TheSamba.com :: View topic

Wed May 09, 2007 8:29 am

Has anyone tried adapt one of these cooler to fit their thing? I'm toying with the idea, but need to aquire a cooler first. I'm not wanting to pony up $300 to find I cant get it to fit. I have a couple of extra old side curtains I'll experiment with. Any way... anyone else done this?

Wed May 09, 2007 9:39 am

Saw one at the Kelley Park show in San Jose, CA last month. Every time I saw it, the price was lower - all the way down to $100 IIRC.

I looked at it, and the guy swore it would fit on ANY car. When I asked him how he'd secure it to a Thing, he swore it would fit ANY car... except a Thing.

If I had the spare cash, I would have tried it. I'm still unsure of where it would mount though.

Wed May 09, 2007 10:04 am

I'm thinking of having it mount to a reworked side curtain. That way the door could be opened without having to remove the unit. I just need to find a unit to play around with

Wed May 09, 2007 10:10 am

I had a swamp cooler installed in one of my VW's, and is a heavy gadget when is full of liquid. That's there is the problem, the Thing courtains are not as strong as the regular glass windows and will not suport the swamp cooler corectly. Also the swamp cooler opening is horisontal unless you modified the courtains to have an opening on the top it will not be nice to have, also is there no place to clamp the cooler to the body to stabilize the weight.
I don't want to sound negative :lol: :lol: but if you find a way to make it steady and looks nice, I would say go for it and show us the outcome I think it will be something interesting to see. :wink:

Regards

Wed May 09, 2007 11:21 am

you can modify it to mount on the door itself and then simply fashion a way to cover the space above it, i.e., a plexiglass window.

Wed May 09, 2007 11:45 am

Why?!?

Wed May 09, 2007 11:52 am

Because I want to.

Wed May 09, 2007 12:46 pm

Got a picture of the mount set up?

Does it fit by just rolling up the window?

Wed May 09, 2007 1:29 pm

Here's a picture from a RHD bug. You roll the window down a few inches, the cooler clamps on the door frame edge or glass? I've seen both types... Then there is a brace at the bottom that either braces against the window or goes down to the door. Again I've seen both types.

Here's another picture ...same principle.

Here's one on an old chevy truck.

Anyway I'm sure I could modify a side curtain with a horizontal opening and then run the brace down to the bottom of the side curtain... I was
just wondering if anyone else had tried to install one on a THING? No sense in re-inventing the wheel...No harm in asking... :D

Wed May 09, 2007 4:55 pm

Drop the top. It's soooooo much easier.

Do those swamp cooler things even work effectively enough to be worth all that effort of installing? If they did, I'd think they'd be way more popular; we'd hear a lot more about them.

Wed May 09, 2007 5:14 pm

All I know is that they work well when the humidity is low. It's going to be 104 here on Saturday... and if I want to be able to keep driving and not have to garage my ride until next October, I'm just looking for a little relief.

Thu May 10, 2007 9:38 pm

It's hot here also, with LOW humidity. I was thinking of using my hardtop as a support, but the whole idea using a swamp cooler seemed convoluted for these cars. I'll probably stick to evening and night rides in July, Aug & Sept.

Thu May 10, 2007 11:01 pm

If you modified your rear soft top window to roll up like on a Jeep (Which I plan to do) could you then mount it on the back and create some kind of scoop attachment to face up the rear window slope? You would mount it, then lower the rear window just above the inlet. It would be balance and hide the ugliness of it better.

I little idea. Good luck.

:?

Fri May 11, 2007 8:08 am

Mount one somewhere near the rear (like over the rear intakes) and duct it into the cab. Mount 2 and It'll make it look like it has afterburners :lol:

Fri May 11, 2007 8:27 am

Perhaps the way to go is to modify a door or set of doors so they sit just below the windows. Maybe get a spare set of doors and permanently affix the cooler to it. That way, it'll be supported and you can change your door as needed.

:idea: A swamp cooler doesn't have that complex of a design, perhaps someone could modify an entire door to be the cooler itself! Form a scoop on the outside, duct the air through a wick, and use the lower portion of the door pocket for a water tank. Internal baffling to prevent the water from sloshing too badly. Some kind of lever adjuster to allow you to shut off the air flow. Perhaps the entire door could be manufactured out of fiberglass to keep the weight and price down and to minimize rust. If manufactured, it'd probably cost a few hundred to make each one - I'd probably buy one or two at that price!

Hello Thing Shop!?! I'll design it if you build it (and I get a set :D).

Fri May 11, 2007 8:40 am

This cooler is a good design, and I've read good things about it in the Type 1 forums.
http://www.classicaire.com

Fri May 11, 2007 9:49 am

Ohh... I can see one mounted on each side of my hardtop, plumbed in through the quarter windows, then painted up like rocket launchers!!!