Advantages of removing the AC?

275hptbirdsc

Registered User
Ive heard of people removing the air conditioning from their cars for performance purposes what does it do besides reduce weight?
 
Reduce weight, free up space. I've read that the actual performance impact is thought to be negligible if installing a delete pulley, and very little with re-routing the belt also.
 
I think the compressor weighs ~30lbs? I would think re routing the belt all together should help free a little power...but I don't know. as well as the weight savings, and more room, you can ditch the AC condenser and allow more air to hit the IC core.
 
It doesn't matter how much the unit itself weighs. You have to remember to add the weight you lose now that you're sweating your arse off.... :rolleyes: :D

Ira
 
It doesn't matter how much the unit itself weighs. You have to remember to add the weight you lose now that you're sweating your arse off.... :rolleyes: :D

Ira

Thats the thing I have maybe used my air conditioner twice in all of my cars put together. I prefer the windows down and the sunroof open. But I may be kicking myself when the Iowa summer comes and its 110 degress in the shade;)
 
Thats the thing I have maybe used my air conditioner twice in all of my cars put together. I prefer the windows down and the sunroof open. But I may be kicking myself when the Iowa summer comes and its 110 degress in the shade;)

[shrug] ymmv


Ira :D
 
Plus one on the AC. Over 85deg its insane not to have it, even with the sunroof.

We dont live in the stone age anymore. :cool:
 
I think the other big performance advantage is that with no AC, you have a straight shot for the air to go over the intercooler, so you will get a cooler ACT. Also, if you delete all the AC related stuff, it makes changing plugs on the car a lot easier.
 
I think the advantages far outweigh the disadvantages ill have to look into doing this some time. Does anyone know if some one has a write up on this site on this subject?
 
+3 on making plug changing way easier. There are 2 ways to go about the belt. Go buy a ac delete bracket (search ac delete) Or go and get a shorter belt. I still need to decide what way im going since the ac delete is like $45 bucks and the belt is around the same.
 
condenser

I removed 1/3 of the bottom fins on my condenser. I haven't got the car together yet but I'm interested to see if will help the intercooler/radiator and if the a/c works close to capacity. I was going to get the custom condenser but I'm going try this first. I thought by keeping the freon capacity the same might be better even though the bottom fins are removed.
 
if its ur daily car i wouldn't remove it cuz it burns almost the same amount of gas or more wen u open the windows and ur car has more wind resistance thus ur engine have to work harder to push the car specially on the highways...unless u r really serious about saving some gas and have a lil fan which connects into cigarette lighter port lol:D.....

i would personally remove it cuz i live in Canada and we see summer here but it hardly reaches 20 degree C...i would rather remove the A/C system and have my IC get some more dense air....but again if i was living in CALIFORNIA OR TEXAS i will never even think about removing it unless this is my weekend or track car
 
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also i think some people remove it since at the cars old age they produce leaks, and are expensive to fix so they just rip it out? Thats what im going to do if i get another 5spd just take it out, i think i have used ac like 3 times outta the three birds i have owned
 
I removed 1/3 of the bottom fins on my condenser. I haven't got the car together yet but I'm interested to see if will help the intercooler/radiator and if the a/c works close to capacity. I was going to get the custom condenser but I'm going try this first. I thought by keeping the freon capacity the same might be better even though the bottom fins are removed.

if your a/c was a retrofit from r12 to r134a, your condenser was already too small and now it is even smaller than it needs to be. i just learned that in my climate control class i just finished (of course i got an A in that class). without an adaquate amount of surface area for the refrigerant to release its heat and go through a state change from a high pressure vapor to a high pressure liquid, your system will not perform efficiently.
 
Removing the a/c is not worth it if it works.
The weight savings is minimal,max 100lbs and that is doubtful.
You need to loose 100lbs to gain 1/10th in the 1/4.
Also an a/c delete pulley is useless as it is exactly the same as the compressor pulley when the compressor clutch is dis engauged.
The compressor pulley is just a bearing like an a/c delete so therefore with the a/c off you will gain no power.
The fuel savings on the hwy is better with the a/c on as stated above.
If you ever sell the car, your resale will be less and it will be harder to sell without a/c.
I'd never buy or even look at a car without a/c,especially one that has been removed by the previous owner.
As for the airflow over the i/c,if your condensor is not plugged up with crap there would only be minimal difference.
Just put a cheap i/c fan on it and that will solve the problem and provide more airflow at cooler temps especially in traffic.
At this point i just don't see how the advantages go to not having a/c??????
Beg to differ on the above post,the condensor in these cars is plenty huge and mine blows ice cubes after being converted.
As long as you have an electric fan it will work perfectly.
 
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Not the best go-fast attitude, daily drivers or not. 100 lbs. is actually considered a good drop in weight. You'd be a fool to think you can save all your weight on 1 or 2 things. You have to nickel and dime the weight down so to speak. 80 lbs. deleting AC here, 30 lbs. with a lighter battery there (these low compression v6 motors don't need 5,000,000,000 CCA!!!), 35-45 lbs. with a fiberglass hood (I really have no idea), a few weight drops down the line you're actually at a half decent weight. I'm sorry but these cars at 3900 lbs are unacceptable to me. Unless it hits over 100* F consistantly where you reside, I say tough it out, who needs AC anyways? I've never really used it much the past several years and I've been plenty comfortable.

I'm joining the AC delete club this year without doubt.
 
Beg to differ on the above post,the condensor in these cars is plenty huge and mine blows ice cubes after being converted.

i am going by documentation stating that the condenser in any vehicle originally equiped with r12, that the condenser size is a 1/3 smaller that condenser size of a similar system equiped originally with r134. that comes from the test study material for the ASE 7 : HVAC test. it is also stated by natef standards.

my a/c is also retrofitted, and blows very cold. im not saying the original condenser will not work, im just saying that cutting the size of it down may invoke some problems.
 
Not the best go-fast attitude, daily drivers or not. 100 lbs. is actually considered a good drop in weight. You'd be a fool to think you can save all your weight on 1 or 2 things. You have to nickel and dime the weight down so to speak. 80 lbs. deleting AC here, 30 lbs. with a lighter battery there (these low compression v6 motors don't need 5,000,000,000 CCA!!!), 35-45 lbs. with a fiberglass hood (I really have no idea), a few weight drops down the line you're actually at a half decent weight. I'm sorry but these cars at 3900 lbs are unacceptable to me. Unless it hits over 100* F consistantly where you reside, I say tough it out, who needs AC anyways? I've never really used it much the past several years and I've been plenty comfortable.

I'm joining the AC delete club this year without doubt.

My AC was working fine, but would overheat the motor whenever I tried using it in the summer. Since I never used it, it was a no bainer to delete it when installing a new motor last month.

For those of you thinking about deleting the AC. Be aware...that simply yanking the AC condensor could cause the car to actually run hotter. To maintain high pressure in front of the radiator and low pressure under the hood, the radiator must be sealed off to the support structure to keep air from bypassing and creating high pressure under the hood.

David
 
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