a/c in a hot rod? Can't we all get along?

"In 1954, the Nash Ambassador was the first American automobile to boast a front-end, fully-integrated heating, ventilating, and air-conditioning system." "The innovation was adopted quickly, and by 1960 about 20% of all cars in the U.S. had air-conditioning, with the percentage increasing to 80% in the warm areas of the Southwest"
How many hot rods had them "back in the day?" Probably not many, but mine sure a Hell would have. I hate sweating my ass off down here in Houston. First priority after painting the Riviera is fixing the FACTORY A/C. Fuck this 100 degree shit.

 

Actually I like it when an asshole says stuff like that. I don't have to worry about wasting any time with him. There are too many nice courteous people in the world to waste any time with assholes.

I've never had a hotrod with A/C. I'll never try to convince anyone that my ideas are the best, but to me a streetrod has A/C. A hotrod does not. I just wish that we would not talk down to others that don't agree with our own opinions. I've never had a problem with heat while driving down the road. Sitting in the shade at a show can be problematic for me. Fat men sweat a lot.

Hell I can't stand electric fans and alternators let alone A/C. But that is for my car. Nobody cares if I like your car or not anyway.

I drove my 36 Ford from the east coast to Memphis in 1980. Last time I checked that week still held the local record for high temps. It's the only time in my life where I left an old car flea market to get inside to cool my sneakers off. It sounds like you mid-west guys are experiencing that as I type this. Next week it's our turn.

 

My deuce sedan has AC and my 54 will to when it's done. With heat indexes in the triple digits around here lately I'm glad I have it and don't give a rats ass who doesn't like it.

 

Tommy,
This post is not entirely true. You still talk to me occaisionaly so the whole bunghole statement is out.

You make a good point. They are "opinions" no reason to get all het up with someone who has a different one then our own. If an opinion bore any real weight it would be called a truth.

 

The guy that said was just a wanna-be. I'm going on a cruise saturday and it's gonna be 100 degrees plus! I'll sweat my ba--s off but still have a ball. 'sides if I rolled the windows up I'd asphyxiate anybody in the car. To me a pre '34 hoodless, fenderless, hot rod shouldn't have an a/c compressor hangin' on it, chrome or not. However it's the owners choice.

 

Well I'm a genuine American made asshole and have the hat to prove it. Everyone is an asshole to someone else somewhere. I know my opinions are not mainstream but I feel more comfortable on the HAMB than any place else. I used to be a streetrodder but I got old.

 

It might depend also where you live,here in San Jose ,Ca there just are not that many 100 plus days so my 27 will not get A/C or a heater .But we still have just as many jerks telling us what we did "wrong" on our cars.
I say add A/C if you want to.TO HELL WITH THOSE GUYS.
Is that why they call it a "hot" rod?

 

What are some good, complete, "recipes" (read; cheap but reliable and effective) for AC'ing your hot rod.

Man, I like the idea of a self contained electric AC unit (like the prius), but the draw has to be intense!

 

Quoting tommy a couple posts above " everyone is an asshole to someone else somewhere" there is a HAMB signature for someone

 

You know,I've followed this thread right from the beginning, not because it's particularly interesting, but because I have far too much time on my hands. What has really surprised me is how few "if you need A/C you must be a screaming homo" keyboard tough guy comments have been posted. Threads like this normally bring on an FNG "how hard-core am I" attack. The maturity of this discussion is a pleasant surprise.
Just an observation.
Paul

 

I have a/c in my junk. I like air conditioning and it's my car. I don't care what anybody else thinks.

If you don't like a/c, don't put it on your ride.

 

P 'n B is a real man of wisdom. This should be mandatory reading for anyone who posts on the HAMB. Some people take this stuff waaaaay too seriously.

 

sometimes the truth hurts like for example if you need A/C you really are a screaming homo...no reason to waste time stating the obvious

my car will probably eventually have some a/c but then i enjoy drinks with umbrellas in them from time to time also

 

Ha ha, then by default and not having A/C I'm not a screaming homo!
But then, not needing it because I live in a country with shit weather and crappy car shows sucks big time.
Maybe I'd be happier as a screaming homo. Somebody pass the umbrellas.
Paul

 

Yeah, that's a real nice dash, but the plastic vents kill it for me.

 

A/C yes sweating no.

 

Paul,
In your case I assume that it would be heat or a defroster that marked you as a bugger'er.

