Adding rear A/C to a D1

[robertf]

I'm getting old and soft and so are my passengers so I'm looking into the possibility of adding rear a/c to my 95 D1. It appears that all of the wiring is there along with blanking plugs where the lines go. Does anyone have any experience with this? Since none of the D1's I've ever owned have had rear a/c and functioning series 1 discos are becoming a rare site on the road these days I need some help identifying the rear a/c specific parts.

Is the rear left trim piece the same or will that all need to be replaced? Can I use the non rear a/c headliner and cut holes, or is it molded differently? What goes on with the plumbing?

Any of the usual parts suppliers have a rear a/c package they can put together to help avoid wasting a weekend at the pick and pulls?

 

[p m]

Wow... I wonder who did my sig line came from

Although... after talking to people from McKinney, I could have more sympathy to this mod.

 

[1920SF]

My current truck is the first one I've had with rear a/c...at first I hated it b/c it took so much space. However the same reasons you stated have now changed my mind. My kids enjoy it, and it does help cool the truck down quicker.

To put it in I'd suggest either someone like Will/Marty/Randy for all the parts b/c just off the top of my head:
-the actual setup in the back left that is the 'rear a/c'
-the metal bracket that goes around all of it (which is nice for bolting S onto)
-the trim piece for the back left cargo area
-ducting to run up the rear cargo area and the rear passenger area
-trim for the rear mid and rear upper left side (I think)
-trim that covers the ducting that is in the rear cargo area.

Basically I would suggest either getting a provider to pull it all, or find a good donor truck to pull it from. As cheap as Discos can be these days buying one and then parting the rest out to make back the $$$ it is an option too (I more or less just did that for a rack and a transfer case...but it doesn't have rear a/c otherwise you could have it).
r-
Ray

 

[ERover82]

I just removed my rear AC and have most of the parts leftover. There's two lines in the bay that T-off and head to the back. There's probably 6 to 8 pieces of lines that screw together to get back there. I kept the rear unit itself, all the trim pieces, and half the lines. It's pretty complex. I can't remember how everything goes back together.

 

[robertf]

PM its hot, not as hot as last year, but my commute has significantly inscreased and I do like to drive the 95 to work on Fridays.

1920 I used to dislike rear a/c also, mostly because the jump seat looks like a tumor and hogs up all the cargo room. Now I've realized that no one ever sits back there and at lunchtime everyone drifts toward the tahoes with rear a/c. I've already got a parts vehicle, and once the headlight switch and clock lightbulb are gone I find it difficult to get rid of anything else.

 

[KyleT]

paint the roof white. that will work WAY better than the rear AC.

 

[p m]

paint the roof white. that will work WAY better than the rear AC.

I'd second that. My white D1 is so much cooler after a day on the freshly paved parking lot than dark green D1!
... But I'm afraid silver POR-15 on the green D1's roof will look a bit ghetto. Or not?

 

[KyleT]

I'd second that. My white D1 is so much cooler after a day on the freshly paved parking lot than dark green D1!
... But I'm afraid silver POR-15 on the green D1's roof will look a bit ghetto. Or not?

white or silver doesnt look too bad IMO. plus the new RR/LR vehicles have light roofs at the autoshows.

 

[p m]

Kyle - thanks for the photo. I think it'll do it for me - the green D1's roof will become silver.

 

[crown14]

FYI there was a study done at Berkley done on this and in comparison to a black car the interior temp of a white or silver car was only about 10 degrees cooler.

I used to have a rather large black sedan with a lot of glass and after getting the windows tinted the interior temperatures were 20 degrees cooler in the sun.

Not very scientific, but:
<iframe width="420" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/XlNEWsuOKRQ?rel=0" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Mythbusters did this too and found the black car never really got much more than 10 degrees hotter than the black one. But the thing to remember is, when you open the door of your car and it is 130 degrees inside vs. 120 it doesn't feel all that different.



Back to the original topic, to add rear AC to a D1 would be an immense project. You may want to start be making absolutely sure your current regular AC system is operating as well as it should.

 

[pdxrovermech]

sounds like a horrible idea. just buy a small window unit and drill a hole in the floor to let the water drain. >_>
and i second the window tinting. it makes the car much cooler and i feel less self conscious when i pick my nose in the car.

 

[robertf]

Window unit? You've discredited your "horrible idea" vote

 

[p m]

Joel - you may be right, but in 70F-100F SoCal, 10F difference may be that between having to and not having to use A/C.
Practically, I only use A/C in the white D1 only while driving in the desert - up U.S.395 or I-8 to Yuma or thereabouts. The dark-green truck needs A/C almost always when the sun is out, and unlike the white one, it has tinted windows.

This difference is even more pronounced between black 95 SWB and white 95 LWB. A/C use was the reason for a panic email from my daughter in LA (about a large puddle of something under the truck). LWB's A/C is very rarely used.

 

[robertf]

I do need to retint the windows, but I'm not looking for ambient temperature. I want cold. My red discovery has tinted windows, no sunroofs, and a shatload of dynamat extreme something or other on the roof. It is better, but when it is 100+ out it still takes a long time to get the entire cab to a comfortable temp. A color change only does so much, even the silver 08 acura takes 5 miles to get comfortable.

 

[jlprice]

Land Rover doesn't make the tubing for the rear AC anymore so its junk yards or fabbing the tubing.

And if the left rear shock mount disintegrates, the top of the shock will destroy those tubing assemblies.

dont ask how I know