[DeTomaso] aftermarket heat-A/C unit

JDeRyke at aol.com JDeRyke at aol.com
Sat Feb 13 02:28:47 EST 2010


You may be correct- a STOCK AC condenser might not fit in front because its 
way too thick. I run a thicker-than-stock forward-mounted Fluidyne 
radiator, and a much thinner Toyota pickup A/C condenser that fits in front of the 
rad just fine. Been there for 5 yrs now... The key is to bolt the rad and 
condenser together with the foam barrier pieces before dropping the assembly in 
place, and control the amount of slant-forward with the mount-straps. The 
amount of lay-forward is not critical- there's no cooling advantage one way 
or the other. The only reason to slant the rad at all is for easier access to 
the back of the rad for hose, fan & wire hookups.
With a rear-mounted (stock) condenser, the fan sucks air in thru the rear 
grill, the exhausted air hits the luggage tub and is directed down toward the 
ground, so the hot air doesn't repass up into the condenser or forward and 
out the rear window area. The whole scheme seems to depend on the Pantera's 
aerodynamics: at speeds up to maybe 90 mph, air passing over the roof & out 
the rear window area join over the decklid   about 3-4 feet up and forms a 
big swirl behind the car that bends   back toward the rear bumper. This swirl 
feeds the condenser fan with a very slight positive pressure at lower 
speeds. 
But as speed increases, the swirl moves back further and further, so around 
the rear bumper, there's now a partial vacuum... and the condenser fan 
cannot suck enough air in to exchange heat from the condenser. So the AC 
head-pressure goes up until a hose blows off. Panteras didn't have a stock pressure 
safety switch. Its well known that stock Pantera AC didn't work very well, 
and didn't work at all above about 100 mph & we think this is the reason. 
Around town, the rear mount works fine but it may need the luggage tub in 
place to work best. Good luck- J DeRyke



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