410 Air Conditioning

[John Keighley]

Originally Posted by David C

Thank you for that. Loving the exhaust manifolds. Who made or supplied those?

I'm still keen to see some pictures of aircon compressor mounted on 410 engine as this is very different from the 411.

Hi David, I know the alternator has to move to allow installation of the compressor but we haven’t reached that point yet. Hopefully soon I’ll have something to show.

[David C]

You may not have to move the alternator. Sam Frost kindly sent me a link to pictures of his 410 that has a factory installed A/C system. This has the compressor mounted above the power steering pump and looks a much better proposition in a Bristol. His car is away at the moment but I'm hoping to have a good look at it when it returns. If I go ahead with the conversion I plan to make some similar brackets but for a smaller, lighter compressor.

If anyone else is interested maybe we should get a design together that can be easily reproduced for anyone following suit.

I am wondering whether to change the hidden under dashboard quadrant ventilation control for a push / pull that is a bit more accessible.

[Kevin H]

John,
It looks like it's a bit late now, but did you consider fitting an A/C unit that provided both cooling and heating and routing it through the existing air vents?
Kevin

[John Keighley]

Originally Posted by Kevin H

John,
It looks like it's a bit late now, but did you consider fitting an A/C unit that provided both cooling and heating and routing it through the existing air vents?
Kevin

Kevin, we retained the heater as it works well but also, Vintage Air offer the slimline unit to fit under the dash and for the 410. This is the more desirable choice - particularly the 410 does not have the vent system that the 411 series has. The existing air vents in a 410 are almost non-existant, or woefully inadequate to say the very least (located on the timber paneling at the bottom of the windscreen and one sitting under the dash on top of the transmission tunnel). Euphemism for suffocation!

[Sam410]

Sorry I didn't see this until now.

As David says I have factory AC in my 1969 410. (Also factory electric windows and door armrests.) The car is away being rewired at the moment but you can see a couple of overview pictures of the installation here:

https://www.classicandsportscar.com/...tionary-rebels

When the car is back (next month I hope) I can take some more detailed pictures and update the thread.

The hazard warning switch has not been moved from the usual location and can still be operated even if it can't be seen!

Rather than move the footwell vent lever, my car has separate levers for driver and passenger vents, one on each side.

Overall the AC works very well, and is especially good at refrigerating the driver's left knee. Ventilation to the rear seats is improved with the back widows open. It does however raise the engine temperature by as much as 10º or more when cruising, and if stuck in traffic the cooling system struggles to cope with the AC on top of its regular duties. I believe it is wired to run the fans constantly when the AC is on.

[David C]

Further investigation regarding fitting air conditioning to a 410 has made me think about the current draw that this adds - around 15 Amps. While an uprated alternator will easily provide the extra current, the ammeter and its original wiring were not designed with this load in mind.

Conversion to LED headlamps should lessen the load enough to prevent this becoming a problem. Otherwise I suggest wiring the air conditioning so that it disables the heated rear screen when in use. It is unlikely that both would be needed at the same time.

[Sam410]

I find AC a very useful aid to demisting, so don't discount using both together. My rear screen heater has never worked, so I don't have this problem. Maybe the new loom going in will fix that.