The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area The HiPo Shop 235 with dealer-installed AC?

Anyone have a decent pic of what dealer-installed AC would have looked like (the compressor mount) on a 235 vehicle? This would have been a York compressor kind of thing.

Came upon a set of brackets and was curious what went where, belt routing, etc.

Pic would not necessarily need to be from a truck, although I am inquiring based on potentially mounting in a truck.

Hmmm, well no pictures exist as all this pre-dated digital imaging but I had a York compressor mount for a 235 I bought around 1975 or 76. It wasn't a dealer installed option however. Aftermarket affair made for and sold all over the USA by Four Seasons in Ft Worth. There were as I recall 3 York models people used...206, 207, 208 depending entirely on the cfm output. I had a 208 with an aftermarket MG unit I installed under the dash. The mounting affair was stationary...a heavy 1/4" thick bracket that attached to one head bolt, a water pump bolt, a special bolt you had to install on the intake/exhaust manifold and a couple of other bolts. There was always an idler pulley and you had to install or have already an extra pulley for the balancer or a 2 belt balancer (not too common). The York compressor sat on a metal shelf and was attached by 4 screws.

Note: I mounted the unit so it blew through where the speaker vents were. Not a terrific idea and I changed it asap. Made the dash condense water like crazy and very soon you'd have a wet floor.

For what it is worth I am not a fan of York compressors for many reasons (and in the 60s and 70s I owned about half a dozen). And that is putting it as nicely as I can. The Sanden type are greatly improved in all aspects. I don't believe you can get a better one than the Sanden SD-7...especially for the money and the mounting scheme for the 235 is much more well-designed.

In the 1980s Four Seasons made an odd-looking adapter that would let you adapt a rotary compressor to one of the York mounting devices. A friend did that but I can't recall how it worked.

Thanks, Jon. ~IF~ I were to try using these brackets, I would definitely adapt to use a Sanden. Should have mentioned that in the initial post. The adapted brackets are common and affordable nowadays.

I am currently putting a 235 together for our 1960 C10 project. The Truck will have Power Steering, Alternator mounted to the driverside of the engine. I have been playing with cardboard templates to lay out an A/C mount on the passenger side. It uses a plate mounted between the Thermostat housing and the block, another position using a head bolt. It will need a 2 row crank pulley, using a modified 292 harmonic balancer.

I second Jon's use of the Sanden SD-7, it's very easy to configure mounts and hose routing.

How did you modify the 292 damper? i'm in the process of doing one on a gmc 270, today if parts come in. i found its not a simple bolt on, but not difficult.
Jay D.

I used the bracket that mounts the alternator above and compressor below on the driver's side. I bought it from Patrick Dykes and as I recall it was $100. Very good design, actually. The dual pulley is on the A/C compressor so you don't need an extra one for the balancer nor water pump. The compressor tightens the belt for the water pump and balancer and the alternator tightens its own belt from the compressor. Not much weight is added with it. You probably will need an alternator.

As for power steering, I think I might be tempted to just use one of the electric units such as the one used on the Ford Escape or the Toyota Tacoma. Evan Ritter liked those also and had used them in some applications. Some are not too expensive, and they were designed for heavier vehicles. As long as you get one that wasn't damaged in a wreck, you should be good.

If you add A/C and especially if you live in a city with slower moving traffic, I suggest an electric pusher fan in front of the condenser. A thermostatically controlled puller fan on the back side of the radiator, a good shroud, a smaller pusher on front of the condenser and a trinary switch so the pusher will be running anytime the A/C is on is a good scheme. As much air as possible moving across the condenser is the easiest way to get sharp cold air out of the evaporator. Otherwise at city speed my experience has been it can be stuffy in there.

I run my A/C compressor off the water pump belt, the alternator is mounted to the A/C compressor and uses a short belt from the unused groove of the a/c compressor. It makes for easy fabrication and theres no need for an extra pulley at the crank. This is on my 250. The alternator runs higher rpm this way, so no problems charging at idle.

Makes plans for a 6 blade solid fan or an electric assist fan, you will not be happy with idle speed cooling without one or the other. I'v had a/c for while now, so every summer I speed up the idle rpm, then when it cools off, I lower it back down. Its the easiest way to keep it happy in slow traffic without over complicate the carburetors. with a step up solenoid.

My 18" flex fan wasn't enough to keep the heat steady at idle, once I switched to a solid steel 6 blade 17" fan, the truck will now stay under 200 at idle in 95* heat, and still blow 40* air. Is all about air flow, the more you can give it, the better the system will work, and it will be much easier on the compressor as the pressure always stays lower. Adding an auxiliary under bed condenser/fan unit would be a good option along with the condenser out front, anything you can do to cool the high side is a plus.

I've got the 5 blade fan off the '59 C60 my 261 came out of. 1st season w/ a/c I had no issues. OE radiator, no shroud or electric fan. If I was in an urban area w/stop & go traffic, that might be different.

For my 53 3100 (292) I took the engine out of the equation. I went with a Rencool electric compressor setup from Street FX down under with a remote condenser and Spal fan and an "Old Air" inside kit. I also have "EPAS Performance" electric P/S with Howe 1:1.5 steering quickener, 15" wheel I made and MP Brakes scroll vacuum pump for my P/B (6-71). No pumps hoses pulleys or brackets for me. This will keep my engine compartment looking more stock.