Remove air conditioning

Tiny
LJLAPINSKI
  • MEMBER
  • 1975 CHEVROLET CORVETTE
  • 5.7L
  • V8
  • 2WD
  • AUTOMATIC
  • 80,000 MILES
Do I need to get a new radiator if removing the air conditioning
from car
Saturday, January 7th, 2017 AT 4:32 PM

11 Replies

Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,004 POSTS
The radiator is not part of the A/C system.

Sorta why are you removing the A/C?

The Medic
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Saturday, January 7th, 2017 AT 5:51 PM
Tiny
LJLAPINSKI
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
With out the air conditioner there will be less drag on the motor any way. The car has
T-tops I feel no need for the air conditioner.
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Sunday, January 8th, 2017 AT 7:55 AM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
The air conditioner only drags on the engine when it is turned on so I do not really see how removing it will help you there.
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Sunday, January 8th, 2017 AT 7:58 AM
Tiny
LJLAPINSKI
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
If not using your air conditioner way have it at all adds weight to a motor that is a dog anyway and I do not like air conditioning.
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Sunday, January 8th, 2017 AT 8:03 AM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,833 POSTS
Spoken like a true do-it-yourselfer. Consider that no mechanic would do this to a customer's car, and ask yourself why.

Also, be aware that AC systems run in "defrost" mode to condense humidity out of the air before it is heated and blown onto a cold windshield where it would condense and cause fogging. I have an 1980 Plymouth Volare that I drove two hours to college. By the time I got half way there on a rainy day, I was wiping the inside of the windshield with a rag. I purposely bought that car because it had a six-cylinder engine, for lower tune-up cost, and without AC, with the misguided thinking I'd get better fuel mileage. My mother bought a 1978 Chrysler LeBaron with AC. When the heater was turned to "defrost" mode on those rainy days, you could watch as the fogging disappeared in about five to ten seconds. That sure beat waving a rag around. And she got almost the same fuel mileage with a V-8 engine.

You should also consider how many parts on your car must be ordered after answering, "with or without AC"? That includes beefier suspension parts, a larger radiator, bigger brakes, a larger generator, larger fan blade, larger water pump larger heater box, bigger heater fan, calibration of the brake combination valve, etc. Are you going to start tossing all those parts over your shoulder? There is a reason the AC option used to cost $700.00 while a compressor and condenser only cost $250.00. Those two parts, and the evaporator in the dash are made from aluminum. They weight much less than a quarter tank of gas. If you really want to save weight, do not fill the gas tank.

Also, be aware the engineers spent a huge amount of time and resources developing a braking system that was carefully calibrated to provide balanced braking front to rear. That is affected by weight, weight distribution, and ride height. Anything you do that affects any of those things will be found by the lawyer or insurance investigator representing the other guy who ran the red light and caused a crash. They will convince a jury that you were partly at fault because you were less able to avoid the crash, and they will be right. Less weight in front means the front tires will skid easier which means no steering control. To avoid a skidding tire, you cannot push the brake pedal quite as hard. That means the other wheels that were not skidding have even less braking power. A lighter car can take longer to stop safely when all the other factors are not taken into account. You are better off just leaving the system alone, and if AC really offends you, remove the compressor's belt. The car will have higher resale value if it is in original condition.
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Sunday, January 8th, 2017 AT 2:48 PM
Tiny
SATURNTECH9
  • MECHANIC
  • 30,869 POSTS
Well said, you are not going to save gas, but if you have time and money on your hands it is your car do with it what you want.
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Sunday, January 8th, 2017 AT 6:36 PM
Tiny
LJLAPINSKI
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
What is wrong with doing it your self?
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Monday, January 9th, 2017 AT 2:57 PM
Tiny
CJ MEDEVAC
  • MECHANIC
  • 11,004 POSTS
Absolutely Nothing!

I encourage it on everything possible!

The part everyone is having a hard time trying to digest is the benefits you will lose.

I think what we really do not understand is how you are using your vehicle. And yes, it may not be any of our business.

The weight factor might play in hard, if it were to be loaded on the space shuttle.

