It’s been a while since I have been able to do much due to the weather and events here in Texas, but I was finally able to make some progress the last few days. I did two things: the mounting of the impossible AC compressor, and the ragtop sunroof!
I have said before I would put AC in this car even if I have to run the compressor off a generator in the trunk, and I meant it. I refuse to soak my butt crack just to drive a fun car, especially if I have the power to fix it. So I finally got around to doing that! I knew from the start I had no room for the AC compressor on the block side, as this area is taken up by the intake tubes, coolant lines, and shock towers. My idea was to get an AC compressor that can run in either direction and reverse mount it. I called up Vintage Air and within a week or so had a nice, shiny new Sanden 507. This bad boy can run in reverse and has a ribbed clutch just like my car.
I started by hanging it from the hoist to get it positioned perfectly and make sure everything would line up, and then rough-constructed the brackets around it. After that, I took the brackets off and made them properly. They are a combination of 1/8″ straight steel, angle iron, and box tubing. They look a little funky but are very strong. I am actually able to sit on the AC compressor (170lb) and get no flexing or movement.
I am a little concerned about the very low wraparound on the alternator pulley, but I won’t know how that works out until I get it all running. This will be a very low-load system so the alternator won’t be working very hard, and I’m hoping for the best. If it ends up skipping I will look at rework in the future. I am using a double sided 5-rib serpentine belt (actually a 7-rib with two ribs trimmed off) which is why you can see it running accessories on both sides! Most people don’t even know these exist.
Next up is something I know a lot of you hate, but until you start financing the car I’m doing it my way. A ragtop sunroof! I ended up ordering a 30″ wide by 25″ long universal style from Legacy, and I’m super happy with it! Install was really straight forward and I think it looks great and relatively period correct. This will be a weekend car so I’m not super worried about sealing, but it looks decent. I’m sure it would probably leak in a torrent though… as they all do. I’m going to have the rail painted with the car, so it should hopefully blend in decently once completed.
