Thread: Retro fit aircon 130 Defender 1997

Get a Puma firewall and dash.
.... and associated wiring required for it to all work.

Have a look at my Post. New Air Con for 130 TD5 and see if that will be suitable for your needs

Originally Posted by strangy

Get a Puma firewall and dash.
.... and associated wiring required for it to all work.

Yeah but that takes up leg space AND you loose access to the most excellent bulkhead vents. There is an aftermarket mould of the puma dash, and you do not need a puma firewall to fit it.

The old county used an under bonnet mounted heater/blower/ac unit which could be ideal if you can figure out a tidy install. Muc1663. Its been on my project list for some time, never got round to finishing it. Would use existing vents and controls with addition of compressor on/off switch.

Another option is to swap the cubby box out for an ac blower unit. There is one on the market that directs air to the rear but you could make one for front. Maybe even convert the factory cubby?

Or fit a generic aftermarket unit in the passenger footwell and duct it up into the existing vents. Keeps the driver leg room at least.

I thought they came standard with A/C.

The under-dash A/C was a dealer fitment once the vehicles arrived here in Australia.
I'm unsure whether all vehicles were so fitted, but it wouldn't surprise me if it could be 'optioned out' maybe.
In the intervening years quite a number of vehicles will have had failed air con units removed rather than replaced, to save $.

Been a while since I cruised AULro but doing some catch up last few days

In my shed of parts I have a AC condenser/fan unit that could replace the cubby box - will happily sell as i fixed the AC issue in my old 130 by buying a tdci !

Steve

Originally Posted by VladTepes

The under-dash A/C was a dealer fitment once the vehicles arrived here in Australia.
I'm unsure whether all vehicles were so fitted, but it wouldn't surprise me if it could be 'optioned out' maybe.
In the intervening years quite a number of vehicles will have had failed air con units removed rather than replaced, to save $.

I didn't remove mine to save money...I removed it because the cooling capacity was similar to having a jogger breathe on you.

Once it got above the mid twenties the family would opt for windows down over the aircon....the only thing in the car under outside temps was my wife's knee caps by about 0.5 deg.