Anyone have A/C?

Greetings to all.

I'm seriously considering a Speedster purchase in the near future. Looking at all the different manufacturers it appears that they are all pretty close as far as quality goes.

My question is this:

I live in Arizona and I thinking about having a Speedster as an everyday driver (7 miles to work each way)and I'm wondering if anyone on the boards had one built with air conditioning?

How well does it work?

Issues with side curtains etc..?

I know I will have to go with a bigger engine like a 2.X litre and I figure that should be plenty.

Any comments are welcome.

I love these cars...

Thanks,

Spyder53

I have A/C in my Vintage Speedster and I love it! I always use the A/C with top up or down! The A/C blows ice cold air in all 3 speeds on the control knob and does not take that much power from the 1776cc motor I have. I always drive with either the Top up with the curtains off or the curtains off with top down. I have a hard time drivng with the curtains mounted. Having A/C in my Speedster really is cool and was one of the reasons, I purchased the car!

Aloha, Kawika

Vern, the main issue with side curtains is that they make it difficult to see out with the top up. There are fixes to improve this, such as fabricated lexan curtains which decrease the size of the blind spots that are huge. I am a short person and found that I had to tip my head down to adaquately be able to see outside in traffic or on the highway with top up and windows installed.

Also, I had air conditioning and I never used it. I finally took it out since it made servicing the engine much easier. Several people on the board have commented on this situation. When it was turned on however, it produced very cold air and plenty of it.

My current ride has air conditioning and good visibility to the sides; this was important to me when I had my car built. I like the idea of having plenty of heat, plenty of cooling and no overheating issues out of the box. The car has been driven cross country and performed great.
my 2 kroner
Hoss

I live in Miami, Florida and opted for A/C in my car. My speedster is the only car I drive and I drive it every day rain or shine. When the top is up and it is raining, I found that without the A/C, the whole car would fog up. It also makes it much more comfortable when the top is up. When the top is down, I do not find the A/C to make much of a difference except when the car is at a complete stop. I have found that it does make the engine run hotter and not perform as well. And as John said, it makes service more difficult (mainly getting to the left side spark plugs). But I still am happy with my decision to go with A/C.

Vern, I've got a one year old Vintage Speedster with a/c. We have had several problems with the A/c throwing the belt and taking the engine fan belt with it. Kirk has sent some free parts to a repair shop in Scottsdale and had it fixed. We are still kind of afraid to use the a/c. The only reason we got the a/c was it came with the 1915 engine. We also never put the top up. Regards, Gary Turner
p.s. we live in Anthem any questions call me 623-551-1880

Vern,
I have 2005 IM Speedster with A/C and 2100cc engine, Live in central Texas, gets hot here too! A/C blows cold and no engine over heating problems. Also, have full tonneau cover. With top down and cover over passenger side, AC is still effective as cold air is partially trapped under cover. Where you live A/c would be a nice addition.

I'm presently,having a speedster built.I've opted to have it as original as possible.Also,the performance of the car will be effective.NO A/C

Thank you all very much for your valuable input.

I think I'll get one with the A/C and use it as a daily driver.

Gary- Maybe it was just a bad belt...

Hoss- Are the curtains your talking about the ones you get with the hard-top???

Now what color, Hummm....

Thanks again,

Vern

Vern, no, the soft top as shown on my picture of the ivory colored Speedster.

John, all your talk about A/C makes me regret your offer on your comp etc., the reason I probably didn't move on it was that I didn't have my car yet, still don't have it, it's coming from Kansas, should arrive in a week or so. If I remember correctly it was only missing the pulley bolt and something else. Let me know if you still have it please

John,

That cabrio is real nice to.

Is that a replica?

Vern

Vern; the ivory one was Hoss' first Speedster, which he sold some time ago to get the first SAW Cabrio. They are located in Tennessee and build 356 replicas with Subaru drivetrains; hit the banner ad whenever you see it here and it'll take you to their website.

Jane, some folks like A/C, myself included. I took the A/C out of the Speedster since I was having such difficulty servicing the engine. I guess I'm a wuss in that respect. Perhaps a more dexterous people with more nifty gadgets in their tool chests or at least more patience would not mind, but I found it annoying. The way the car was being used, I found that I wasn't getting any use out of the system. And yes, I still have it.


Vern, thanks for the compliment on the (replica) Cabriolet. It's a honey.
Hoss

Vern, I live in San Diego, and it does get well over 100 degres here, especially if you live inland from the ocean (which all us poor people do). But I've had a totally different experience with A/C. When John Steele made my car back in 2001 I had him adapt a Sandan rotary compressor to my T-IV and install A/C. I thought it would be an everything machine. I never used the A/C even once. Three years later, I removed all the parts to save wieght and increase engine compartment access.

Here is the thing. Since 2001, I have never driven this car with the top up. It just turned out that is how I use this vehicle. Got two other older vehicles, both with A/C. That's just me.

Thanks for the input John.

I've been to SD quite a few times. I lived in Chino Hills, CA for about 10 years and if I still lived there I wouldn't get A/C either.

But when it's 110 to 115 for 3 months in a row and the next 2 months are 105 with humidity in the 40% range...It's a bit too much.

If I had the luxury of having 2 vehichles I could park the Speedster/Coupe for the summer. Since I don't...

I'll stay with the A/C.

JPS is coming out with a Coupe this month.

I have been waiting for the coupe to come out. I just did not want to be one of the first ones to get one. I will for sure get AC in that after reading everyones notes on it.

You'll definitely need it, especially in Arizona....