Date:         Thu, 8 Dec 2005 08:08:35 -0800
Reply-To:     Michael Diehr <md03@XOCHI.COM>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Michael Diehr <md03@XOCHI.COM>
Subject:      Re: 84 vs. 85 differences, swapping AC?
In-Reply-To:  <11dcddf80512080707s2f517dbr38b3ea09907f9b2d@mail.gmail.com>
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=US-ASCII; delsp=yes; format=flowed

I had the opportunity to test drive an 84 westy.

As compared to my 85 westy, the 84 westy
- had no A/C
- had no power steering
- had a rear windshield wiper
- had a clock instead of tachometer
- had a mysterious black plastic bulge on the right interior wall
about 2 feet forward of the hatch.
   what is this?  The owner said he opened it once and it looked like
a filler cap.
- had an even more god-awful color scheme.  My 85 is just brown and
tan.   This 84 was orange
   with an interior that was tan & brown with brown & striped blue
pinstripe fabric.

Now, I was just a child in the early 70s when my parent took their
perfectly nice house (hardwood floors, etc) and put in wall to wall
shag carpeting (bright orange).   They accessorized with green
metallic couches, yellow counter tops, and avocado appliances.
The 70s fashion psychosis still mystifies me.   To this day, I can't
fathom whether these sorts of color schemes actually looked "good",
or whether people chose them because they looked butt-ugly and that
was cool, in and of itself.    Anyone who can remember the early 70s
care to comment?  What the f*** were you people thinking? :-)



On Dec 8, 2005, at 7:07 AM, Christopher Gronski wrote:

> As far as I know there is no difference in the AC systems between 84
> and 85. That said, if you are installing an AC unit in a van that did
> not originally have AC there are some system upgrades you may want to
> do "while you're at it". Have a look at this post I made last
> summer...
>
> Chris
>
>> I spent a bit of time investigating this.
>>
>> VW changed the AC in our vans around 1986 or 1987. From what I can
>> tell '86 2WD do not have the change, but '86 syncros have a partial
>> upgrade (fan, condesnor, compressor), '87 and newer had even more
>> (this coincided with the switch to the grey interior).
>>
>> In terms of the condensor, with the '86 syncro they moved from
>> 255272413A that has two sections of fins (with none behind the
>> separation of lower and upper grilles) to 253260403 that basically
>> covers the whole rad.
>>
>> Compressors were upgraded around '86 as well some got the SD510 and
>> some the SD709. Both were an improvement over the SD508. The first
>> number refers to pistons, the second to total displacement. In this
>> case the SD510 is about 11% more powerful than the SD709 but the
>> SD709
>> is aparently much quieter and saps less power (and it is13% more
>> powerful than the SD508).
>>
>> Both are available from Busdepot. I had the more powerful SD510 in my
>> syncro but its dead now and in the interest of future availability
>> (Sanden is no longer producing the SD510 - pity it is 25% more
>> powerful than the SD508 of earlier vans) I will be replacing it with
>> an SD709. The procedure is detailed in Bentley 87.16 and requires two
>> specialized refrigerant lines: 253260708E and 253260716A and two each
>> of these o-rings: 803260749B & 431260749.
>>
>> Also around '86 fans were also upgraded from 251959455G to the more
>> powerful 251959455M.
>>
>> The '87 and up grey interior vans got the extended AC ducting off the
>> rear AC as well as a larger evaporator and more powerful evaporator
>> fans.
>>
>> So, it is possible that the other vanaagon owners who are reporting
>> 50F at the vents have newer vans with the VW AC upgrades noted above.
>> I was lucky enough to already have the upgraded condensor and fan. I
>> am changing out the compressor and plumbing in a BEHR aftermarket AC
>> unit that has a second evaporator and fans up front. I am hoping to
>> catch a cold this summer...
>>
>> Chris
>
> On 12/7/05, Michael Diehr <md03@xochi.com> wrote:
>> What are the differences between the 84 and 85 westy?
>> How much work is it to swap the AC system from an 85 westy into a
>> non-
>> AC 84 westy?   Any idea how many hours of labor?
>>