The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks 230CI inline 6 strong enough to run A/C?

So now that I have my truck on the road and running good I'm thinking that a complete heat/a/c kit like vintage air or similar would make the truck much more comfortable. Will my stock 230 provide enough power? Currently it's a strong running rebuilt 230. I feel like it's almost impossible to completely shut off heat from coming in with the stock thrift heat system.

FWI.... When ordering a Nova in the early 1970's... checking the option for air conditioning meant no factory I-6, you got an upgrade to a 307 V-8.

No doubt you could retro the I-6, & that would be neat. If it was a 292... I'd say sure. But a 230... probably not a great idea, IMO.

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John

An old line I always use with these small engines & AC. "You can drive the car or run the A/C just not at the same time". But kidding aside these newer AC units don't rob as much power as the old ones did. I have an S-10 pickup with a 4 cyl. Sure it takes some of the power but it still runs down the highway real good. I recently put a Vintage AC in my 56. It has the heat & defrost all in the same package. It is stuffed up in there. You don't have much glove box left. I have a 350 engine in it & you can't feel the difference in power with it on or off.

I had a '68 Nova 6 automatic with what might have been an aftermarket A/C. It was on it when I bought the car. No problem. It may have been an issue if I did something like a stop/start commute that you run into sometimes but I wasn't in that situation. As Wrenchbender mentions, the new systems are less drag on the engines.

Dennis

I had a couple of early novas with a 230 and factory air. They were not power houses but would run fine with the a/c on. These were 6 cyl. long compressors, and the new compressors that are used now have much less drag and will work fine .

It will do just fine. Make sure your cooling system is operating at peak level. Only problem might be parades or long periods of idle speed on hot days.

Thanks for the info guys. It's just a thought/wishlist for now. If I could shut off the heat completely during summer would be a start lol. My truck seems to emit heat through the heater no matter what setting I have that thrifty heater on. I might look into a by pass for the heater hoses.

I added a/c to my 1951 chevy car with the original 235 and powerglide. Going down the road I can hear the compressor cycling on and off, but cannot "feel" any difference in the actual speed or power of the 235. These new Sanden compressors take very little horsepower to operate. On these hot summer days that a/c has paid for itself many times over in comfort levels of the driver and passengers.

Hugh

I had a 1969 VW Beetle. It had aftermarket air (not the newer Sanden compressor but the old heavy York) and it ran cold enough that it spit ice crystals on really humid days. That little 4 cyl didn't have any horsepower to spare.

Back in the day I had a 1975 Plymouth Duster with a 225 slant six with AC with no problems what so ever. Air was cold as ice. On another note I'd put that slant six up against any 6 cylinder Chevrolet made and still think it was a better engine. Just my thought.

Think again Ratdog... the Plymouth is comparable... but not better.

Plymouth 225 Slant six, 1964 - 1971 with 1 Barrel Carb
Max Brake Horsepower - 145 @ 4000 rpm
Max Torque - 215 @ 2400 rpm
Stroke - 4.125
Bore - 3.40
Compression - 8.4
Firing Order - 153624

Chevrolet 250 I-6 1967-1970 with 1 Barrel Carb
Max Brake Horsepower - 155 @ 4200 rpm
Max Torque - 235 @ 1600 rpm
Stroke - 3.53
Bore - 3.875
Compression - 8.5
Firing Order - 153624

Thanks again for all the replies! Let's not start a [censored] match. All manufacturers in those days made some good 6cyl inliners. For that matter Ford also made some darn good 6's too. The 300 big six for example. Never owned one but I've heard they're great. With that said when I was way younger I couldn't stand the thought of a 6. With my rebuilt 230 on my 65 I think it feels it has way more power than it should for a 230 in a truck. My truck runs extremely well. Yeah it's slower than an 8 when taking off but once it's in 4th gear which is pretty quick the thing runs awesome!

I agree krazymatt all the the mfgr's had good 6cyl engines. I didn't mean to stir up any dust. I should have stated that from my experience with the slant sixes I've owned I had great reliability. One I got over 300k miles with only minor repairs.