safray

1970 442, black vinyl top & black interior; compressor is no good. I'm looking for opinions on how much bang for the buck I'd get from new compressor with new refrigerant. I bought the car in the '80's and my recollection is that the a/c never was that good. Who has opinions on how cool (temperature wise - It's a pretty cool car without the a/c!) the car will be with a new set-up, even if it's just to cool the interior after sitting in the sun. TIA

Rocketowner

With everything checked about the original A.C. System,and a new compressor and new freon, it will probably cool it fine on an average 80-85 degree day after its on the highway for a few miles. What most people don't realize is that black on black is several degrees hotter on an 85 degree sunny day than most lighter colors.
When the outside temperature gets to 95 + like we have had lately,it takes a long time to cool the interior of any color car,but the darker the color, the hotter they get inside. Larry

My2nd 69 442

I live in Tucson,Az where it's well into 90s and 100s throughout summer. My AC cools my 69 442 very well with a duct temp of 34-36 degrees. My system has been restored to the original as the car was built. A6 compressor, new dryer and hoses. R12 is fairly expensive but cools much better than friends who have converted R134.

jensenracing77

When I restored the 70 W-30 I went with all the original A/C system and went with the original R-12 and it would freeze you out of the car in a very short order. Black top will not make much difference at all with a good system. If you are not worried about looking original I would go with a newer compressor. The original will sling oil if you don't start it every week or two and run the A/C.

Lsx442

I don't know about a system from a 70 but I know in my 77 it would freeze us out to the opposite we're we would turn it down to low on a high 90 degrees day. That was with R12. Once I switched to r134 it never cooled as well. It was still cool but just not cold like before

Fun71

I grew up on the Louisiana Gulf Coast where it is hot most of the year and extremely humid all year long. I drove my 70 Supreme through high school, college, and my first job. The factory AC would cool the car extremely well, even on the hottest days. I can remember measuring the vent temperature as ~34ºF on a hot summer day.

The bigger issue was sweating on the vinyl seats, even with a good AC system. In high school, I put a set of cheap seat covers from K-Mart on the bucket seats and the thin layer of foam padding made a HUGE difference in comfort, as in no more sweaty back.

I noticed a couple years ago that the condenser one of my newer vehicles had many more fins than the condenser on the Cutlass. I measured with a machinists rule and the Cutlass had about 10 fins per inch whereas the newer vehicle had around 20 fins per inch. I figure if the factory condenser were replaced with one that had more fins, it would likely help the AC significantly.

cjsdad

The factory systems can be made to work as well as they did the day they rolled off the assembly line. The only problem is expense. R12 is a bit more expensive these days than in 1970. Using a newer compressor will lower the hp drag on the engine, last longer, and work better, but it's best to refurb the whole system if you do that. You can convert to R134a with the factory system but there are a few more things that need to be changed. The condenser on the old systems were serpentine in configuration so they could be cleaned in the event of a grenaded compressor. The new 134a condensers use a parallel flow configuration and yes, a lot more cooling fins per inch so they are much more efficient. They cannot be cleaned effectively though so they are a throw-away item if the compressor explodes.

Human

My grandfather had a '70 Cadillac Sedan DeVille for many years and the A/C in that beast would freeze you out on a hot South Carolina day. I remember seeing vapors coming out of the vents.

Fun71

When I lived on the Louisiana/Texas Gulf Coast it was very common to see fog blowing out the vents on humid days.

blakes7

My 71 Delta 88 Convertible has excellent AC with 134A. Even with all the draftiness it's comfortable inside. However, I don't park it anywhere but my garage so it never sits in the sun. As cold as it blows in that car, I don't think it would take too long to cool off the dark brown interior if it were out in the sun.

I must say that that 455 generates A LOT of heat! On cold Long Island days, when I take it out so it isn't sitting for too long, I seldom need to put the blower on. Just the natural air flow with the temp control over to hot is plenty.

If I'm out at night in the summer with the top down, and a sissy passenger is cold, I move the temp control over to hot and they're usually comfortable.