that already has a hard time with r-134a I am not so convinced that sticking a bigger compressor meant for an OT set-up is going to blow colder air in this tiny TXV system.

Am I overthinking it? Will the compressor out of a big American car outflow the tiny exchangers? Can I rely on my r-134a pressure switches take care of those problems? Will my evaporator freeze? Let me know if you can help! I really want to keep the factory controls. At the max I'll swap to the newer OT parts, but I'm not particularly interested in a vintage air or similar. Thanks!
 
My 93 already has GM A/C in it (AC/Delco parts), but there's turbo stuff where the A/C compressor would be on a Corvette (what I have as front end accessories), so I'm just not worrying about it so far.
 
My 93 already has GM A/C in it (AC/Delco parts), but there's turbo stuff where the A/C compressor would be on a Corvette (what I have as front end accessories), so I'm just not worrying about it so far.

yea isn't the 91+ 240 system a Harrison (GM) system? Just get those parts and adapt it?

I didn't really think about this as I didn't know the newer systems used a Delco pump. GM perhaps, but with v-belts. Do you think it would be simpler to make custom brackets for the updated Volvo compressor, pull the clutch, and change the pulley? I don't even know how I would go about sourcing the correct pulley for my application.
 
I didn't really think about this as I didn't know the newer systems used a Delco pump. GM perhaps, but with v-belts. Do you think it would be simpler to make custom brackets for the updated Volvo compressor, pull the clutch, and change the pulley? I don't even know how I would go about sourcing the correct pulley for my application.

Luckily the bracketry on the sanden stuff is largely the same. You may be able to pop a compressor with a serp belt pulley and volvo style ports and bend the stock lines to fit. That mentioned, having a pair of custom lines made is not the end of the world either.
 
I too was going to ask: what is wrong with a Sanden compressor? Is the Delco that much better? I too need to redo my AC one of these days but thought on just shopping for a more modern Sanden, better condensor, and then slap parts in between.
 
There's nothing wrong with the original compressor as far as I know. I'm just saying that swapping the engine to one which uses serpentine belts and a different compressor may make retaining the original compressor more difficult than just making new lines.
 
Back
Top