Datsun Roadster Forum-311s.org

All--
I'm confident enough now in the design to sell these to others; 5 kits are ready to go. I wish I had someone that had actually driven their AC with it, but most of us are in build phase that want one. As Shannon says, the clearance is very tight on his (the only one installed currently with the steering shaft) but the engine torques the other direction, so unless there is a large recoil and compression in the driver's mount bushing, I don't believe we'll have a problem. So if you're ready, the kit can be yours. Complete with every bolt, spacer, tensioner, belt and bracket, shipped @ $369. If interested I'll have the details in an ad on the vendor section soon. BigTaku was anxious to get his and its going out on Monday. Hopefully he'll have report for us after install as well.

I will have a report, ran into a snag last week (not on the beautiful bracket) and will get to the bracket as soon as I get back from vacation and back to work on the car the 29th. of Nov.

By the way...this design is for the Swing-mount version compressor only ,correct?

Vinnyz wrote: Sun Nov 18, 2018 10:39 pm By the way...this design is for the Swing-mount version compressor only ,correct?

It is only been tried with the Sanden 7b10 compressors (and I believe Shannon's is the same but under a different name). While it may work with others, it was designed for this one (the smallest I could find).

Hats off to GoldHawg for making us this amazing bracket. Have the compressor in and it fits perfect. I did not change out my harmonic balancer because I think the three groove should at least be given a shot. I'm betting it will be just fine. I did not need to remove my dip stick but had to give it a stern talking to because the top bolt for the compressor is almost directly behind it. As you can see the aluminum bracket connects to the same spot as the dip stick. This photo shows that the four groove belt is too wide for the stock S14 three groove harmonic balancer. I placed the belt this way on the compressor.
The directions were very good and easy to understand. (Even for me) I had to send back the compressor that came with my Vintage air package (Sanden SD5H R134a) and get the Sanden 7B10 compressor that GoldHawg recomended because mine was to big.
Thank you Jeff!

This is the belt I used

That looks amazing. Coming along nicely!

Who else is taking the AC plunge?

Bigtaku wrote: Mon Dec 31, 2018 5:20 pm Who else is taking the AC plunge?

Michael
I've sold two other kits besides yours, plus Shannon's. But you are ahead of the game for now.

I should be back to where I was two weeks ago today if all goes well. I need to figure out the ignition/alarm wiring to get this baby running.

All--
May need to make a change to the kit (if even possible). Bigtaku's install led his compressor casting bung to hit the steering shaft slightly; he ended up cutting that tab off. Will not affect his compressor operation, but I would like to not have to do that. At this point, I don't understand why Shannon's install had small but positive clearance and Bigtaku's did not. Shannon has the RB later steering, Bigtaku has the earlier worm/peg. Shannon also has the flat dash conversion which may slightly affect steering shaft angle. I am finishing up the header construction on mine now; after that I will put my tub back on and see where the shaft is on mine. I have the earlier steering gearbox right now like Bigtaku's, but was swapping over to the RB later setup. For the few others that have bought, you will have PM shortly. I suspect the basic problem is the each one of us doing these kinds of swaps have done something custom that could lead to interference on the shaft. The best answer may be to do as Bigtaku has done and cut that tab off, but I'll be considering possible improvements if they can be made. You can see Shannon's clearance vs BigTaku's in the two pics:

It could be a slight difference in the positioning of the motor mounts.

Shannon

Looking at the pictures, BigTaku's engine seems to sit lower (relative to the steering shaft) than Shannon's. In private message, he remembered that he has raised his body up with thicker rubber spacers to clear the 16" wheels he's going with. That would have the angle of the steering shaft increased, and would explain why he had the interference. I'm still pressing ahead with my header build and get my own body back on w/steering shaft, but I suspect this is the answer. If so, it should not necessitate trying to change anything, and as he told me, he has clearance now with the tab cut off.

No, I have added a bit (1/2" more than normal) of height to my body with body spacers so my 16" wheels/tires and my front air dam don't have issues while driving. The hole that the steering column passes through on my firewall as well as the column brackets near the steering wheel raises the height of the column just a bit more then normal. I think this is a big part of the difference. I painted the column now so it doesn't look out of place with the rest of the engine bay. One other thing that I had to take into consideration is, with my custom Tilton peddle assembly, the steering shaft must be installed before the compressor to fit it in. I had to take off the compressor to put in the column. With stock peddles it may not be an issue.

I put my body back on today, and I had a bit of interference w/my header and the steering shaft (one more mod to do), but its clear I'll have the ~1/4 to 3/8" clearance between the SD7 and my steering shaft. I feel comfortable the design has sufficient clearance (engine torques the other way) unless you do a mod like BigTaku.