wingnutooa
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Nashville TN
when i bought my last cherokee, i noticed that the air conditioning was unhooked and it didnt even have the stock a/c fan (existing fan was duct taped around to seal it...)
however the ac compressor was still there. so i clipped the wire and stripped a little. touched it to the positive on the battery and presto the clutch kicked in and it blew air (and oil) all over me.
if your a/c compressor doesnt work you can either stop here or go junkyarding.
next i unhooked the rubber hoses from the two fittings on the top of the compressor so i could figure out how to plumb it.
hardware store time!
i went to the hardware store with my fittings and spent 35 dollars on
20 ft pre made air hose,
2 ft of 250psi hosed*******had to have a compression fitting hose made later*******
1, 1/4 inch brass T
1, 1/4 inch brass nipple (male on both ends)
2, 1/4 inch brass barb nipples
1, 1 inch to 3/4 inch reducer (black steel)
2, 3/4 inch to 1/4 inch reducer (black steel)
1/4 brass female air chuck fitting
Free old fire extinguisher (one that will fit under your hood or whereever you want to mount it) *********later removed this but might add it again*********
one of the 3/4 to 1/4 fittings may depend on what size inlet your fire extinguisher has, you need to completely empty the fire extinguisher and unscrew the entire assembly off the top of it using a vice and a strap wrench.
take your fire extinguisher with you and find an appropriate reducer that will fit nicely inside (chances are you will not find the appropriate thread, it will need to be welded)
now buying these things will get you going. however your inlet air will not be filtered and you will not have an air pressure guage, or pressure switch (i am without switch so far also)
here is where the fabrication work comes in.
take your fitting for the extinguisher and put it inside the opening of it. make sure you have something to plug the 1/4 inch hole with. a steel pipe plug would be the best but anything will do as long as its not flamable.
with fitting in opening, tack weld 4 sides of the fitting so it will not distort, once tacked, lay a nice uniform bead around fitting. this may or may not leak air. i got lucky and had no leakes from this part however i have small leakes elsewhere. leakes are not critical, as they will be very minimal and only an issue if you wanted to hold air pressure for a length of time. (it would probably take my system 5 or 6 hours to bleed off from 180 psi.)
after the fitting is welded in you can teflon tape the 1/4 inch nipple on both ends and assemble the brass T and the extinguisher simultaneously. one of the other openings will be used for the 1/4 brass barb nipple. attach the T so you can recieve air from the pump and run air to your air hose whichever way would be best for you. you will see which way i ran mine from the pictures i post later.
next put the 1 inch to 3/4 reducer over the threaded end of the larger of the two a/c fittings. leave enough room to screw the 3/4 to 1/4 fitting in it. you may leave it in while welding just to make sure. but dont teflon tape it yet.
before welding make sure the O-ring is out of the stock fitting. this will be replaced after fitting is cooled.
weld reducer onto stock fitting, there really isnt a way to check leaks here untill the unit is completely assembled. if you suspect a leak or just want to weld up any possible culprit or orfices feel free to do so as the only openings you will use are the welded one and the stock attatchment to the compressor.
after this is completed you can teflon tape the 3/4 to 1/4 reducer and 1 of the brass barb nipples and put in the 1/4 inch hole of the reducer. replace the o-ring and tighten back onto the passenger side hole of the compressor, this is your outlet. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN!!!
under my cherokeehood there isnt a lot of room so i just have the air tank laying right next to the fender ontop of some wires and such between the battery and the water resevoir.
run the short peace of hose between the barb nipples on the compressor and the T from the air tank and hose clamp them. use the last opening of the T on the tank for your air hose. then on the other end, tighten your air chuck fitting on.
at this point you are now able to test your air.
put some sort of air tool or an air blow gun in the hose as to not over load the system
start the jeep
touch the wire to the battery and presto. you should be pumping air, you can play with the air by letting it pump up a while and then using the blow gun to see how fast it pumps up.
Freebies:
old heater hose
old water pump nipple (small block chevy)
old T i stole from my dad
old 1/4 nipple male on both ends.
old air guage i stole from my dad
old toggle switch i stole from...dad...
misc...something that will fasten nipple to airbox, couple washers for airbox if needed (big 7/8 washers) hose clamps
in my application the air guage needs to be small to clear when the hood is shut.
make sure all air is out of system. then unsrew air hose from brass T. use nipple to attatch T's together put hose in one outlet and guage in the other.
you can run the switch anywhere you want. im not gonna hold your hand through this one! hah!
the heater hose i clamped onto the inlet for the compressor and ran back to, and along the firewall and then back up to the air box. i drilled a hole in the air box (on the filtered air side) and attach the water pump nipple to it, then hose clamp the heater hose to the nipple. now your air is filtered. and the a/c compressor is much much quieter.********i have since removed air box and just put a chrome oil breather in the end of the hose*********
the only other thing i advise is some sort of oiling i havent quite figured that out yet but as soon as i do i will post here. ********see picture********
i also stick a small screw driver in the throttle linkage to bump the idle up while running the compressor. ********not too much or you'll drastically reduce the lifespan of your compressor*******
eventually i want to get a pressure switch but checking on a 175 psi switch would have run me 399.99...i said no thanks. i can get a 125 psi switch at the hardware store for another 35 bucks. *******have one....got it for free....scored*******
i deflated one of my tires completely and pumped it up to 35 psi in 15-20 seconds. small tires 30's but none the less quick. with the compressor running and filling up the tire the system ran at an impressive 120psi.
running an air grinder takes it down to about 25 however.
anyhow have fun with your budget onboard air. unfortunately a big part of this is being able to weld or knowing someone that can. if you do then you are set.
