another A/C question for opinions.

[Jolly Roger bus 223]

04 chevy express cutaway.
owner wanted the second unit gone.
thats done the lines have all been pulled and shortened.
then the owner through her sons advice said to move the condensor from underskirt to behind the grill like normal.
thats done with custom mounts but i had to cut the factory fittings off to make it fit.
i do copper/refrigeration stuff for a living so brazing and re routing stuff is not that big of a deal and i saved all the fitting i cut out.
MY BIG QUESTION?
now dash A/C only and the compressor already has to be changed because it was already locked up and disabled.
1-would i not be safer in buying a condensor and lines that or more commonly available from a parts store then building a bastard system to send the owner down the road with.
2- is a bigger condensor better or worse for a smaller system?
i know it turns the gas back into liquid to send back to evaporater but is bigger actually better ( and wiith that in my head now i already have to be on the phone with a TRANE engineer in the morning).
the idea for just going to a standard configuration is i have a bad or soon to be bad condensor connection that is hydraulic crimp and the bad spot is right at the crimp and i live in a heavy farming , trucking and heavy equipment community and none of the hydraulic shops have the stuff to match the hose size.
biggest question is if the bigger condensor is beneficial for the extra effort to make it work for just dash A/C now or should i just replace it with the standard stuff a garage could have in a day or 2?
i think thats what they would do is rip out all of my stuff and put in the standard stuff.
and for this one when i say the owner? thats my traveling LABTECH wife and her son is my oldest as a ford mechanic.
i had her convinced to keep it all?
until he said yeah it can be done? as he says i will see you next weekend mom?
???????? owner wants???????

 

[cadillackid]

04 chevy express cutaway.
owner wanted the second unit gone.
thats done the lines have all been pulled and shortened.
then the owner through her sons advice said to move the condensor from underskirt to behind the grill like normal.
thats done with custom mounts but i had to cut the factory fittings off to make it fit.
i do copper/refrigeration stuff for a living so brazing and re routing stuff is not that big of a deal and i saved all the fitting i cut out.
MY BIG QUESTION?
now dash A/C only and the compressor already has to be changed because it was already locked up and disabled.
1-would i not be safer in buying a condensor and lines that or more commonly available from a parts store then building a bastard system to send the owner down the road with.
2- is a bigger condensor better or worse for a smaller system?
i know it turns the gas back into liquid to send back to evaporater but is bigger actually better ( and wiith that in my head now i already have to be on the phone with a TRANE engineer in the morning).
the idea for just going to a standard configuration is i have a bad or soon to be bad condensor connection that is hydraulic crimp and the bad spot is right at the crimp and i live in a heavy farming , trucking and heavy equipment community and none of the hydraulic shops have the stuff to match the hose size.
biggest question is if the bigger condensor is beneficial for the extra effort to make it work for just dash A/C now or should i just replace it with the standard stuff a garage could have in a day or 2?
i think thats what they would do is rip out all of my stuff and put in the standard stuff.
and for this one when i say the owner? thats my traveling LABTECH wife and her son is my oldest as a ford mechanic.
i had her convinced to keep it all?
until he said yeah it can be done? as he says i will see you next weekend mom?
???????? owner wants???????

I actually hate when people make custom stuff and then send an owner down the road.. now he is out and about and gets a leak... its a custom system that no garage has a clue what was done..



if budget is a big deal go to a junk yard and pull the condensor and lines from a 3500 Express.. also if relocating the condensor to under hood.. the space between the 2 is IMPERATIVE.. many people like to slam the radiator and condensor together.. leave that factory 1 inch (I think) space between and put the rubber flap over the top like the factory does..


Fan clutch is another concern.. there qwere Non A/C fan clutches made that have a next to nil engagement minimum speed vs A/C van fan clutches which have a minimum speed of like 450-500 for the engine fan.. this handles situations where the ewngine isnt yet warmed up enough to blow hot air fro mthe radiator but the A/C needs lots of airflow..



any system with a locked-up compressor needs to be flushed.. and a new accumulator (if equipped) And filter / drier (if equipped)..



since this is still a bus and even though it doesnt have a rear evaporator.. i always tell people to buy the heavy duty condensor if one is available. (ford used a bigger front condensor for club-wagons that had the factory dual A/C)..



bigger isnt always better but when its still a large vehicle (they wont be cool in the back since they ripped out the rear unit).. you do still want heavy duty parts if possible..

 

[cadillackid]

as for them being cool in the bus.. yeah right.. whoever is driving will be somewhat cool and maybe a passenger (they will fight over the middle dash vents)... might have a chance if they block off the back of the bus.. of course theyll just have to cool that down when they park with whatever parked-A/C they are going with...



springtime is here.. and yep I already got a message from someone who started ripping out their fully functional Bus A/C only to want it back now... the pictures of that mess look like $$$ to me..



so yeah id save all his old A/C parts.. he'll be back for them by july 1