Bostig AC mod

[John Sullivan]

Last week I completed a hose modification to mate the Vanagon AC system to the Zetec Ford compressor. The Ford compressor is on the passenger side which makes it more of a challenge. I disconnected the Vanagon AC at the VW compressor. That left me with the high pressure side hose with a straight pipe and flat flange, not useable. The low side had a U shaped pipe with the R12 fitting mounted to a 90 degree o-ring hose fitting. I removed the u-pipe leaving the oring fitting. This left me with no low side R12 fitting which I had to add with the new hoses.

I ordered the following from rayeveritt.com:
Low side Hose
Compressor Side 1321 (female 7/8-14 oring) size #10 hose to 1337 (male insert oring 7/8-14) with a R12 service port near the 1337 male fitting. Length 58 inches. Both fittings are straingh plus the service port.

High side Hose
Compressor side
215080 (female 3/4 - 16 oring) size #8 hose to a #8 to #8 barb splice. One side of the splice was crimped, the other side left open for mating.
Length 36 inches (I ordered 30 but I think 36 would be better).

I also use AA1319 compressor block from Doc's Blocks. This is a straight output Ford block.

This configuration only requires one splice on the high pressure hose. This hose can easily be fed out the drivers rear wheel well with about 2 feet of access for an AC shop to splice the new high side hose, after cutting off the old fitting.
I then fed the hose up over the trans and under the bostig plate and yoke to the ford compressor.
The low side requires some attention. Although the 90 degree on the vanagon side is a female 7/8 14 oring, it is custom. It has a little tang on the insert. The insert is also too long. The good part is that the tang does not go all the way to where the oring seats and part of the insert must be cut down anyway. I first mashed the tang down using the old u-pipe as a tool. The u-pipe has a slot for the tang, but otherwise is a complete circle. I partially inserted the 90 into the u-pipe and force rotatated to smooth down the tang. This worked and I kept inserting more until it was pretty much down. I then used a standard tube cutter and took about .25 inches off the male insert. This brought the length to standard male insert size. I put a new oring on the 90 and it mated well to the new hose. I also ran this behind the engine and up over the trans. I made sure neither hose is interfering with anything.
I also bought 3 feet of thermotec sleeve at a local speed shop. I put 1.5 feet on each hose from the compressor to up over the trans. This seems to work well insulating against the exhaust.
I replaced the dryer and vacuumed down. No leaks. The AC is working pretty nice. This whole arangement cost about $120 for parts and shipping and $10 for the AC house to splice.

[Alaric.H]

Post up some pictures when you have a chance.

[flix2]

Don't suppose you'd help me with configuring what I need for my Bostig conversion order from rayeveritt: same as yours, but mine has beenconverted to R134...

flix2
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papatom, Atlanta

[climberjohn]

John,

Nice post, thanks for taking the time.
Photos would be great if you care to add some.

-CJ
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'86 Westy, 2.5 Subaru power
Know your limits. Exceed them often.

[Keyport Westy]

John,

You have a very nice project solution. I am also impressed with your insights in how you resolved the O-ring heat issue. Though I do not have enough time on my own solutions, I suspect that I need to observe how you took care of this potential problem.

I had a Vintage Air AC GENII unit mated to my ZETEC last summer by a hot rod shop in the Renton WA area after eliminating my existing non-functional AC. Here's a Url showing the work progress. There are a few off-topic photos in there (sorry). The van is currently stripped to bare metal getting some of the old fender-bender repair cleaned up and awaiting paing in Shelton, WA.

http://s461.photobucket.com/albums/qq336/fiveone00/Westphalia/

Steve
86" Westy
ZETEC

[John Sullivan]

[img]http://picasaweb.google.com/102274324143985618151/Vw2?authkey=Gv1sRgCKHdlJ_I1-GLSw#5531279519189723202[/img] (alt+p)

Original low side fitting with new hose and R12 fitting.[/img]

[John Sullivan]

[img] http://picasaweb.google.com/102274324143985618151/...0684106994 [/img]

Second try. Hoses coming off compressor.

[John Sullivan]

I cannot figure out how to post these pictures. So they are available at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/102274324143985618151/Vw2?authkey=Gv1sRgCKHdlJ_I1-GLSw#

You can see the shroud I made from the former VW splash plate. This shroud was used to reduce heat from the muffler that was heating the orings at the compressor block. I had one oring failure in August in 98 degree heat. The shroud works as I ran the AC full uphill outside Cumberland Md. on Rt 68 in 100 degree weather near labor day and no oring failures.

