Rebuilding my heater...

[KiwiDave]

Hello all....re-start this old beauty.

My 7, a UK, RHD version does not come with air con, unlike the ones I had in Aus. I have seen the great and detailed thread Ian put here but since then has anyone heard/read of any easier options to get Air Con into the car.

Is there a MX-5 set up? or maybe I have been watching to many Jay Leno upgrades where he always just puts in a new/vintage looking system in his cars.

I've been looking at retrofitting a/c for a long time. Somewhere in a box. I have an evaporator out of a Mk1 Mx5. The reason that I thought this may work is that the flexi plastic duct (effectively the a/c delete) between the heater fan and dashboard in a FB is the same part number for the Mk1 Mx5 and it was cheap enough to make the experiment viable.
So the next time i'm at the unit, I'll have a look to see how well (or not) it really fits and report back.

The US has it easy right? Lots of aftermarket options available to refit or retrofit a/c and lots of shops that will either supply the stuff or do the job for you on this thread.

[DeanRX7]

Great...please let me know. The summers of late have been long and hot and the kids dont appreciate the 7 as much as me, so getting a cool cabin might help convert them.

[rotarypower]

Also following with interest.

I'd love to retrofit a hvac filter as well, stop leavings and other junk getting into the system.

[ian65]

this is the evaporator that sits under the dash between the fan motor housing and the heater unit, you can see that each side has a different shaped vent which is why they are handed and lhd units won't fit rhd cars....

this side fits tight to the blower motor housing on rhd cars...



and this side fits tight up to the heater housing...

[ian65]

this is the TII compressor with a cut down TII compressor and PAS pump bracket...

[KiwiDave]

Great...please let me know. The summers of late have been long and hot and the kids dont appreciate the 7 as much as me, so getting a cool cabin might help convert them.

Voyage of discovery today.

One thing immediately prevents the MX5 unit sliding right in to the space and that's before investigating dimensions. The pipework is oriented differently. Vertical for the Rx7 unit and horizontal for the MX5. You could make new holes thru the firewall I guess. MX5 unit is also somewhat lighter.

MX5 left Rx7 right

[KiwiDave]

Great...please let me know. The summers of late have been long and hot and the kids dont appreciate the 7 as much as me, so getting a cool cabin might help convert them.

You could also check out these guys, Car Builder Solutions. Everything you will ever need to retrofit AC into your car.

https://www.carbuilder.com/uk/heating-a ... orderBy=15

[ian65]

Great...please let me know. The summers of late have been long and hot and the kids dont appreciate the 7 as much as me, so getting a cool cabin might help convert them.

Voyage of discovery today.

One thing immediately prevents the MX5 unit sliding right in to the space and that's before investigating dimensions. The pipework is oriented differently. Vertical for the Rx7 unit and horizontal for the MX5. You could make new holes thru the firewall I guess. MX5 unit is also somewhat lighter.

MX5 left Rx7 right

The pipework is horizontal on mine Dave and goes out the ready made cut outs in the firewall

[KiwiDave]

Ahh OK Maybe I'm assigning function to the wrong cutouts then? Time to remove the grommets and investigate further. I don't want to lead anyone down the wrong path. Thanks for the info Ian

[DeanRX7]

Cheers Ian. That pic explains a lot. Dave, I will contact those AC retro fitters....see what they say.