Most of us here try to please, try to be safety conscious, and try to lay all of the cards on the table just in case the 'asker' may not have considered all of their options.

Good luck with it!

Let us know how it works out.

The Medic
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Monday, January 9th, 2017 AT 3:25 PM
Tiny
CARADIODOC
  • MECHANIC
  • 33,833 POSTS
The problem is you do not understand all the ramifications of doing this. The first one is simply the resale value. The typical Corvette lover takes pride in keeping their car original. They value what the engineers designed, not what someone cobbled.

Related to value, you need to understand a few details about AC systems so you can make an informed decision. The person you sell the car to will likely want to restore it to original condition. That means doing more than just throwing the parts back on. Once you discharge the refrigerant, air gets into the hoses and other parts. There is humidity in that air. Moisture combines with refrigerant to form an acid that is extremely corrosive to metal parts. We pump the system into a vacuum for at least a half hour to get that deadly moisture out of the system before pumping new refrigerant in. Under vacuum, water boils at 77 degrees and can be pulled out as a vapor.

When uninformed people leave hoses hanging, or the evaporator tubes open, the moisture that gets in can corrode those parts. Even if they do not leak, small pieces of corrosion can flake off and circulate in a restored system. All AC systems do their thing by releasing pressurized refrigerant through a very tiny port where that pressure drops and the refrigerant gets real cold. If a piece of that corrosion gets stuck in the expansion valve or orifice tube, the flow of refrigerant stops, and so does the cooling action. This is so common, almost all AC system specialists will refuse to work on systems that have been open for even a few weeks. They know there will be leaks or less than satisfactory performance, and the unhappy customer is going to be coming back over and over. Collector car enthusiasts know that, and they will not be willing to pay what the car would be worth. We also look at it as the car was attacked by a do-it-yourselfer, and we have to wonder what else was done that is not easily seen. There is nothing so sad as hopping into a car at a car show, seeing the AC controls on the dash, then finding out the AC system is not there. Specialists will not even use AC system parts from salvage yards if they cannot guarantee they came from a sealed system. Buyers who understand this know they will need to remove the heater box to replace the evaporator, and all other parts will need to be replaced. They will not risk using parts that were not sealed, and having to do the job over again.

The other problem is you are going to huge extremes that are not going to yield your intended results. Your car weighs over 3,000 pounds. The AC compressor and condenser each weight about ten pounds, and that is the weight you think is going to make a noticeable improvement in power. Gasoline weighs seven pounds per gallon. Stop on the side of the road and siphon out three gallons of gas, and you will have removed the same amount of weight.

You also need to understand that all cars from the 1960's with V-8 engines had more power at the wheels than anything from 1975, and a lot of cars from the 1990's and 2000's can outrun your car. 1975 was right in between high-power, dirty 1960's cars that got their power from burning a lot of gas inefficiently, and the current lightweight plastic cars that finesse tons of horsepower from a tiny four-cylinder through computer controls. You can toss out the seats, the dashboard, and the hood, and you still will not get the results you're expecting. In 1978, the Dodge Little Red Express pickup truck was faster than the Corvette. That was with a little small block V-8 engine. It was not because the engineers got carried away. It was because for a few years, cars fell under different emissions rules than for trucks. The car engine designers were severely limited in what they could do. Later, computer controls brought the horsepower back up, but it did for all other cars too. The bottom line is to get the power you want, or the fuel mileage, you are better off buying the car that gives you what you want. Do not destroy what you may regret later.
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Monday, January 9th, 2017 AT 3:42 PM
Tiny
LJLAPINSKI
  • MEMBER
  • 4 POSTS
If you know any thing about 1975 Corvettes you will know V8 l42 has about as much horse power as a go cart. Car is one of the ten worse Corvettes ever made. But it is my toy and I love it. Thanks for the help. I will just remove the belt. I do not want to damage the old girl.
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Monday, January 9th, 2017 AT 4:05 PM
Tiny
KEN L
  • MASTER CERTIFIED MECHANIC
  • 46,357 POSTS
Sounds good, please use 2Carpros anytime we are here to help.

Best, Ken
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Saturday, January 14th, 2017 AT 11:22 PM

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