Date:         Fri, 06 Jan 95 08:51:50 CST
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@vanagon.com>
From:         Joel Walker <JWALKER@ua1vm.ua.edu>
Subject:      Re: Air cond.

On Fri, 6 Jan 95 01:10:02 CST Christopher Diehl said:
>    Last year I bought a 71' hardtop camper. Great body but needs eng work.
>I plan on restoring it this summer. Anyways, It has air conditioning but
>the compressor is missing. I planed on fixing the AC but after hearing
>all the rhetoric early this week about these old units, I'm not to sure.
>Were these units just not effective or was it just to much drag on the eng?
>I heard that their is an after market compressor that has little drag on
>the eng. Has anyone heard of this brand or Co.? Any suggestions?

my brother replaced his compressor on a Scirocco and used a Sanyo brand
rotary compressor. the difference was amazing: you could NOT tell when the
compressor cut on, except that colder air started coming out of the vents.
there was NO loss of power, as before with the old Bosch unit.

now, as to the effectiveness etc., it all kinda depends on when and where and
how you use the thing. obviously (?) the time YOU need cool air the most is
when the engine is already working hardest: in stop-and-go city traffic. :(
so using the a/c would burden the engine more. but if you are careful and
don't abuse the little beast, and change the oil frequently, etc., etc.,
(you know: all those incantations and animal sacrifices to the Great PooBah
of Mystic Luck and Part-Time Auto Mechanics), then you should be ok with the
system.

however. you may change your mind after you ask for prices on the freon and
such. it has gotten a bit more expensive since 1971. ;)

me personally, if you get the a/c system back together and working, i'd
suggest strongly that you consider adding an external oil cooler (and maybe
a filter) to the engine oiling system. just to keep the heat down a bit.

good luck.
joel