In 2018 after reading pkr's post here on AlfaOwner.com I starting musing about the possibility of fitting this to my non A/C car. I decided that the climate control option featured on pkr's post was a step too far but I was interested in the a/c option if that proved simpler. Pkr also noted that the a/c connector (G313) and fuse (G255) were there in his non a/c car doing nothing as they were in mine so a positive start.
Of course the economics of doing this versus buying a replacement GTV with a/c are crazy but I've owned my car for twelve years, albeit most of those years parked up in my garage, and I've grown attached to it. The lack of serious rust was also persuasive in converting to a/c.
So in September 2020 I took the plunge and bought some initial used bits, a condenser, compressor, compressor bracket, dryer, four level pressure switch and the two pipes that run along the front of the car from the compressor to the condenser and dryer.
First to go on was the condenser bolted to the front of the radiator. The bumper had to come off for access (daunting but in the end much simpler than expected)
Next the compressor bracket to the engine block. The holes in the block were full of rust and crud and I found it difficult to identify the thread pitch of the bolts needed. I really didn't want to risk stripping the threads so I purchased the bolts from AR to get the right pitch.
To clear the hole threads it was necessary to clean them as best I could then with plenty of grease on the bolts screw them in a turn then remove, add more grease, screw in a bit more than before, remove add grease, screw in a bit more than before, remove etc etc until all the way in. I repeated this for all four bolts. No stripping yet!
Then the compressor to the bracket, the threads looked clear but proved a little tight so I just leaned on the bolts and of course the final one striped the thread in the bracket hole.
So off with the compressor and bracket and took the bracket to a local garage who inserted a helicoil and then I put the two back on the car.
Next up was the dryer. This mounts under the bumper mount but that mount first needs to be removed to access the cavity where the bolts for the dryer bracket are to be located.
Then the front pipes that (1) run from the compressor to the dryer and (2) from the compressor to the condenser. There is a clip that holds the pipes to the radiator support bracket which I didn't have and couldn't locate, not even from AR, so I made up my own combination using two of these.
While I was under the bonnet I added the two relays to the existing bulkhead fuse box. These are the electromagnetic coupling relay Q22 and the auxiliary relay for heating and ventilation Q32. Emailing pictures of the relevant parts from the wiring diagram to VehicleWiringProducts.co.uk gained a helpful response so all credit to them.
Then to wiring up the under bonnet components. The missing half of the compressor connector was obtained from VehicleWiringProducts.co.uk. Just emailing a picture of the half I had was sufficient for them to match up the other half.
The wires attached to the four level pressure switch had just been cut out of the donor car so I used a 'mate n lok' connector for this and then lead the cables from the switch or compressor to either the under bonnet relays or, for those destined for behind the dashboard, bound up awaiting that stage.
The next stage was to swap the existing heater box for one equipped with a/c (which I didn't yet have). This meant removing the dashboard which in turn meant moving the car outside, it was getting colder by now so this would have to wait until spring.
By January I had sourced a phase 1 a/c heater box and the two pipes that run up the side of the bonnet from the dryer to the bulkhead. The heater box came with all wiring which made understanding the wiring diagrams that much easier.
March 2020: The heater box had been removed from the donor car by cutting the pipes to the evaporator instead of unbolting them so I needed to remove these stubs. I soon found out why they had been cut, they wouldn't budge and I was worried about using too much force in case the pipes from the evaporator twisted and broke. Purchasing a new evaporator didn't appear an option as they seem to have been discontinued. Finally I gave in and took it to an a/c specialist hoping that they could remove the stubs or, if they broke the pipes, they could fabricate replacements. After a few days they had them off.
Turning my attention to the side pipes all fittings were freed up except one that attaches to the dryer. This was seized fast (below) so was taken to the local garage mentioned above to see if they could do anything-after four weeks of trying they finally had it free.
So it's now warmed up (supposedly) and the dashboard removal is nearly done.
Before actually removing the main dashboard piece I made sure I could disconnect the heater coolant supply pipes. By removing the air hose up to the throttle body I found I could just get my right arm down and grasp the pipes but getting the pipe clips off proved very difficult. I couldn't get any tool in there to wrench these one-time-use clips off and ended up using a Dremel with flexible shaft to carefully cut through the clips with one hand whilst holding a torch with the other and peering down between the engine and bulkhead to see what I was doing.
I removed the dashboard and according to the manual removed four bolts that hold the heater unit in and withdraw the heater. Of course it wasn't that easy. Firstly I had to remove all bolts holding the dashboard crossmember in, unbolt the the steering crossmember and lower it as far as possible, remove the black ECU above the main ECU, lift the crossmember on the passenger side and pull/wiggle the heater unit out.
What greeted me was the best piece of good fortune so far. There are two holes in the bulkhead one for the evaporator pipes and one for the evaporator drain pipe. Both of these are blanked off but the blanking was made of plastic so an easy drill out with a hole saw.
A quick inspection of the two units and in looked like the a/c unit would fit so in it went in a reverse of the removal except that the additional relays needed to be removed to get it through the crossmember cut out. A bit of wiggling and the heater stubs and a/c pipes were through the holes in the bulkhead and the whole unit pushed home.
While I was waiting for some wiring to be delivered and safe in the knowledge that I wasn't going to remove the a/c unit even if it didn't work, I replaced the crossmember bolts-easy apart from the six holding the steering crossmember to the dashboard crossmember. These took two days of wiggling both crossmembers before finally going in.
