Reply to "Five modifications NOT to do to your Pantera"

Moving the A/C condenser up front:

Uuhh, this is the big one. The one that can really get people’s blood flowing, probably 50% say yes, 50% say no. Let’s examine the issue.

First, I can’t know, but I’m pretty sure it would have been cheaper for De Tomaso to put the condenser in the front of the radiator like on most cars. This would result in a system with shorter hoses, no hole/grill to cut in the back, no extra electrical fan. So maybe, just maybe, they had a good reason to place the condenser in the back? Well, I can think of several good reasons…

I think we have to examine two types of driving and also include the engine cooling in the equation.
1. If going slow or standing still in stop-and-go traffic, which would you rather have? A rear-mounted no-restrictions system is for sure better than a front-mounted system where it would be sitting next to a hot radiator and airflow would be restricted by having to pass through both of them. I know that the hot engine and the exhaust are in the back, but the condenser in the back has a free-flowing source of outside air and a fan sucking it in through the condenser. If moved to the front it will be permanently glued to the radiator which is almost as hot as the engine, plus the restriction of the radiator will slow down the airflow through both the condenser and the radiator. Conclusion: If going slow, the A/C will almost certainly be cooler with the condenser in the back.
2. If cruising or going fast, the extra airflow from the car moving might give better A/C cooling with a front-mounted A/C. But the effect might not be as significant as you think. Where does your Pantera or your daily driver often become most dirty? The rear end. Why? Because the airflow runs up the rear unless you have a diffuser. So even at speed, there should be enough air for the condenser in the rear. I’ve never seen figures to document that, but my own rear-mounted A/C condenser deals with high-speed German/French highways and stop-and-go traffic in summer, without me having to turn the knob to full Cool. I repeat, I don’t have the knob at full Cool, because then it gets too cold in the cabin, it’s just Working As Designed. Conclusion: There may be speeds where a front-mounted condenser can deliver superior cooling, but at or below 70-80 mph the rear-mounted condenser on a properly functioning A/C system will deliver more cooling than the small cabin needs. I do say “properly functioning”, so we’re not trying to compensate for something that should be corrected…
3. Even if the A/C got better from moving the condenser up front (and thereby second-guessing the factory that took the expensive solution of putting it in the back), can anybody with any kind of confidence argue against the fact that putting a hot A/C condenser in front of the radiator will adversely impact the cooling system’s ability to cool the engine? The fact is that the radiator will see less airflow and the air will be preheated by the condenser. What could be worse for the engine?

So we have three arguments for keeping the condenser in the back. And the only argument for moving it up front is the intuitive thought of getting it up front in the airstream. If it was that easy, I think the factory would have done it this way. I know that many have moved the condenser up front and had better A/C cooling. But was it perhaps also due to a new condenser, new hoses, new filter, maybe even new compressor fitted at the same time, with a full charge of refrigerant? Replacing old parts with new parts might better explain any improvement rather than the placement of the condenser…