Adding AC to any later 124/2000?

[MykeNytemare]

Hello all,

I'm looking at a few cars at the moment and will definitely get one by the summer, but I live in FL and my wife and kids will be in the car sometimes, so here's my question as I rarely see a 5-spd with AC for sale.
As I am pretty set on getting a 76-82 Spider (5-speed) in the next few months...maybe sooner. It would be an easier sell to my wife and even for myself in the boiling hot FL summer if I could add AC at some point (definitely would allow my 3 and 6 year olds to enjoy the car as well more often)

I found this old page from over a decade ago: https://www.mirafiori.com/faq/content/AC/ac.htm

And it doesn’t seem the “bolt on AC kits” are out there anymore. I did see that a few of the vintage AC companies make MGB and Triumph kits which I’m thinking could be adapted if a proper compressor and mounting bracket/pulley/belt could be found.

Anyone add AC here? I’m guessing if I went with an 81/82 that adding AC would be considerably more difficult with the fuel injected engine and space in the engine bay.

Any advice or thoughts would be welcome.

[spidernut]

Aftermarket air conditioning can be installed....and it is really expensive. I can't recall the company that makes the components, but the hardest part is the under-dash air vents and fan. Occasionally they show up on the forums or on Evilbay for sale. Most of the time the compressors are shot, but they are replaceable with modern units.

You might contact Vintageair.com to see if they have any recommendations.

[DieselSpider]

Vintage Air or Rainbow Products however once you put the top down AC is a bit moot and you won't really fit kids in the back unless they are just out of sitting in car seats and boosters nor will you easily get them back there unless the top is down. You will only be able to fit both of your children in the back seat for a few short years and will likely need to add rear seat belts to the car. The back seat was mostly there to qualify for a lower import tax assessment as a 2+2 (not a 4 passenger vehicle) and is more of a parcel shelf than a seating area. The capacity of the car is only about 300 lbs in the seats plus 140 lbs of luggage in the trunk so just 2 adults in the front seats can load the car to capacity.

I am in the area around Tampa Bay and have not found a need for AC in my 124 Spider yet and I have used it as a daily driver for a number of years now. The side vent windows probably do help a lot with comfort along with proper convertible driving attire such as a light colored/weight driving hat, light colored/weight long sleeve shirt that breathes well, etc. Don't expect to go out in an open car dressed in black denim and be comfortable in the Florida Sun.

More people appear to be getting rid of the AC in their 124's than are putting it in. It was mostly a dealer installed after market option after all.

[MykeNytemare]

I appreciate that feedback and it makes me think. I could live without the air conditioning if I have to. My kids are really little and are still in car seats so I think I'd be able to put them in there for quite a while. I won't allow the air conditioning to impact my decision on what I purchased then... That way I will probably go for a carbureted car as it will just be easier to troubleshoot.

[spidernut]

I bought an 81 Spider brand new. In 85 when my daughter was born, I sold the car because there was no protection for her if the car was in a rollover accident. Once you install a roll bar, you realistically can only fit one car seat in the middle with the top down. You could wedge two small seats in, but it wouldn't be fun. It is also pretty windy in the back seat.

[MykeNytemare]

I guess the rear seats look bigger than they are...i thought they would be useful for the kids. I'm still gonna get one, but I'm starting to feel nudged towards a 66/67 Mustang convertible so I can get 4 seats and a manual trans in a vintage car. Though I'm not sure that backseat is much bigger.

[DieselSpider]

Mustang back seat is much larger but you need to install a firewall behind the seatback. The Spider has a firewall protecting the rear seat passengers from a fuel tank split while the Mustang did not so when rear ended the front of the Mustang fuel tank which is the floor of the trunk opens and sprays fuel onto the back seat occupants.

Safety groups are trying to get Ford to issue a bulletin and possibly a recall for this since so many old Mustangs are being restored and put back on the roadways however Ford is resistant to issuing a fix for their cars that have burned so many people to death.

[samakijoe]

This brings back memories of the Pinto fuel tank fires a bunch of years ago. I remember one comment made at one of the trials by a witness, "what do you expect for $2300" ? As I remember for cost of something like a dollar per car they could have avoided the whole problem. This was around the time they invented the phrase "been counter". "Been counters" will always be with us.. (gotta make that money for the share holders, man)

[DieselSpider]

This brings back memories of the Pinto fuel tank fires a bunch of years ago. I remember one comment made at one of the trials by a witness, "what do you expect for $2300" ? As I remember for cost of something like a dollar per car they could have avoided the whole problem. This was around the time they invented the phrase "been counter". "Been counters" will always be with us.. (gotta make that money for the share holders, man)

Joe - Its sad how many people were burned to death in Ford products during those years. How quickly we forget to. I get a kick out of it sometimes when people give me a hard time about my Fiat considering how much thought Fiat did put into making it safer to have a drop in fuel tank in the trunk. In those years Ford found it cheaper to litigate rather than remediate too and would sell thousands of the defective vehicles while litigating in the hopes that if they could drag the litigation on for enough years that the vehicles would rot away from the road salt and put through the car shredder before they were forced to fix them. Not that many years ago even Police Cruisers sold by Ford were prone to bursting into flames due to electrical, fuel system and structural design flaws.

Anyways I would not follow the trend to put an old Mustang back on the road as a car to be driven unless a firewall was fitted behind the rear seat and a safety plate was installed in the trunk over the top of the fuel tank.

Also on those Ford Pony Cars (Mustang, Pinto, Maverick) they economized by putting thinner webbing on the rear seat belts which tended to disembowel those who wore them so one would have to be sure that those were not replaced with the same dangerous skinny belts that were originally installed at the factory.