Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Convertible

Come here to help us help you in keeping that car alive. This ongoing project repair site is due in part to the work of Justin Paulson and many others on this forum.

Moderators: 89ARIES, Webmaster

Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Convertible

Postby modernicy » Sat Jul 14, 2012 1:56 am

Hello everyone,

I have a beautiful 1983 Dodge 400 2.2L convertible that has one issue... It came from the factory without air conditioning. Does anyone know how hard it would be to install air conditioning on this car. I have been thinking about buying new oem parts (lines, compressor, etc.) cheap on ebay and installing them on the car? Is this possible... any suggestions are much appreciated.
modernicy, 83 dodge 400 convertible owner
User avatar
modernicy
 
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:35 am
Location: Coast North Carolina
Car Information: 1983 Dodge 400 convertible

Re: Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Converti

Postby 88 aries » Sun Jul 15, 2012 4:38 am

Its a pain in the rear..my friend has an 83 dodge 400 with no air, his motto is, top down..
88 aries
 

Re: Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Converti

Postby Pete in NH » Sun Jul 15, 2012 2:14 pm

Hi,

Well, it's possible to do but, as Justin said it's a major project. The first major issue is that the early cars like yours used a different heater/evaporator box under the dash between the non A/C and A/C cars. On the 86 and up cars the box was the same and you could just add the A/C evaporator, on your the whole box is different. One possibility is to use an add on below dash A/C evaporator/blower unit but, there is almost no room under these dashes and it may be impossible to find an add on unit that would fit, especially if your car has a center console. The second issue would be refriderent choice these were R12 systems if you use R12 you can use the factory type condenser if you go to the current R134A you will likely not get the best cooling with the factory condenser and need to up grade to a newer parallel type and also install a much bigger cooling fan. The best bet would be to find a factory A/C parts car and remove all the parts you would need. Be carefull with Ebay compressors some are okay many are junk.

The whole thing comes down to how good you think your skills are and how big a project you want to take on. The later 86 and up cars also had all the electrical wiring installed for A/C I'm not sure about the earlier cars. These are some of the issues you will face off the top of my head, if you still want to consider the project let me know and I'll try and work with you on it.
Pete in NH
 
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 2:47 pm
Car Information: 1986 Plymouth Reliant SE

Re: Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Converti

Postby modernicy » Tue Jul 17, 2012 2:09 pm

Pete in NH wrote:Hi,

Well, it's possible to do but, as Justin said it's a major project. The first major issue is that the early cars like yours used a different heater/evaporator box under the dash between the non A/C and A/C cars. On the 86 and up cars the box was the same and you could just add the A/C evaporator, on your the whole box is different. One possibility is to use an add on below dash A/C evaporator/blower unit but, there is almost no room under these dashes and it may be impossible to find an add on unit that would fit, especially if your car has a center console. The second issue would be refriderent choice these were R12 systems if you use R12 you can use the factory type condenser if you go to the current R134A you will likely not get the best cooling with the factory condenser and need to up grade to a newer parallel type and also install a much bigger cooling fan. The best bet would be to find a factory A/C parts car and remove all the parts you would need. Be carefull with Ebay compressors some are okay many are junk.

The whole thing comes down to how good you think your skills are and how big a project you want to take on. The later 86 and up cars also had all the electrical wiring installed for A/C I'm not sure about the earlier cars. These are some of the issues you will face off the top of my head, if you still want to consider the project let me know and I'll try and work with you on it.



RE: Wow thank you so much for all the information. I was most concerned about the electrical constraints that I would encounter but you brought up a great point about the heater/evaporator box being different. I think I want to go with the under-dash unit now... I really don't want to do to much modification to the dash board because this car is like the perfect survivor car that sat in a garage for years and recently it was purchased for me as a gift because it looks exactly like my first car.

