A recent post inquired about installing an idle stop solenoid for an A/C installation. This post gave me some motivation...

I had not installed one when I put in my A/C last summer, and the post reminded me that I should quit procratinating and get it done. I was making due by increasing the no-load idle speed. This worked, but my no-load idle speed was more than what it needed to be and my A/C idle speed was probably a bit too low to properly cycle the freon at idle.

I could not find any posts showing past installations, so I thought it might be helpful to show pix and describe how I did the installation on my '57 3600 with a 235 and a Rochester Model B carb.

The pix have descriptions of the project attached to them, but I did not show the electrical. The solenoid is wired on a 5 amp fused line that was spliced into the compressor wire. When the compressor is switched on, power goes to the solenoid. I did not run this through a relay because the draw for the solenoid is so minimal.

It works great except for one thing...the solenoid does not have enough power to adjust the throttle on its own. When the A/C is turned on, I give throttle a quick goose and then the solenoid does its magic.
Works like a charm.

I have the no-load idle set at 650 and the A/C idle set at 900. The solenoid has allowed me to individually fine tune the no-load idle and the faster A/C rate (to cycle freon at idle).

Here are the pix with installation descriptions--

http://s844.photobucket.com/user/ma...6251_zps2053e8f6.jpg.html?sort=6&o=0

Hope this helps anyone thinking about a similar project.

Maybellene