however the ac compressor was still there. so i clipped the wire and stripped a little. touched it to the positive on the battery and presto the clutch kicked in and it blew air (and oil) all over me.
if your a/c compressor doesnt work you can either stop here or go junkyarding.
next i unhooked the rubber hoses from the two fittings on the top of the compressor so i could figure out how to plumb it.
hardware store time!
i went to the hardware store with my fittings and spent 35 dollars on
20 ft pre made air hose,
2 ft of 250psi hosed*******had to have a compression fitting hose made later*******
1, 1/4 inch brass T
1, 1/4 inch brass nipple (male on both ends)
2, 1/4 inch brass barb nipples
1, 1 inch to 3/4 inch reducer (black steel)
2, 3/4 inch to 1/4 inch reducer (black steel)
1/4 brass female air chuck fitting
Free old fire extinguisher (one that will fit under your hood or whereever you want to mount it) *********later removed this but might add it again*********
one of the 3/4 to 1/4 fittings may depend on what size inlet your fire extinguisher has, you need to completely empty the fire extinguisher and unscrew the entire assembly off the top of it using a vice and a strap wrench.
take your fire extinguisher with you and find an appropriate reducer that will fit nicely inside (chances are you will not find the appropriate thread, it will need to be welded)
now buying these things will get you going. however your inlet air will not be filtered and you will not have an air pressure guage, or pressure switch (i am without switch so far also)
here is where the fabrication work comes in.
take your fitting for the extinguisher and put it inside the opening of it. make sure you have something to plug the 1/4 inch hole with. a steel pipe plug would be the best but anything will do as long as its not flamable.
with fitting in opening, tack weld 4 sides of the fitting so it will not distort, once tacked, lay a nice uniform bead around fitting. this may or may not leak air. i got lucky and had no leakes from this part however i have small leakes elsewhere. leakes are not critical, as they will be very minimal and only an issue if you wanted to hold air pressure for a length of time. (it would probably take my system 5 or 6 hours to bleed off from 180 psi.)
after the fitting is welded in you can teflon tape the 1/4 inch nipple on both ends and assemble the brass T and the extinguisher simultaneously. one of the other openings will be used for the 1/4 brass barb nipple. attach the T so you can recieve air from the pump and run air to your air hose whichever way would be best for you. you will see which way i ran mine from the pictures i post later.
next put the 1 inch to 3/4 reducer over the threaded end of the larger of the two a/c fittings. leave enough room to screw the 3/4 to 1/4 fitting in it. you may leave it in while welding just to make sure. but dont teflon tape it yet.
before welding make sure the O-ring is out of the stock fitting. this will be replaced after fitting is cooled.
weld reducer onto stock fitting, there really isnt a way to check leaks here untill the unit is completely assembled. if you suspect a leak or just want to weld up any possible culprit or orfices feel free to do so as the only openings you will use are the welded one and the stock attatchment to the compressor.
after this is completed you can teflon tape the 3/4 to 1/4 reducer and 1 of the brass barb nipples and put in the 1/4 inch hole of the reducer. replace the o-ring and tighten back onto the passenger side hole of the compressor, this is your outlet. DO NOT OVER TIGHTEN!!!
under my cherokeehood there isnt a lot of room so i just have the air tank laying right next to the fender ontop of some wires and such between the battery and the water resevoir.
run the short peace of hose between the barb nipples on the compressor and the T from the air tank and hose clamp them. use the last opening of the T on the tank for your air hose. then on the other end, tighten your air chuck fitting on.
at this point you are now able to test your air.
put some sort of air tool or an air blow gun in the hose as to not over load the system
start the jeep
touch the wire to the battery and presto. you should be pumping air, you can play with the air by letting it pump up a while and then using the blow gun to see how fast it pumps up.
Freebies:
old heater hose
old water pump nipple (small block chevy)
old T i stole from my dad
old 1/4 nipple male on both ends.
old air guage i stole from my dad
old toggle switch i stole from...dad...
misc...something that will fasten nipple to airbox, couple washers for airbox if needed (big 7/8 washers) hose clamps
in my application the air guage needs to be small to clear when the hood is shut.
make sure all air is out of system. then unsrew air hose from brass T. use nipple to attatch T's together put hose in one outlet and guage in the other.
you can run the switch anywhere you want. im not gonna hold your hand through this one! hah!
the heater hose i clamped onto the inlet for the compressor and ran back to, and along the firewall and then back up to the air box. i drilled a hole in the air box (on the filtered air side) and attach the water pump nipple to it, then hose clamp the heater hose to the nipple. now your air is filtered. and the a/c compressor is much much quieter.********i have since removed air box and just put a chrome oil breather in the end of the hose*********
the only other thing i advise is some sort of oiling i havent quite figured that out yet but as soon as i do i will post here. ********see picture********
i also stick a small screw driver in the throttle linkage to bump the idle up while running the compressor. ********not too much or you'll drastically reduce the lifespan of your compressor*******
eventually i want to get a pressure switch but checking on a 175 psi switch would have run me 399.99...i said no thanks. i can get a 125 psi switch at the hardware store for another 35 bucks. *******have one....got it for free....scored*******
i deflated one of my tires completely and pumped it up to 35 psi in 15-20 seconds. small tires 30's but none the less quick. with the compressor running and filling up the tire the system ran at an impressive 120psi.
running an air grinder takes it down to about 25 however.
anyhow have fun with your budget onboard air. unfortunately a big part of this is being able to weld or knowing someone that can. if you do then you are set.
You planning to keep that coil of hose in there? Maybe a quick disco coil air hose in the future?
. I might have to start gathering parts.
