Chance to buy air conditioned '73. Need info and opinions.

[Skulptorchaz]

Hey folks, I have a chance to buy a '73 Super with A/C. It's a little rough but very restorable.
My question is - can a compressor be bought? If so what and where? It has everything else including the lines.
I'll be honest, I have never seen one of these with A/C and it is very appealing. I'd love to see pix of how the compressor mounts as I don't think the mounts are there either.
Also, did they work very well? Is there any tips or tricks to them?
Like I said, I have never seen A/C before, in a beetle. I have been around, and own, VW's but, this is completely new to me.
Thanks a bunch for your time!
Chaz

[Beeble1]

Compressors are the old style tecumseh/York compressors and you can find them in the classifieds or even sometimes on eBay. Brackets can be hard to find, but they do show up every once and a while in the classifieds. I’ve got A/C in my beetle, but it currently doesn’t work. I will post some pictures of the mounts and compressor location later today.

As for rarity, I’ve only ever seen two other VWs with ac. One super beetle, one karmann ghia.
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Beeble1, ‘73 Super (o\_|_/o) 1600cc w/ Dealer A/C
Beeble2, ‘13 Beetle 2.5L Daily Driver

Dealership items from Bishop-Wayne Volkswagen & Turner Volkswagen in Kankakee, IL wanted

[Skulptorchaz]

Awesome!! Thanks MUCH!!!!

[vamram]

There are much better after-market compressors available than the ones that the cars came equipped w/from the dealers. Check out https://www.gilmore-enterprises.net/super_beetle_a_c_units__1971_1979 for modern units. Available for standard Beetles as well. I don't know if they sell only the compressor or the brackets, but aircooled.net does sell just the bracket to mount the compressor if that's all you're missing.
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'74 Super 9/16 - present, in refurb process.
'73 Super - 6/18 - Present - Daily Driver!
'75 Super Le Grande...waiting it's turn in line behind '74.
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[Cusser]

[Beeble1]

Okay so here is a shot of the engine with the compressor and pulleys installed:

The compressor is run of a separate belt and pulley that bolts on to the existing pulley. (although i have seen some newer Gilmore/ICE setups that only run one belt with at belt tensioner.)

A little hard to see but the main bracket mounts to the #4 exhaust studs and to the crankcase bolt behind the distributor. The compressor is bolted to this with 4 bolts.

The second bracket bolts to the side of the compressor, and is attached to the #3 exhaust studs. an extra metal piece is attached to the fan shroud to redirect the fresh air tube around the compressor.

Here is a shot of the interior, I've got the DPD under-dash unit but some installs were integrated into the dash with the evaporator housed on top of the gas tank in the trunk. the condenser is tucked underneath the very front of the car behind the super beetle vent grille.

I also have an air conditioning manual and original service bulletins on how to install the air conditioner kits. I can provide scans if anyone is interested.

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Beeble1, ‘73 Super (o\_|_/o) 1600cc w/ Dealer A/C
Beeble2, ‘13 Beetle 2.5L Daily Driver

Dealership items from Bishop-Wayne Volkswagen & Turner Volkswagen in Kankakee, IL wanted

[Cusser]

Looks like the Tecumseh compressor my DPD unit had on my 1970. I had the same 2-piece bracket on mine as I upgraded from the 1-piece.
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1970 VW (owned since 1972) and 1971 VW Convertible (owned since 1976), second owner of each. The '71 now has the 1835 engine, swapped from the '70. Second owner of each. 1988 Mazda B2200 truck, 1998 Frontier, 2014 Yukon, 2004 Frontier King Cab. All manual transmission except for the Yukon. http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335294 http://www.thesamba.com/vw/forum/album_page.php?pic_id=335297

[volksworld]

the original tecumseh compressors drew so much power it felt like you pulled off a plug wire when you turned the a/c on....there's a reason why the setup is rare..no one ever hooked the a/c back up on every engine that overheated and blew..

[Cusser]

[volksworld]

actually thousands of vw engines overheated and blew that DIDN"T have a/c...but you can bet the people that put the ones with a/c back together blamed the a/c

[Cusser]

[volksworld]

but cusser you know your car is the exception to every VW rule out there...

