Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 18:39:42 -0700
Reply-To: Keith Hughes <keithahughes@YAHOO.COM>
Sender: Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From: Keith Hughes <keithahughes@YAHOO.COM>
Subject: Re: AC Removal
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Steven,
You're right. You have to drop it down, then tilt it down towards the passenger side. You have to first reach inside and either disconnect the condensate lines from both sides of the drip pan (I don't recommend that) or pull both tubes up and into the evap housing cabinet. Then while supporting the evaporator and fan housing, remove the cabinet. This is a PITA alone, but doable (i've used a bar stool and hydraulic jack sitting on the engine cover to prop up the cabinet). Much easier with another pair of hands. The evap/fan housing is very brittle, and loves to crack, so you need to be careful. You can't support it from the support brackets because the evap fan makes it super front-heavy. I've just used the bar stool and boxes stacked to the right height to support it while disconnecting the AC lines.
Last year I made a number of mods to my A/C system, including a new A/C cabinet, but one thing I did that you may consider is to fully enclose the Evap housing (bottom), reinforcing with aluminum angle on the perimeter, and adding a front bracket for the housing. Now it's self-supporting, and the cabinet can be pulled without disturbing the evap housing. pmail if you want pics of the mod I did - wasn't that difficult.
Keith Hughes
'86 Westy Tiico (Marvin)
Date: Thu, 26 Jun 2014 18:15:24 -0400
From: Steven Shelton <shelton4@GMAIL.COM>
Subject: AC Removal
I need to remove the closet of my 1985 Westfalia for some
rear corner
bodywork. Of course, I have to remove the air
conditioner cabinet to get
the closet out. I've started removing the AC cabinet
but it looks like the
evaporator, evaporator housing, and fan will all come out
with the cabinet.
But I can't get to the refrigerant hoses to disconnect them
before the
cabinet comes down. Bentley isn't clear on this, and
what they describe is
different from what I have anyway. What do I need to
do to keep everything
from crashing down at once?
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