has anyone added air conditioning to a FSJ that did not have it stock?

[Narnian]

I have all the parts except the compressor on my parts Jeep. My J20 came stock without AC. If I keep the J20, it would be nice to add AC at some point. I'm wondering if I need to strip the remaining AC parts from the parts Jeep before having it hauled off. Is this as straightforward a swap as it seems, or are there gotchas?

[mtn goat]

No, it cant be done....you have to remove all the A/C parts and send them to me pronto...J/K Tadsal is doing this right now

[Narnian]

smile.gif
Cool. What address do I send that to?

Hopefully TADSAL will repond and let me know if it's a headache or not.

[Zorm]

It is a doable thing, if both Jeeps are just about the same, wich I think they are. I have an 83 Cherokee that did not have air. I got all the parts from Zack and they bolted right in. I did need to make my own alt bracket but I think thats because I have a 6 cyl. I needed to play a little with the tension pullys and either to stand up the compressor or lay it down. Finaly ended up laying it down. The wiring was real simple, connected right up to the fuse box where is has ports for them and just need to ground the fan motor. As far as going through the fire wall, mine had a plate screwed over the hole for the A/C lines to pass, removed the plate and all was well. I did need to make another bracket for my dryer but that was a 5 min deal.
Once I got everything together, I just ran up to a local A/C shop and they did a leak test, charged the system up and all I have done to the unit since is toss a can of the stop leak/oil/freon into the system at the start of the hot season, and she runs like a top. I had the A/C place do the R134 conversion the same time they did the fill. Oh yea, the A/C shop did need to make one hose for me because the one I had was leaking.
If I were you, take every A/C thing off that other Jeep, making notes as you go and you should have no problem

[BIGYELLOW78J10]

How much did the shop charge you? Conversion, hose, testing, etc?

Just dreaming of anthing other than 3-55 a/c (both windows down and the slider open @ 55 mph)

[Narnian]

Sounds worthwhile then. I'll try and grab what parts I can for a rainy day. I'm pretty sure I can get a new compressor from autozone for less than $150 when the time comes.

[TexasJ10]

Narnian, If you can buy some A/C flush solution and as you remove each component flush it out and seal the ends. If you find that your condensor or evaporator flushes out a lot of corrosion, you may want to start looking for replacements. Once a system has been opened to the air corrosion forms quickly. If the compressor was removed and the schrader valves left on the hose ends in the closed positon you will be in great shape. Make sure you get all the brackets and the rubber grommet that protects the hoses from the edges of the opening in the firewall. The installation is very easy, but it is very hard to find good hoses unless you have them made. The bone yards have good evaporators or condesors for cheap if they came from a closed system. One other thing, if you want a cleaner look in the engine bay, you can get a conversion bracket to use a Sanden compressor rather than the York. Sandens were used on the later model jeeps as well. I have seen sanden compressors go for $140 on ebay.

[Zorm]

Bigyello, if I remember correctly it cost me under 100.00 to get the system up and running.

[Tony Clark]

My 70 J4000 came to me with air in it, but not stock. The guy that had it did a really slick job on it. Since it has a Buick 350 in it, he must have scavenged the engine stuff from a GM product. On the the inside, he put the vents in from a Datsun vehicle, so it clears the T18 shifter!

[Tad]

Originally posted by Narnian:
Hopefully TADSAL will repond and let me know if it's a headache or not.Not real qualified on this yet, I have spent the last two weekends getting ready, cleaning up under the dash. If this thing bolts up there the first time I never want to take it down again.
I'm using all the major parts from a 71 Buick Skylark, except the under dash unit is from an 85 GW. There is going to be some parts replacement and adaptation of hoses, reciever/drier, have condenser checked and who knows what else.
I think the hardest part will be getting the under dash unit in place correctly, it was a total PITA to get it out of the 85.
I just found a 16", 12 amp pusher fan from a 91 Caddy that will get added under the grill if needed for a little more low speed air movement if necessary.