[Skulptorchaz]

Hey Thanks guys!!!!! And especially THANK YOU Beeble 1 for the pix and info. If i get this, I may need some manuals. I know that would be a bit of work to scan and send them so let me know and I'll drop ya some cash.
I also looked at a couple old threads. They kind of run the gambit. Some say, "don't work well, blew up my motor.... ", and some say no problem and works well. Go figure.
The main reason I would buy this is for my girlfriend, who had a bug in high school and likes them. (she graduated in '75. LOL) Now that she is ...shall we say...."more mature", (so as to not get into trouble here) LOL, the only way she would have it is if it had A/C. So that is why I want to make sure they are worth it.
If I don't buy it, my buddy is going to and is going to turn it into a Volksrod and the A/C bits will be sold off.
Another quick question: I guess this is "dealer installed" but did they come from the factory with A/C??? It really does look like a clean factory job. And, does it make them any more desirable?? i.e worth more?
Thank you all again for ALL the help!!!!!

[Murmsk]

Had a 68 with a/c back in the day. Overheating wasn’t a problem as long as you kept the engine rpm’s up. We had an impossible time keeping refrigerant in the system. With the condensers mounted unprotected under the pans any rock or whatever caused them to leak. Missouri roads lead a lot to be desired.

S
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1970 Convertible
1972 super
1946 Willys Jeep

[chicagovw]

All 3 of my VW Buses that are used as part of my business have a/c. These are modern systems that use a modern compressor and there is practically no detectable power loss with it on. Never an overheating issue either. The old compressors did rob a lot of power, but today's compact units use very little. Two systems are from ICE and one is from Gilmore. I also am restoring/modifying a 1973 Super Beetle and am going to be using a/c in that also (ICE).

[ashman40]

I'm gonna throw these questions out there since I don't know the answers....

If you a restoring an original '70's VW AC system... won't you need the original (now illegal for sale in the US) R-12 refrigerant which that system was designed for? I've heard that R-12 is like "gold" as anyone wanting to restore an old automotive A/C has no choice but to pay crazy prices (supply vs. demand) for this limited resource.
While I think some old AC system can be retrofitted to use R-134, the Tecumseh compressors were not upgradable due to seals that were not compatible with R-134 (something I read).

Wouldn't it be cheaper (efficiency wise) to upgrade to a modern compressor/system that uses R-134 instead. The newer compressors use less HP than the '70s generation compressors to produce the same cooling. And a dedicated R-134 system is supposedly 10-15% more efficient than one converted from R-12 to use R-134. Seems like an updated system will keep you cooler and use less fuel when used.

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AshMan40
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'67 Beetle #1 {project car that never made it to the road }
'75 Beetle 1200LS (RHD Japan model) {junked due to frame rot}
'67 Beetle #2 {2019 project car - Wish me luck!}

[Beeble1]

^^ yes it would probably be cheaper and wiser to convert everything to a modern compressor and r-134 system, but I’m going for more originality than anything. R-12 is hard to come by nowadays but I didn’t think it was illegal to use??? (Anybody know for sure?)

To those that have messaged me; I am going to try to scan the installation manuals that I have and get them posted into the archives/technical section in the next day or two.

Jonathon
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Beeble1, ‘73 Super (o\_|_/o) 1600cc w/ Dealer A/C
Beeble2, ‘13 Beetle 2.5L Daily Driver

Dealership items from Bishop-Wayne Volkswagen & Turner Volkswagen in Kankakee, IL wanted

[bluebus86]

My grand dads 65 has dealer installed air, was an Arizona car till 1980, now mine. Grandad drove it a lot, many many summer trips to california, and oregon from southern arizona, camping trips in mountains, lots of ac use! old York compressor. nothing wrong with them.
The modern compressors just plain look wrong to me in the Bug. The old Yorks work fine, the ac was never a problem for granddad. If I where need a replacement, Id stick with the York. More original to me is a plus, the gain from a new tech compressor is simply not enough to outweigh correctness for an original ac car. I am glad mine is stock old style. the old Yorks will blast lots of cool air!

Old period correct AC dealer equiped Bugs are kind of rare, and worth keeping stock. even the later 70s Bugs are getting into the appreciation in value and coolness factor these days, more so if stock.


Bug On!
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[Cusser]

[ashman40]