Pagoda AC up-grades ?

[ja17]

Hello,

I am planning on up-grading the original AC on a 280SL.  I want to use a later rotary AC compressor which should be smother, produce less vibration, and be more efficient.   Hopefully a simpler less complicated mounting bracket can also be used. 

Has anyone had any good experiences with some other set-ups?

[Naj ✝︎]

Hi, Joe,

Buds were selling a Sanden mounting plate at Blacklick last year.
Also:

http://www.sl113.org/forums/index.php?topic=3528.0

naj

[ja17]

Hello Naj,

Thanks, I will look into it.

Take care,

Joe

[George Des]

Joe,

I use a Sanden 508 in my set-up with a custom made bracket that is patterned after the Bud's Benz flat brakcet that lies across the front of the block and uses an idler pulley to route the belt around the water pump area. I cut the bracket from some flat steel plate by drilling and cutting with a sabre saw with a metal cutting blade--"connect the dots style" and then used a grinder to finish it off. Would have been much easier with a plasma cutter but I don't have one! The Sanden is a lot more efficent and has no vibration and allows you to do away with that monster stack bracket. I'm guessing that you may be able to use the 250/280SE a/c bracket whici is a top mount bracket. I have one here that I have been considering using at some point to replace the flat plate to give a more stock appearance. There may be a clearance issue so I'm putting that off for right now.

My A/C with the Sanden, a parallel flow condensor, an upgraded blower, and R134 does blow cold with minimum draw on the engine, but I believe the condensor I'm using may be a bit too large and is blocking the air flow across the radiator enough to cause some elevated temps when idling at traffic lights with the a/c on. I may at some point give this a try with a smaller condensor to see if it makes a difference. Hope this help.

George Desiderio

[RickM]

My A/C with the Sanden, a parallel flow condensor, an upgraded blower, and R134 does blow cold with minimum draw on the engine, but I believe the condensor I'm using may be a bit too large and is blocking the air flow across the radiator enough to cause some elevated temps when idling at traffic lights with the a/c on. I may at some point give this a try with a smaller condensor to see if it makes a difference. Hope this help.

George Desiderio

10-4 on this.  We think we have it bad, air-cooled 911 owners are desperate for trick components to make the factory A/C passable. One trusted vendor for advice and reasonably priced components, including parallel flow condensers is www.ackits.com
When switching over to newer refrigerants one must invest in barrier type hoses to do away with leakage issues. Typically a local hydraulic shop and even many NAPA stores will utilize existing connectors and refit to the newer barrier hose for a minimal investment.

[ja17]

Thank you Richard and George, good information.  George, I may look into using the sedan bracket, It is much less complicated  than the original W113 bracket. I will let you know how it works out.

[George Des]

Joe,

I forgot to mention that you will need to buy or fabricate an interface bracket to convert the sedan bracket to one that will accept the rotary compressor. These are often offered on Ebay and convert the bracket intended for the psiton type compressor.

George

[Raymond]

I put the Sanden 208 on mine.  I bought it and a York to Sanden adapter mount from Old Air Products in Texas.  The adapter is $45 and bolts into place on the Pagoda.  I used a set of 1" spacers and longer compressor mounting bolts to align the belt pulleys exactly to the original position.

The adapter plate is on this link.
http://www.oldairproducts.com/catalog/product_info.php?products_id=3538

The customer service from these guys could not have been better and they were happy to answer questions. They were able to cut open and renew my existing drier so it looks original (Back when I cared about that) and I was able to use the R-12 I had squirreled away.   

I used a new condenser from a company in Californina that has more and smaller tubes giving the same volume but better heat exchange.  Now the only problem is it gets too cold for BK sitting on the right.  At 98 degrees in humid Florida the A/C is ice cold and the engine doesn't get hot.

[ja17]

Thanks Ray,

Good information!  Amazing that it works that well even in the Florida heat.

Take care,

Joe