300TDI A/C front end differences?

[Felix]

Hey all, so I've been looking at how I'm going to retrofit this aircon kit to my 97 Defender 300TDI, but it seems as though I need more room in the grill area to have the condenser and fan to fit. Did they have different grills or surrounding panels for the air conditioned cars?

Thanks :D

[dero]

I have two 97 defenders a 110 & a 130 , both seem to be standard , as per all others that I have seen .
Mine are the std Aust after market type A/C .

[Scouse]

It is awfully tight in there but the AMC A/C does fit in with a standard grille somehow.
Watch the safety catch on the bonnet - they have been known to rub through the condenser.

[JDNSW]

Certainly the earlier 110s and Defenders had a different panel that supports the grille, but I have an idea that this changed later. I have aftermarket air with the standard (non-air) nose, and yes, it is tight, but it is possible. The grille is the same, it's the panel it attaches to that is different.

John

[Felix]

Did you have to move the reinforcing bars at all? Because looking at mine, there is no way that the condenser is going to fit between them and the rad/intercooler. It does appear though that they can be moved out a bit...

[rijidij]

This is the A/C grill which does give you more space to play with.

Cheers, Murray

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/03/781.jpg (http://s204.photobucket.com/user/rijidij/media/A_C-Grill.jpg.html)

[Felix]

Wow thats about an extra 1.5". Might even be able to swing a cat in there.

Might see if I can get another defender to look at to see how they fit it all in. Reason being is that im in the process of mounting my highmount, need to see if its all going to fit when I install the ac.

[Shingleback]

I'm also going to be fitting AC to my 130 and are considering putting the condenser elseware. Mainly because I am also going to fit my hi mount winch and don't want to push it forward with the big front panel if I can help it, and a condenser won't fit with my standard grille as there is a big plazman intercooler in there. You can get condensers in all shapes and sizers with compact fans and are thinking either on the roof on the sloping down section protected by a roof rack, or as mine is a dual cab, behind the cab up high above the window. Fresh airflow is good but with good fans and decent size condenser it should work well, at least it wont be next to a hot raidator to start with. Earthmoving machines have next to zero airflow but have good AC. Will be a while before I get it sorted but I do have most of the bits including the under dash unit from a td5 defender and a mate who runs an auto AC business.

Cheers, Andrew.

[Felix]

Yeah, that is always an option. I have a single cab but would rather keep everything in one place if possible- increasing lengths of lines would increase refrigerant capacity which would be good though. The condenser runs at approx double ambient temp in a properly functioning system- unless its above 25 degrees then you just add 25 to whatever temperature it is. So putting the condenser away from a hot radiator does have its advantages- some big SPAL fans should be up to the job just fine.

I thought about putting it just behind the cab in the tub (its a HCPU).. but thats just too much effort. I'll put up with the winch being a little further forward.

[Reads90]

This is the A/C grill which does give you more space to play with.

Cheers, Murray

https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/03/781.jpg (http://s204.photobucket.com/user/rijidij/media/A_C-Grill.jpg.html)

These front grills is what you seen on European Land Rovers or seems ones that come out of the factory with A/C

When I came here from the uk I was really surprised that pretty much most of the Defenders in Aus have A/C but have the normal grill.

Even ARB used to do two different bars one for AC and one for without and the AC one sat further out for this grill to fit

[JDNSW]

These front grills is what you seen on European Land Rovers or seems ones that come out of the factory with A/C

When I came here from the uk I was really surprised that pretty much most of the Defenders in Aus have A/C but have the normal grill.

Even ARB used to do two different bars one for AC and one for without and the AC one sat further out for this grill to fit

I have an idea that the airconditioning fitted to most Defenders is in fact after market, even if fitted by LRA. This route was followed because the factory air was thought to be ineffective.

John

[Scouse]

I have an idea that the airconditioning fitted to most Defenders is in fact after market, even if fitted by LRA. This route was followed because the factory air was thought to be ineffective.

JohnIt was all locally sourced/fitted up until around 2000. Don't quote me on the exact change point as it might have been a year or two either side of that.
Land Rover hurriedly had adaptors made to bring the Xtreme bull bars forward & up slightly. These resulted in the lower cross bar being close to covering part of the headlight as you can see with this 2002 car:
http://www.aulro.com/afvb/attachment.php?attachmentid=74268&d=1394926016

[manic]

Extended nose air-con was TD5 onwards I think.

For TDI conversion, the bonnet support struts can be moved further towards the front with bolt spacers and the radiator/intercooler assembly can be moved back by moving the mounting pins on top and bottom of surround nearer to the front. There should be enough room there without moving the radiator backwards.
https://www.aulro.com/afvb/images/imported/2014/03/775.jpg

[Felix]

Awesome! I'll give it a shot. When I had my 2 door RRC I had the winch almost touching the condenser and only had 1 fan. May as well binned that a/c as it did almost nothing anyway.