I personally still prefer my Burbon neat and my Scotch over the rocks. But I have on occaision been known to sip a Mai Tai and giggle.

 

Actually I have captured this one myself. I still remember before street rodder was a bad name if you owned it and it was pre-'48 it was a "Street Rod".

Jeem
I am actually going to research that one. I have a MOPAR truck alternator and an idea that may work. In a coupe you could hang the extra alt off the driveshaft and mount that bugger in the trunk. Then it would just me a matter of plumbing it into your seat base with vents that either blow up behind the seat or out the bottom. It wouldn't blast you in the face but once you got it cooled off inside it would be like driving a refridgerator.


Can you imagine tooling up to a hot summer event with your windows rolled up in a hoodless coupe wearing a sweater? What a freakin' hoot.

 

That was because we were trying to avoid the "stigma" of the word hotrod. Now we embrace it. I grew to dislike what a street rod morphed into and went back to my roots. Then I found the HAMB.

 

I don't care for the plastic vents under the dash that's sold for our 1950 Chevy.
I'm working on installing the evaporator behind the seat with the vents and controls below seat.
Off to the wrecking yard to see what I can find out of a SUV with rear A/C.
Saw some A/C units on eBay.
Only problem the shipping is deal killer

 

Yea there is nothing like being in touch with where you came from. I am not sure if I found the HAMB and got back to my beginnings or got back to my beginnings and found the HAMB.


If life is a circle then I am one dizzy muther.

 

Paul, your right this whole thread is insane but it is amusing. I still would rather have A/C then smell ASS.

 

So very touchy on 'why' you have AC. To the point of name calling. But you do not care what others think. Creature comforts, comfort food, GPS, cell phone, ect. So soft, so spoiled, so American. Now cruise that modernized, personalized, extension of the ego. See and let your self be seen. We ain't fooling anyone.

 

You wouldn't have to remember too far back.

 

I don't remember it being traditional to catagorize cars back in the fifties. Socal had a style, the northeast, probably Fla, Texas, and the midwest, somethings the same, copied, or new. It was a hotrod to non car people, and our car to us. Anything from full blown modifieds to just a spinner caps. They were our cars, most really tried to come up with thier own flair as budgets would permit. As for AC I had a friend in about 56 or 57 with a 52 Ford, black primer and a big underdash AC unit. I don't remember where he got it but we all rode with him when it was really hot, guy in the middle had his knees in his chest. Couldn't put guys in the back because he was already to low and shaft would hit hard with the extra weight. I'm working on a 1946 model car and it will have AC, drove truck to many years without it. To each his own.

 

I don't have a problem with anyone running AC, and I respect and appreciate an innovative AC installation, like some of the ideas raised on this thread.

On top of that my wife and I are both winter people. One of the reasons we got married is that we both complain about the heat at 70°F. That's pretty much mid-winter temperature where we live. In summer it often tops 100°F but at least it's dry in summer.

That said, I really don't like AC. Not even my '94 DD has AC. My head just doesn't want to process the idea of shifting gears in an air-conditioned environment: to me AC, power everything, and automatic transmission just go together. On the odd occasion I drive a car that has AC I turn it off - unless it's an automatic, luxurious, and huge, in which case I'd want to waft around at a leisurely pace.

I like the connection with the outside world that one gets driving a non-air-conditioned car with the windows open. In fact I sometimes drive with the heat on and the windows open in winter, just to get that connection. I don't like the way modern cars tend to isolate the driver. It's as if the outside world becomes unreal, the traffic a video game.

Here's an idea, though, that might work with my way of driving. How about cooling the actual fabric of parts of the car instead of the air inside? I'm thinking of an attenuated conductive evaporator coil above the roof lining to stop solar heat gain through the roof: the heat curtain principle. It'd depend on being able to vent the interior very liberally, the venting air would still be warm, and one would have to stay in the habit of looking for shaded parking; but at least one is rid of the huge LFIR radiant heat source over one's head. And again one would need a compressor and condenser, but no soporific white-noise-inducing electric interior fans, and no sealed-environment closed windows.

 

AC is a must. I thought i didn't need it untill i started working over an hour away from home and it sure is nice to have comming home when your wore out. My 1941 IH K2 is getting AC for sure.

 

None of my cars has a/c, but I wish they did! Its hotter'n hell in Texas, if nobody likes your a/c, FCK'EM!

 

And yes to AC in a custom for sure. And a Hotrod yes if the climate dictates , no matter what year car you choose to cruise.