Hairball has A/C

[twinockchef]

The years Texas summer is almost and I now have A/C.
I was able to locate a good interior unit. It is the correct blower/evaperator combo used in the 111 chassis. Don't ask what I paid $$$$. The unit needed to have the wood refinished and new leather on the surround. During which time I disassembled the unit and checked everything.


Here it is installed.



I used the compressor and its mounting bracket from my wrecked 108. The bracket needed some modifications for it to fit the intake manifold. Earlier when I rebuild the engine I changed out the pully, on the chrankshaft, to accommodate the extra belt for the compressor.


I installed the electrical and new hoses.

I had lost several weeks to a very basic mistake. I planned on using the condensor, drier, fan, and fan from my parts car. After some repair and powder coating it looked new. The mistake was I did first check to see if it fit. It is too big. So I picked up a after market brand. I fabricated a bracket.
At first I installed a 7 inch fan but soon discovered that it was too small. As you see I put in a large 14 inch fan.


For the fan there is a relay and a temp sensor switch.

i soon discovered that the introduction of the condenser put too much pressure on the radiator. A new fan clutch helped a lot but I still need a fan shroud.
To help with the cooling of the interior I tinted the windows. A big help and she looks cool from the outside.

[Mike D]

Looks pretty good. I know a lot of people want to reuse the original stuff but frankly it is a big mistake. There's no point in using 30year old hardware with the newer systems and in fact they create the weakest links.

I am not being insulting but you are sure the electric fan is "pushing" the air through and not trying to "pull" it out when it's engaged? There's a reason I ask but I don't want to go into it.

[meltedpanda]

that is a thing of beauty , good work

[twinockchef]

The fan is pushing, in unison, with the engine fan. Until, I put the condenser on I never had any problems with the cooling of the engine. The fan clutch was probably already not working properly. It just did not matter until now.
Also, since the A/C was not installed. I had not really driven the car during this years 109 degree Texas summer (yes it was a rough one for us this year, ask Ali). If I had driven it I probably would had a problem then. Remember, the radiator of the 111 chassis is smaller than the 108 chassis but the engines are the same 130 model.

Mike D
If you noticed the condenser, drier, hoses, wiring, relays, and the compressor are all new. The only original part if the interior unit which I feel has to be a match to the rest of the interior. Anything else would look like crap and that is not how I operate.
How can the original equipment be a weak link if everything has been tested and is in perfect working order?
As we all know most parts are still avalible OEM new. Now if my baby were a 68 Mustang or a Cadillac then yes I would agree that the old stuff would be the weak link and probaly cause problems. This is one of the reasons I love Mercedes. No one else comes close to their level quality and standards.
Sorry if I went a little off.

[Tony H]

If I am not mistaken the BEHR unit was installed on the low grill coupes. The earlier cars had the Frigiking unit. I think the BEHR unit looks much nicer though. How did you find a BEHR unit? I bought one several years ago and it was difficult to find (or should I say to pay for)

BTW Drew at Heritage woodworks has new knobs (aluminum) the green/red crescents and the BEHR emblem. I bought some a while back and they are extremely high quality. I can't see what condition yours are but mine were trash when I got the unit.

[twinockchef]

I agree the Behr unit looks best. It does restrict leg movement some. I found it on line. It was not cheap. Everything was in excellent condition, except the wood. The knobs and crescents were great.

[alabbasi]

Well done do you not have a fan shroud on the car right now? I think I may have a W109 shroud lying around that could work.