Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

[Tophatjimmy]

The AC system in my truck has not worked since I bought the truck over 5 years ago. I made the decision that I could live without it and scoured this site to find the best method to remove it.

First thing I did was head to the local Pick n Pull yard to find a non-AC heater box. After an hour of searching, I scored one with a working blower motor for about $15.

I blasted it clean and gave it few coats of semi-gloss black, then swapped the resistor and relay on to it.

One thing I noticed (with my truck at least) is that the non-AC heater box has an almost totally flat mounting surface but my firewall is not totally flat. This caused a gap between the firewall and the top center of the heater box (just behind the wire loom).

I bought some 1/2" thick weatherstrip from Lowes to seal the heater box to the firewall and it took up the gap nicely. I then cleaned up the wiring a tad and removed the overflow container in anticipation of my RPM air intake:




I then removed the rest of the AC components from the engine. It is truely impressive how much room is gained when the AC compressor and bracket are taken out!

I searched other posts on removing the AC system and keeping a belt tensioner. I liked the RPM setup, but cost is an issue. I liked MightyMouse's setup, but the brackets aren't available, so I went with Vasplieon's method.

Parts used:
Gates tensioner #38103
4 3/8" flat washers (probably only needed 2)
1 7/16" nylon locking nut
Gates K060551 55" belt (Using stock CS130 alternator)

Now, it isn't mentioned until the end of Vasplieon's "A/C Delete My Way" thread that you need to grind down the ribs on the front of the AC bracket where the new tensioner is going to go. This is important.

To do this is used an angled air sander with a green abrasive disc, which made an impressive mess of aluminum dust. I tried really hard to only take the ribs off and not get into the flat areas too much.

I won't know if I was successful until I get the belt on it and start it up. It may or may not need to be shimmed a little.

Once the area was relatively flat, I drilled the holes for the tensioner.



I then ran into another issue. The raised mounting 'ring' around the bolt hole on the tensioner is thicker than the alternator bracket wall so the tensioner wouldn't tighten up correctly. This is another indication that I 'may' have taken off a bit too much material from the front of the bracket.

To solve this I took about 1/8" off of the raised 'ring' with my belt sander and then the tensioner bolted into place just fine. I used a seamstress tape to measure for a belt and with the tensioner just below the 8 o'clock position I got in the area of 54.5 - 55".

Autozone carries a 54.8" Dayco belt which should work well, but was out of stock. I went to O'Reilly's and got a Gates 55" and it seems to work fine.




Also, since the AC bracket is gone and the turbo is now very exposed, I bought a turbo blanket off of Ebay. It is for a T3 size turbo and it fits great.

I made sure to clock it so it fits around the wastegate rod so no modifications were necessary.




UPDATE
I ran this setup for about a year. I didn't have any misalignments or belt wear, but I had a problem with the belt slipping a bit on the water pump pulley when it was hot outside. A better serp belt like a Gatorback would have probably fixed the issue, but I got a deal on a used RPM kit and put that on instead. It is a very nice, trouble free setup and worth it if you have the extra cash.

 

[BoostedSUV]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Why not just use the idler pulley that replaces the ac compressor? Its availble at autozone, advance, napa etc... Seem like a lot of work that could be acomplished a hell of a lot easier and you won't have the void in the bracket where the compressor used to be.

 

[Tophatjimmy]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

the whole point of getting rid of the AC was to also be rid of that big ass compressor bracket and actually have some workable room in the engine bay. For me, having extra room is not a negative thing.

The idler pulley still uses that bracket.

 

[sycho]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

awesome idea, thanks for sharing:tup:

 

[TYTILIDIE]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

I did mine this way too, definitely the way to go for AC delete. Your cost of parts is minimal, job can be done with in an hour, everything you need you can get local, you can't go wrong here.

 

[BoostedSUV]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

the whole point of getting rid of the AC was to also be rid of that big ass compressor bracket and actually have some workable room in the engine bay. For me, having extra room is not a negative thing.

The idler pulley still uses that bracket.

Oh ok, I see what you did. When I was looking last night I thought you were using the AC bracket to remount the tensioner. Upon a second look I see the tentioner is on the alternator side. Definitely a better way to free up weight and room when deleting an AC system. :tup:

 

[BoostedSUV]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Upon further examination I have 2 questions.

How well do you think the the alt bracket is going to hold up with all that belt tension on it? The factory location for the tensioner is beefed up quite a bit and I have my doubts that the thin piece of aluminum that it's mounted to will hold up for any extended period of time. I would bet it cracks and/or the hole you have for the tension pin will get egged out.

question 2.


