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27 replies

Mangusta A/C modifications?

mangustamangustaMember
Greetings!

I wanted to upgrade the evap unit (under the dash) in the Goose for some time, as I had spoken with the owner of Classis Auto Air, who also owned a Goose, and he had installed a more dense evaporator unit in the dash box. Several years passed while I got my car put back together, he sold the Mangusta, and eventually retired and sold the business, and has now dropped off of the map!!! Attempts to raise him have failed. Oh well!

Anyway, this isn't really rocket science so I figured I'd see what guys may have done int the following areas, and I would like to hear your improvements (and failures!) in the following areas!

1) Evaporator unit under the dash

1A)Expansion valve (different for R12 & R134)

2) Condenser unit out back & fan

3) Fans for the cabin

4) Air ducts for the driver!!!

5) A/C compressor- Only one way to go...rotary! (I think the old Techumseh pumps could be why some of the belhousing arms are cracked on some guys cars!!!! Those things vibrate something horrible!!! Growl.... The new ones work so nicely and rob very little power.)

6) Other- such as WOT cutouts, over pressure switches.... you name it

Let 'er rip! This post is for us all!

Ciao!
Steve



Hoses go pretty much without saying. You need to replace the old hose with newer barrier type hose that will work with modern R134 AND the older R12 refrigerants alike.... I have done this.

I am still using R12.
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benchubenchuMember
I upgraded with a rotary compressor and changed the condensor to a larger unit but left it in the back. Replaced all of the hoses with new ones. I kept the original evaporator and fan. The car blows air that is very cold even here in Hawaii. My only gripe is the two speed fan is too slow on low and a bit too high on high. It would be nicer to have a variable speed fan. I wanted to keep the look of the AC stock but function better. I kept the R12 configuration because it is more efficient at cooling compared to the R134. Ben
C comp2Member
I took the A/C out of the Pantera. I don't use it and it saved a 100lbs. At the same time I still wanted fresh air and heat. I got an aftermarket heaterbox but they don't just fit out of the box. The Pantera has a large area to put the heaterbox but the configuration is quite restrictive; or should I say it needs to be well thought out in it's design.

So I took the blower motor and built a box. The top contains flapper doors to turn air from the outside on or off. The side has another door for recirculated air.

I just laser cut all the parts for the distribution box below (not shown). I am soon to begin welding it up. It has 6 vents; 2-defrost, 2-dash, 2-floor. Each vent in or out is servo controlled and the whole box as well as the heater control valve and fan will be controlled with an Adruino.

http://www.arduino.cc/

The Adruino will also give me more air mixing options such as controlling Defrost separate from floor or dash air.

In addition I have a fan kind of like a brake cooling fan. I plan to plumb it into a couple wemacs near the face. I have not figured that out yet. My biggest complaint about cars is not being able to have heat and fresh air at the same time. Some times I don't want to crack a window, I want heat to my feet but a little fresh air to the face would be nice.







B bdudMember
Hi Benchu
I had the same problem on my Pantera and I found someone in the forum had recommended a varaiable resistor. It said you can use this to replace the original resistor and set your ideal speed.
I purchased one and never used it, I am now using Jon Hass's controller board.Let me know if you want it.
Cheers
Brian
mangustamangustaMember
Just an FYI,

Here is a shot of the slimline fan that I found from a 95 Chev truck or suburban. Mounts up in the grill for either A/C or oil cooler cooling.

About 2.5-3" deep at worst case, and 19" wide, which with minor reworking of the tin brackets could be made to fit on the stock Goose condenser brackets!

Fan will blow either way if you change the polarity.....

The little info sticker is in bad shape so I couldn't find any CFM or RPM numbers, but this thing will move some air!!!

Steve

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D dickruzzinMember
Hi Steve,
It seems that I remember that pusher fans are much more effective than pullers, they are usually used for idle overheating problems where the air is stagnant. I imagine the air behind a Mangusta when driving is negative pressure.

Also there should be a ring surrounding the blades to control the pressure, either attached to the blades or to the condenser. If there are none on the blades take some 1mm thick aluminum, wide enough to go from the condenser past the fan blades about 30mm when mounted and make a ring, pop rivet it together to barely clear the blades. Find a small rubber U shaped seal to go around it on the condenser side and attach it to the condenser with about 6 well spaced thin wires bent over on one end in the shape of a U. These you slide through the condenser engaging the fins and then bend over the ring. You can bend each one slightly with a pliers to tighten the ring down against the rubber and even the pressure on the seal out when they are all in place.

This will really optimize the fan pressure as air can only go through the fins, not around them. When running you want to be able to feel some air rollng over the ring, this shows that the fins are flowing at capacity and the fan is producing more pressure than they can handle.
Dick Ruzzin
C comp2Member
quote:
Originally posted by accobra:
GAry,

Nice work I;m on the same page as you ... I dropped the battery down into the space where the AC was and now I have to install a blower and coil for heat and defrost... if I ever get back to this project ..

R


Ron, I would love to see your solution when you do it. Be sure to post it. I am putting the distribution box together now:



L leeaMember
More interchange magic...haven't actually put it on, but it looks like the evaporator unit (evaporator and fan/shrouds) were used for the next couple of decades...on top is a picture of the Evaporator from a 1987 Alfa Spider, below the goose piece...replacement motors and fan shrouds are easy to find on ebay...It looks like the evaporator is also the same size (!).

My vents are messed up, anybody know where the vents were shared ? Lee

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mangustamangustaMember
Lee,

This is an area that I am very interested in!

The Goose suffers from "not enuf air" flow... The AC, with the rotary compressor does a great job and everything else seems to be OK, but the dash suffers with horrible air flow.

But isn't this unit you are working on the heater/defroster assembly? Can you post a couple more pic's?? I'm sure you know an evap unit when you see one! Just can't see the AC valves the way things are situated!

Any chance the newer motor you have there has more RPM's than the stock heater fan?

I would love to boost the air flow to the driver!

Bev Hall mentions some "local guy" reworking their Goose AC such that it was always super cold...... Just need to find out how!!?


Steve
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L leeaMember
Steve, at least, the Alfa motor (a Behr unit, made in Fort Worth TX !) has quite a few wires coming out of it---I should know these things (I'm an electrical engineer) but I suppose that this is a multi-speed fan, at least. I probably had better things to do, but fit the fan into the Goose box today---pretty much...The motor is about 1 cm longer, and the fans needs to be pushed inwards to match the Goose's dimension. Fitting these up was not easy, the plastic shrouds from the Alfa were within ~1mm dimensions all around. Still will need some fine tuning to make sure the fan is not rubbing against the shrouds....
Here is picture as the fans came. The fans themselves are the same dimension (just changed to plastic, not metal as the Goose).

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mangustamangustaMember
Would the stock Goose fans and cages fit on the newer motor?

Would that make the swap any easier??

Great work here!

I'm an EE of sorts too....but you have the fan...so you need to figure this out....! Perhaps there is a wiring diagram of the motor on either the factory Alfa wiring diagrams, or even the motor company website in TX!

Surprising what pops up on this internet thing!

Ciao!
Steve

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