So now to the remainder of the wiring. There are seven cables to take form the engine bay to the interior. A redundant hole at the foot of the passenger side windscreen surround was used. Four cables go to connector G133a, the terminals are still available for these.
Two cables go to G43 and G313, the terminals for these are not available so these had to be cut out and a mate n lok connector used.
The final cable needed connection to an unswitched, unfused live which I found leading to the now removed alarm.
I placed all these in conduit or bound them in cloth tape so next step is to connect up the battery and test the electrical functions as best I can.
Testing the wiring: 1. With the key at MAR the heater fan was turned on with no response. I swapped the fan from the previous unit but still not working. I swapped over the heater fan speed resister and the fan sprang into life. A check on eper confirmed that the resister was the same part number but the fan was not so the new fan was put back in.
2. As soon as I had turned on the ignition the recycling flap motor started moving so all seemed ok with that at first however it then became very temperamental. There really was no room to remove it to swap it for the old motor without taking the whole heater box out so I'll just have to live with it.
3.Pkr had documented a testing routine to follow so firstly disconnect the compressor and wire in a bulb in its place. Bypass the pressure switch, switch the a/c on and the bulb should light-not working
4. Earth the first speed fan switch and the radiator fan should come on-not working
5. Earth the second speed fan switch and the radiator fan should come on-not working
I read Pkr's post again, several times, and finally noticed that he had the engine running at the time of testing points 3-5 so I would need to get the engine running which in turn meant I needed to connect up the heater matrix hoses this time with jubilee clips. They go into a recess in the bulkhead so there was no way I could get any tool to tighten them from above or the side. Finally I pointed the head of the screw downwards and tightened them from under the car. A combination of at least two 1/4 inch drive extensions, an articulated fitting and an 8mm socket just about reached enough to tighten the clips.
I also put the steering column stalks, steering wheel, fuse box covers etc back in but removed the glovebox so I could access the new wiring for testing.
I topped up the coolant and started the engine running but test 3 still didn't work-maybe the ECU has its a/c functions disabled in a non a/c car? An email to Bosch got no meaningful response. While puzzling I tried test 4 and 5 and success!-surely the a/c functions must be enabled.
After testing the wiring with a multimeter at as many points as I could think of I tried the continuity from the relay Q22 to the compressor-there was none. It turned out the very first wiring joint I had crimped several months earlier was bad so I remade this and the bulb came on when I turned the a/c on. Elation! I've put the passenger seat back in and that gives me room to put the car back in the garage.
I fitted the two a/c pipes that run up the side of the engine bay. To access this the bumper, air hose, air filter container and bracket that holds that in had to all come off. Whilst I was at it I de-rusted said bracket and gave it a couple of coats of black smoothrite.
When dry all this went back in. I was starting to have doubts over whether I had re-routed the steering wheel air bag cable correctly so I took the wheel off, corrected this and replaced it. I went to start the car and whist it was still cranking as normal it showed no sign of firing.
I spent a week scratching my head over this and in desperation bought a new more powerful battery. The car started first time-I had never heard the starter motor spin so quickly.
So there's been some delay while I get an MOT. Earlier in the project I managed to convince myself that I could start the car without the passenger seat in place and the airbag light wouldn't come on. This dumb mistake now ensured an MOT failure and the garage didn't have the knowledge to be able to turn it off. So firstly a trip to Day & Whites at Brands Hatch was needed to resolve this and then to another garage for the MOT which it passed first time.
Next steps were to add an idler wheel and revised a/c drive belt. When taking the old belt off I couldn't budge the tensioner mainly because the spanner I had was too short and my position laying under the car on axle stands was not giving me enough purchase. I decided a garage with the right spanner and a lift would be able to do this in about half an hour so I choose that option for £60.
It made sense to add a new four pressure switch and a needle valve while access was good so these were ordered from Germany along with a new dryer (the only one left in the world) so this delayed the project for a couple of weeks.
While I was waiting I tried to change the PAG oil in the compressor, the manual says to simply remove the oil separator compressor, turn it upside down and poor the old oil out. I did this and absolutely nothing came out so presumably it was empty. A new compressor comes with 150cc of oil in it so I tried to add that but got only about 30cc in before it overflowed.
So now I needed to get the system recharged and the dryer fitted (it's best to leave that until immediately before the recharge). I rang the previously friendly and helpful a/c specialist who was far from friendly on the phone but made an appointment to take the car to him tomorrow, 2nd August - so we will see what transpires...
I visited the a/c specialist who after a lot of f'ing and blinding managed to fit the dryer from underneath the car recharged the gas and finally confirmed that all was working-hooray, was this finally the end of a years work?
A final check for leaks revealed one where the pipe connects to the top of the compressor. After lots of coming and going he announced that the oil separator (A below) had snapped around the mounting hole but that he knew a bloke who could weld it- I suspect that he tried to fit a rubber seal that was to fat and this put too much pressure on the mounting hole- but as I had been standing in the garage for two and a half hours by then I wasn't going to argue and gave the go ahead to the weld solution.
Driving home was positive, although the pipes were disconnected I could feel the remnants of air conditioned air around the vents at last.
After a week of waiting I decided that I would try to source my own replacement oil separator and was lucky enough to find another Denso TV12SC compressor on ebay but this time from a 1996 Fiat Marea. I figured that the base compressor would be the same with only the pully differing so after some good help from the supplier, Pilsdon Breakers, I purchased this and it arrived 17th August.
It's now 23rd August and I've fitted the replacement oil separator and taken it to the a/c garage for a recharge. All went well and I now have lovely cool air from the vents-and just in time for the end of the lousiest summer for years- Hooray.
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