Can I raise another question to you? What if I purchased an underdash unit complete kit with the compressor and everything... my main concern is getting the universal compressor to mount to my 2.2L or should I use an OEM compressor? Would a OEM compressor even be compatible with a universal kit?
modernicy, 83 dodge 400 convertible owner
User avatar
modernicy
 
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:35 am
Location: Coast North Carolina
Car Information: 1983 Dodge 400 convertible

Re: Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Converti

Postby 88 aries » Tue Jul 17, 2012 7:17 pm

It would be simple to just leave the car as is...a underdash unit would look out of place..and you still would have to run a/c line and such. Meaning you have to cut a hole in the firewall.....Its a convertable, its meant to be drove with the top down......I would save your money and go buy one that already has air con..and as I remember, the non a/c car doesn't have the a/c adjustment screw for the carburator..and the alternator bracket is different on a non a/c car...
88 aries
 

Re: Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Converti

Postby Dodge Aries K » Wed Jul 18, 2012 2:34 am

I'm the guy Justin's referring to with the 400 that doesn't have a/c. The carb doesn't have the kicker for the a/c since... it doesn't have a/c. It would also need a ton of work to actually add it unlike the 86+ cars which are functionally similar. As for an underdash unit, there's not really a good place in the convertible to mount the big box unless it takes up a bunch of the passenger's foot area.
Dodge Aries K
 

Re: Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Converti

Postby Pete in NH » Wed Jul 18, 2012 12:44 pm

Hi,

As far as I know there are no readily available kits to add A/C to this car under the dash. You can look into under dash units at Arizona Mobile Air ( ackits.com) and nostalgic air parts but as Karl pointed out you will like ly loose a lot of passenger side leg room even if you find one that fits. On the compressor mounting, again I don't know of any universal mounting brackets and you would be best off using the factory mounting. As Justin points out this is also the alternator mounting so it's a completely different part than is on the car now. You will also need the A/C version of the crankshaft pully to get the extra belt groove. I would use as many factory parts as possible, including a factory type compressor and mounting. The under dash evaporator will also call for making up some custom lines. You might be able to use a lot of pieces from ackits.com for their 1986 to 1989 K car kit for the under hood stuff but use an under dash evaporator. That might be away around the new compressor /alternator mounting bracket. I doubt though that ackits will be able to tell you how much of such a plan would work, so you would be on your own. Your first challenge is going to be finding an under dash evaporator that fits.

Keep in mind you will also have to address the cooling system and a host of electrical system issues in terms of wiring that many not be there.

Good luck!
Pete in NH
 
Posts: 0
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2011 2:47 pm
Car Information: 1986 Plymouth Reliant SE

Re: Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Converti

Postby K-CAR_WAGON » Wed Jul 18, 2012 3:44 pm

In addition to what was already mentioned, a car with A/C car has a different fan, fan motor and shroud. I think you also need an idler pulley unit for the A/C. If you really want to add it I would try to find an equivalent car (year, model, engine - from a junkyard or low priced used car to scrap) that came with A/C to pull out all pulleys, mounting brackets, the ductwork, controls, wiring, relays, etc, and then try to find a new condensor, hoses, evaportator, heater core, and compressor. Various A/C related parts on the 2.2 engine are different than on the 2.6 engine for the same year, and, I think, various interior parts such as controls and ductwork are differnet on different models of K-cars.

In general, I think, 88aries is right in that it is not worth the effort to try to convert it over to A/C, and you would be better to save your money and time and buy another K-car that originally came with A/C.
K-CAR_WAGON
Car Fan
 
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Sep 29, 2009 5:42 pm
Car Information: Plymouth, Reliant Wagon, 1983

Re: Adding Air Conditioning to my Super-K Dodge 400 Converti

Postby modernicy » Thu Jul 19, 2012 1:15 am

Yeah I'm thinking I am going to keep it original. The car is just too nice to cut into or make major changes to it... You all are super knowledgeable about these cars. Thanks for all the information.
modernicy, 83 dodge 400 convertible owner
User avatar
modernicy
 
Posts: 0
Joined: Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:35 am
Location: Coast North Carolina
Car Information: 1983 Dodge 400 convertible


Return to Lets fix/restore/maintain your Classic K-Car

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 12 guests

cron