[/img]

[purplegodzilla]

very nice and great pictures. thanks for the info.
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1995 Eurovan Camper (SOLD)
1971 Westfalia (SOLD)
1991 Westfalia (SOLD)
http://i123.photobucket.com/albums/o292/purpleGORILLA/P1020720.jpg
1985 Westfalia

[VisPacem]

[JPrato]

[Keyport Westy]

Joe,

John Sullivan has a sharp solution going doesn't he? PM me when you get serious about fabbing the paas def vent and I'll see if I can take some measurements and more photos of the custom vent ducting for you. It will be a relatively easy task to complete once I get the van back from the paint shop this month and while the interior is still gutted. I went with the Vintage Air Proline round knob controls (black) and fabbed a custom single-knob control for the rear heater. I also used their round Proline black vents in place of the stock VW rectangle vents. Though the look is not for purists, it is old-school clean looking with a mahogany dash face matched to a black-spoked nardi mahogany steering wheel. Unfortunately, I had to let the stock radio location go and am still working on that problem. Nice vintage Cessna by the way! We have a 45' 90hp Piper Cub in the family back in the midwest that still gets modest use as a weekend flyer.

Steve
Kitspap County, WA

[jyl]

Thank you for posting this. I still have to do my ac, and your pictures are very helpful.
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1988 Westy, Bostig v2.0

[Brungeman]

John,
I contacted RayEveritt and He doesn't have a 1337 with port anymore, and as I was going through a few things in the van and realized a few differences.

you have a 90 on your original VW low side hose that you connected with your new hose, and mine is a straight fitting seen here with the little bit of blue tape on it. Would you put a 90 on here instead of a straight fitting, and is this the extra extended tube that you talked about cutting off?

is this the portion of hose you said to stretch out of the drivers side wheel well and have a new end crimped on? This will then splice to the "open side of the fitting" of the new (30 or 36") high side hose from the compressor?

I have finally gotten time to work on this project and as I do work on it, I finally am starting to understand the process.
Thanks,
Dave
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87 multivan
84 transporter for sale
86 scirocco RIP
71 Baywindow RIP
1972 Super RIP
1969 Bug RIP
1974 Super RIP

[John Sullivan]

Yes that is the fitting that needs to be cut down some. It will then exactly match a male insert fitting. I did have a 90 there as you can see in the gallery pictures of the link. You will need some more length besides a 90. Also I used an R12 fitting from Ray Everett. You could use an R134 fitting. That would work fine. I have a guage set that works with R12.
The other hose is exactly the part I had cut off and spliced onto. Then run both hoses in front of the Bostig interface plate as described. Keeping away from the exhaust and cat as far as possible. I put sleeving on both hoses. See gallery.
My AC works great. Used it all summer, no leaks.

[Brungeman]

[Destructo]

Some pictures of your project would be greatly appreciated Brungeman...
I'm planning on doing this in the next couple of weeks and would like all the visual stimuli possible, so I can formulate my route of attack.
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1985 Wolfsburg Edition Westfalia Camper Bostig conversion

Dude, where's your van?

[LemonCove]

Reviving the thread to add another example of a Bostig A/C conversion using the Focus FS10 compressor connected to the stock Vanagon system.

New Compressor, Expansion Valve, Receiver/Drier, o-rings, "jumper hoses," completely cleaned/flushed system, refilled with Envirosafe (RedTek type hydrocarbon refrigerant) and Double end capped PAG46.

I owe a lot to the Samba, especially John Sullivan, http://www.weidefamily.net/vanagon/, and of course the "DIY Red Tek Conversion" thread and Terry Kay.
http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/viewtopic.php?t=292488&highlight=redtek+diy

I took a ton of pictures to document my process, thinking I may be able to make things easier for the next guy who wants to get his A/C working.

One unique Bostig related problem is that after removing the old VW wiring in the engine bay, the wire that provides power to the 50A fuse block in the closet is no longer "live." I had to make up a new wire to provide power to this panel for the system to work. Here are my photos:

https://picasaweb.google.com/13VelosdeRemi/BostigACConversionAug2013#

I still have to put my plenum back in, and maybe try to fine tune the system pressure, but it was nice driving in 98 heat today and feeiing the blast of cool air. Too bad I missed most of the summer.

Jed
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'88 Bostig Westy

[sanfordphoto]

Does anyone know of the correct amount of oil to place in a Bostig converted A/c system? I originally followed the Bently recommendations (about 5 oz in the suction line to compressor and about 2 oz into the evaporator etc). Now I'm realizing that my new compressor already had oil and when I'm filling 2nd/third can of redtex, I bit of oil comes out when removing the manifold lines, also see liquid referent/oil in the sight glass above the air dryer?

But it is cooling....

Thanks for any thoughts or ideas.
Sanford

PS I love my Bostig conversion.

[JudoJeff]

7 plus 2, I don't think you overdid it. And it's cooling!
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________________________________________
1989 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Burned up on 7/31/16.
1987 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig & Rebuilt, sold
1986 Vanagon GL Westfalia Camper, Bostig Sold May 10, 2021
1999 Ford GTRV Westfalia camper (30% bigger Westy layout)