Retrofitting AC in Isuzu powered 110's

[akula]

Hi all,

I am considering an Isuzu powered 110's, and I was wondering if AC can be retrofitted in civilian or more particularly ex-army 110's? If so, does anyone know what is involved and rough costs in doing so?

Additionally, I was wondering what owners thought of Isuzu powered 110's as daily drivers (under 10 km per day), and as a vehicle that would need to travel from Tamworth to Newcastle monthly (approx 4 hours drive or 350 km one way). Would these things be unpleasant - on a scale that it would be in my last LR daily driver - a S3 shorty?

Cheers

[wovenrovings]

As far as the aircon goes, I reckon it would be at least $1000 to retrofit. Something I have been thinking about also. I have the equivalent civilian model, with no aircon. Besides you have vents to keep you cool and maybe a soft top. :)
As a daily driver it would be fine. The only thing I notice is that the engine is slow to warm up, I used to drive 8km to work and it took at least 1/2 way to get to operating temp, in winter more. I am not sure what this does to engine life but I didn't like it.

Otherwise it would leave a series for dead. 350km on the highway, isuzu loves it. No noisier than the series and cruises at 100kmh. A army 110 wouldn't have power steering so would be a bit heavy around town but otherwise easy enough.

Dan.

[akula]

Hi wovenrovings,

Thanks for your reply!
If your interested, here's an example of something I am looking at:
1988 Land Rover 110 County (http://www.carsales.com.au/dealer/details/Land-Rover-110-1988/AGC-AD-13418428/?Cr=4)

Cheers

[wovenrovings]

Nice vehicle. Don't like the price though. I would just buy the isuzu county for sale in the marketplace here. Has all that allready.
I like my isuzu but I would pay that much for one. Given that, it wouldn't give you any trouble.

[manic]

You could do AC on the cheap if you sourced the bits for the county spec system. The core of it is part number MUC1663 which holds the fan, heater matrix and air con evaporator. It blows through the bulkhead through your existing vents. So if you get that the rest is not too hard to set up as its all connects up in the engine bay.

You could source the original spec compressor, condensor, receiver/drier or rip a different system out of a scrap yard car. The condenser only needs to fit in front of your radiator and you will need to be able to mount the compressor to a drive belt. With a mix and match of kit you would probably have to pay for custom hoses to connect it all up.

If you got as far as all major components installed in the engine bay, it shouldn't cost much to have an aircon place make up some pipes and gas the system.

This is budget AC we are talking about here, built on bits you can cobble together for little or no money. What you end up with may or may not be crap. Of course if you want to splash the cash there are plenty of places that will install a system for you no problems.

Air con systems match up the compressor/condenser/evaporator for optimum output so mixing and matching is not guaranteed to work well. However if you stick close to the original spec on all components you should end up with something that does the job.

At least this is what I am going for as a kind of side project that I may or may not finish..... no I will finish.. I will :angel:.
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/projects-tutorials/163334-adding-air-con-bulkhead-install-td-tdi.html

[Distortion]

Use my 110 as a daily driver with no air con(factory one has been ripped out)
I would have thought the no power steering on the Army 110s would be a bigger priority before aircon in terms of making it a daily driver

Regardless
I'm thinking of using a Red Dot R6830 inplace of the centre console instead of the factory aircon under the dash. if I ever get round to it.

[Ancient Mariner]

In progress sometimes:D

AM

[JDNSW]

My 110 had a recirculating system installed in the centre console about twenty years ago. Currently has a leak I need to fix and get it regassed, but has worked well.

As far as being a daily driver - I have used it as my daily driver for almost twenty years; about 60km to town, and regular trips over the years of 1000+km in a day (to Melbourne or Brisbane). A few years ago drove it to Perth and back. Comfortable, albeit noisy.

Hope this helps,

John

[akula]

Cheers all for the replies :)

[ScottW]

I think comfort wise, it all depends on your size and the seats, as well as the level of sound deadening in the car. I did a 500km round trip in a day last month in my county with no issues but I can listen to the radio (original speakers) at 110km/h in mine no worries due to heavy insulation under the bonnet and trans tunnel. I haven't been in any other isuzus to compare, but definitely quieter than a series :)

I also find my seats very confortable, slightly better than my old P38. Driving my wifes car for an hour and my back gets a little stiff.

My car had most of the aircon stuff when I bought it but was missing the compressor. I still have the aircon evaporator/blower in the car but pulled the rest of the bits out. The pulley and compressor bracket are still on the engine though, so if you are looking at buying one and installing aircon, mine's a good start. :)