Air cond for 1971 w/LT1?

[Jim]

I'm considering buying a 1971 Corvette with an LT1 motor. Wife says it needs to have A/C (hot summers!). I'm not finding anyone yet that acknowledge that you can add air to this car! Is there no room? too costly? no interior ability or ??? Is there a kit somewhere? Comments?

[Gary S.]

Re: Air cond for 1971 w/LT1?

Jim, these are my thoughts, not necessarily the facts. If the 72 LT1 can have AC why can't you just buy the same hardware and add it yourself? In addition, there is a company in San Antonio TX (Vintage Air?) that makes an AC unit for mid years. They advertise in Corvette Fever and they have a web site. Do they have an aftermarket kit for Sharks? Gary 21316

[Patrick H.]

Re: Air cond for 1971 w/LT1=PITA

Jim,

Anything is possible given time and money. What is it worth? Just the potential problems in the heater box and valves alone would make it beyond what I would want to tackle if you want it to look stock. I do not know, myself, if Vintage Air or Classic (?) Air make kits for post-67 cars, but I haven't seen any yet myself.

The easy choices: 1) Buy an LT-1, and leave wife at home 2) Buy an L-48 or LS-5 car with AC, and forget about the LT-1, or 3) find one of the few LT-1 AC cars built in 72 and buy it to keep both you and your wife happy.

Good Luck. I bought a 71 L-48 with AC six years ago and have yet to hook up the AC. Just having too much fun yet, I suppose.

Patrick Hulst

[Jack H.]

Re: Air cond for 1971 w/LT1?

You're on the horns of a dilema. First, '71 LT-1 was not available with A/C so if the car you're looking at is a REAL LT-1, the addition of A/C in any form acts to dilute the factory concours value of your purchase. But, who said it's important to preserve factory originality -- it's your asset and you can do with it as you please, so long as you understand the impact of modifications....

There are many ways to ad A/C to a non-air equipped Corvette. Some slick and elegant, others not so 'neat'. To retro-fit a complete factory A/C system is MAJOR surgery because there's a myriad of body components (vacuum valves, door, Etc.) that were installed to support the feature. You would literally have to tear apart major segments of the body, acquire hard to find classic parts one at a time, and graft them on. Go figure maybe $10K in added cost AND when you are done, you've got a 'fake' car -- one that never existed....

If pleasing the lady is so important, why not simply set aside the LT-1 and go shop either a base SB or a base BB car that was originally an air car? Yes, air can be added, but there's a direct interaction between cost and the impact on the car in terms of factory originality/appeal as classic Corvette.

[Patrick H.]

Re: Air cond for 1971 w/LT1?

Yeah, That's what I said....

PH

[Iron Duke NCRS #22045]

L-48? How about L-46!

LT-1s are expensive and don't have air as a '71 factory option. So how about the L-46 350 BHP engine. Nearly as strong as the LT-1, not as heavy and cumbersome as a BB, and I'm pretty sure C-60 was an available factory option with the L-46.

Duke

[Jeff]

Worse idea than mis-matching rings and pinions...

...it's getting worse. Why would you even think of doing all that work and destroying a LT-1 in the process? If you already owned the car I might even understand how that thought could flash into your head in a moment of weakness but to think of doing that to a car you are only considering buying is absolutely as nuts as it gets. My guess is you'd never even get the car back on the road if you tried it.

Go find an air car and if your wife needs to be cool make sure it's not a big block becuase they're not much cooler than non-air small blocks.

JP

[Patrick H.]

How about L-46! Yes!

Duke,

Yes, these were available in 1970, and in fact a good friend has a 70 convertible L-46 that is a GREAT performer. IMHO, his car makes adjusting the valves in an LT-1 not worth the few horsepower.

Patrick

[Terry M.]

Re: How about L-46! Yes! *TL*

Now, now Patrick. Ever drive an LT1?

Terry

[Iron Duke NCRS #22045]

Back in '70, when you were a pup...

I don't think the base 300 hp engine had an "L" designation. It was just called "base". I'm not sure when they began designating the base engine as "L-48", but I think it was about 1975.

Duke

[Chuck S.]

Re: Back in '70, when you were a pup...

Duke,

Actually, L-48 first appeared as the base engine in '71 (270 hp, pre-correction) and continued as such through '79 (195 hp, corrected). The L-48 hit its low in '75 with only 165 hp (corrected).

The L-46 disappeared in '71. What you said about '70 is true, base engine only designated as "base".

Chuck Sangerhausen

http://www2.nadaguides.com/GlobalFrame.asp?UserID=04201745677&DID=2018&wSec=5&wPg=1005

[Ol' Geezer]

[Don O'Connell #33101]

It comes stock with 2-60 A/C...

Jim,

2 windows down at 60 mph! Almost every car has this feature....

Don

[Chuck S.]

Re: It comes stock with 2-60 A/C...

Don,

Now, now.

You know NO wife would EVER accept that as an answer. Ole Jim takes that advice, I 'spect he'll be using that LT-1 like a Pullman car, too.

Uh...For you younger folks who don't watch a enough old movies to know, a Pullman car used to be a train car with pull-down beds for those REAL long trips.

Chuck Sangerhausen

[Iron Duke NCRS #22045]

I think the L-88 started it

Back in the fifties and sixties everybody just referred to their engine by the gross horsepower rating. I think it was the L-88 that started a trend to using the plant designation. Most people didn't even know what the L-88 horsepower was, and those that did knew that the 430 horsepower rating was a sham.

Then ratings were changed from gross to net, and we didn't have big numbers to bandy around anymore. Nobody wanted to say "165 horsepower" for the base engine in '75; plus the ratings kept changing year to year rather than stay relatively constant over several years as they had in the past. Beginning in 1975 there were only two engines for the next few years, and about this time the plant code lexicon became firmly established in Corvette pop culture.