Air conditioning on a 409

[Anne]

Has A/C been adapted to a 409 and if so what system was used?
Anne

[Barrie]

Classic Auto Air - Air Conditioning & Heating for 70’s & Older Cars & Trucks.
Classic Air is what I have used in a Bentley.
I've not seen an integrated dash air con system put on a 409.
My system is in the boot and discharges cold air from pods on the parcel shelf.
I wouldn't do that again and would go for a front mounted underdash unit but couldn't find anything which didn't detract from the beauty of the dashboard.
You may have the same problem with the 409, 2 of which I've owned.

[Anne]

OK thanks. I am more interested in the compressor location and the drive for it. May follow up with the link you provided.

Anne

[Kevin H]

Hi Anne,

I suggest looking at the universal system sold by Vintage Air. I have one of these in my 411, which is very similar to the 409.

The Vintage Air units provide heating and cooling, so you can remove the Smiths heater box and that's where the evaporator goes, so it uses all of the existing heater vents. The original heater controls become redundant.

The unit come with a small control panel which was originally fitted below the dashboard in my car, but I am in the middle of trying to adapt the original heater controls to control the A/C unit.

I have the pipework to the condenser routed through the inner wing above the spare wheel.

I currently have an original Chrysler A/C compressor, but I would recommend using the modern compressor that Vintage Air sells. Either way, you have to modify the belt and ancillaries configuration on the front of the engine.

One problem you will almost certainly encounter is an engine cooling issue after mounting the condenser in front of the radiator, particularly with the original Bristol cooling fans. I would suggest removing both the original electric fan in front of the radiator and replacing it with two smaller modern electric fans mounted directly on the condenser, and also mount a slim electric fan on the engine side of the radiator to pull air through the condenser and radiator "sandwich" (I no longer have an engine driven fan on my 411). The electric fans should be wired to come on by thermostat but also always come on when the A/C is engaged. I actually had my cooling system re-modelled, but I'm not sure that is necessary.

I hope this helps!

kevin

[Anne]

Kevin,
Ok thanks...I realize that I will have to do something with the cooling system. Currently I have one large electric fan replacing the 2 "sad" little fans but with AC this would change things.
The otter switch also comes on way too early so I have it unplugged and use the manual switch.
If you get a chance, can you post a picture of how/were the compressor is mounted?
Thanks,
Anne

[Kevin H]

Anne,
Please find below a photo showing the compressor position when it was first installed. The smaller photo ("later AC install") shows what it looks like now, using the Chrysler A/C compressor and a period alternator.

It will actually be easier on the 409 than the 411, because on the 411 we had to remove the pump for the self levelling suspension, then move the (new) alternator to the other side of the engine, before mounting the compressor where the alternator had been. I can't recall why we didn't just put the compressor where the suspension pump had been, but it was done a long time ago!

Regards,
Kevin

[Anne]

Ok thanks...that makes it much easier to follow.
Best,
Anne

[Zorglub]

I also used the Vintage Air set, but used a slightly different approach to positioning the compressor, using some of the used space on the side of the bonnet. See a drawing showing where all the components go (on another car), and then a couple of pictures on the car itself while being worked on.

I used the original heater controls for both AC and heater, and connected the Vintage air outlets to the original ones, adding a few unobtrusive ones under the dash for direct airflow.

[Zorglub]

Here's a (bad) picture of the dash with the added front vents: two in the center and one on each side