Hey guys, I was having a dilemma over whether or not to keep my factory A/C or to get rid of it. Living in the Pacific Northwest means that the weather does not get overly warm and I like driving with the windows down anyway. What are some of the advantages of doing this? More HP? Less road weight? I feel so bad about doing anything to this car because it was truly a barn find, nothing incredibly special but just so untouched I am having a hard time making any modifications to it. How do some of you guys deal with this feeling? ARG!

 

If you don't know it's there, why bother? Horsepower wise, it's only a pulley on a belt when turned off. Weight wise, it's not noticeable unless you're drag racing. If it works and you like to be authentic, leave it alone! You obviously don't want to remove it, so DON'T!

 

Thanks for the opinion KMatch. Again the problem with the authenticity is that I want to upgrade to discs via the CSRP kit as well as install a t5. Shoot I am swapping out the original 2v for a 4v and I feel bad about that. Am I going crazy?

 

Have a brother in law, first thing he does with his new work trucks is to remove the a/c compressor. He says it save weight, saves HP and saves gas.....

I say he is FOS (full of ****) on this one, the parasitic loss of a not running compressor are almost non-existent in my book.

Leave the a/c in place, someday a guy from Vegas might be in the market for a Mustang.........

 

does the ac work?? if so definitely leave it...you never know when life might change and you find your self somewhere else and its hot as *****

 

The ac sort of works. It moves air and the air is kinda cold, but not as cold as it should be. I am hoping to find some R??? I don't remember the number and recharge it.

 

Do NOT ditch the AC. It will diminish the value of the car, and ZERO improvement in mileage, handling, etc.

The original refrigerant was R12, and despite what the boys at the local hangout might say, it is still legal, still available, coming down in price, and remains the most efficient and effective refrigerant available. Anyone who charges you more than $20-30 to add some is a thief.

Oh, and AC is great for defogging the glass on cool moist days, it's not just for hot days.

The CSRP kit I'm thinking of is indistinguishable from the OEM brakes.

 

2+2 This is the CSRP kit I was refering to, http://www.discbrakeswap.com/Mustang...s%20ABOUT.html, more accurately the 3.1.5 swap.

Have you had a poor experience with this kit? The drums that I currently have on the car have been redone and the car brakes pretty firmly, but I am interested in doing safety upgrades to the car.

 

That kit looks like what would have come on your car stock if it had been ordered with disc brakes so that would be my choice. As long as you are happy with the effort of manual brakes it should work well, the disc version will stop more evenly and be less prone to pulling than drums. The drums will brake evenly but need to be adjusted well which many cars aren't so they pull. I find the drums also have a 'stand on them and wait to stop' feel after driving a '70 with 4wh.drums and my current '67.

I also would leave the AC intact, as mentioned defrost won't work properly without it. If you are worried about parasitic power loss you can always remove the AC belt in the winter but it's best to run the system ~1/mo. just to keep the seals, etc. lubricated by circulating the freon/oil.
Jon

 

you can get r12 on ebay for about 20$ a can