What do you think the ill effects of spinning the water pump "backwards" are going to have? That is a reverse flow pump that you will now be spinning in the opposite direction that was intended. just curious :dunno:

 

[SY2932]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

I did mine this way too, definitely the way to go for AC delete. Your cost of parts is minimal, job can be done with in an hour, everything you need you can get local, you can't go wrong here.

I am still running your old setup with no problems:

Having to keep an eye on the belt tension is a little bit of a bummer. However I spend as much time under the hood of my truck as I do driving it so I keep it in check .

For those who want to see the original post on this mod, check here.

 

[Sportmachines]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

I am still running your old setup with no problems:

Having to keep an eye on the belt tension is a little bit of a bummer. However I spend as much time under the hood of my truck as I do driving it so I keep it in check .

For those who want to see the original post on this mod, check here.

Mike is still alive.

I also run Mikes set up. No ill effects as of yet.

 

[Rexxenexx]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

What do you think the ill effects of spinning the water pump "backwards" are going to have? That is a reverse flow pump that you will now be spinning in the opposite direction that was intended. just curious :dunno:

Here's a picture of an OEM original water pump. That rotor is definitely directional. It 'sucks' from the center, and directs it to the outlets on the outer circumference. When you spin the pump in the opposite direction, you ARE reversing the flow. Is your engine really staying cool now? Has anyone noticed any collapsing of the upper hose while running?

There's no way this works properly.

 

[IpHoOnDyou]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Here's a picture of an OEM original water pump. That rotor is definitely directional. It 'sucks' from the center, and directs it to the outlets on the outer circumference. When you spin the pump in the opposite direction, you ARE reversing the flow. Is your engine really staying cool now? Has anyone noticed any collapsing of the upper hose while running?

There's no way this works properly.

Only thing that is going to change is the contact of the belt to the water pump, where in stock the belt has more than 1/2 contact with the water pump pully. With the a/c deleted "this way" the belt does come in contact with just about a 1/4 of the belt touching it. If you were looking at the engine the rotation of the engine goes to the right thus spining the water pump pully to the left. This setup will work just fine an not reverse the direction of the waterpump
Hope this all helps guys
Steve

 

[SY2932]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Mike is still alive.

I also run Mikes set up. No ill effects as of yet.

Yep, I'm still on this side of the ground . A complete AC delete in addition to electric fans makes working on the truck SO much easier:

I cringe anytime I have to work on a stock truck now...

 

[TYTILIDIE]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Works great in my truck. Thing I like about this set up over the one I had before is the ease of install and maintenance. At the time when I did the AC delete that was all that had been thought about at that time. When this one came up I thought it was nice because you don't have to hack up the alternator bracket (which is pretty time consuming and messy) or buy a turnbuckle. You also don't need wrench's to change the belt.

As for structural integrity, mine has I would say about 15,000-20,000 miles on it and I have seen 0 evidence of any cracks or reasons to think it isn't reliable. And to add, the water pump IS spinning the right way with this set up. I have never heard my belt squeak with the exception of when I first start it and there is ICE everywhere. However, I don't drive the truck in the snow anymore and I don't leave it out side either. The squeak I had was very much only right at start up and not a wink beyond.

 

[TYTILIDIE]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

I cringe anytime I have to work on a stock truck now...

Amen my friend!

 

[Flyin Ryan]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Still rockin ur original ac delete here as well mike

 

[Rexxenexx]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Ahh k. Thx Steve and Mike. I see it now.

 

[IpHoOnDyou]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Ahh k. Thx Steve and Mike. I see it now.

No problem rex glad to help, you had me worried i am in the process of doing this to my truck. I had to pop the hood on my 02 blazer an make sure the pully would still go the right direction

 

[BoostedSUV]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

I'm still a little concerned about the stress on the alternator bracket over time on a truck that is driven daily and not just on nice days. Its definitely a clean, cost reducing setup that frees up a lot of under hood space. I'm still on the fence, I love the idea of working AC in an 11 second street driver but the AC delete does free up a ton of space, weight and looks clean!

 

[sharkbait]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

diggn up some old stuff...

 

[IpHoOnDyou]

Re: Vasplieon's A/C Delete method revisited

Why is it everyone is saying to use a 55in belt but when i use the 55in belt, it come no where close to fitting?? I am also useing the cs-144 alt, an i have seriously used every size belt. Im really hoping the 57in will work? Does anyone have any input on this, is anyone useing a smaller crank pully?
Steve