There are two different styles of pulley systems and bracket systems – depending on the year car was made.
The newer F and M-bodies (not sure of the change – but will guess ’81 (don’t hold me to that date) all pulleys and brackets were the same on non A/C cars. The newer cars without A/C they made an idler pulley and bracket that bolted in place of the A/C compressor (the C-171 aluminum compressor – but not for the RV2 cast iron version you currently have).
It is a quick easy way to remove A/C on the newer M-bodies (with the idler pulley and bracket).
Now with that said, they made no such item for the RV2 A/C compressors, that I’m aware of. Correction, they did – but only for cars with 100 amp alternators and no A/C – but those setups are very hard to find (less than 0.01% cars were made that way).
One will need to invest in a pulley set (crankshaft and water pump) and a pair of alternator mounting brackets. You might be able to reuse your existing brackets – if you can find washers the exact thickness of A/C compressor mounting brackets are. Reproduction or used parts are easy enough to come by so I recommend to get the correct brackets.
P/S pump and brackets will not be effected.
The existing alternator will work – but one pulley (of the double pulley) will not be used.
The water pump will be the same – unless you use an older water pump or pulley (mentioned before about grinding down one reinforcement (see earlier post)– which is not required in many cases.
Both drive belts will be different lengths.
Attached is pictures of my ’77 wagon, which was born without A/C, to give you an idea of things.
The blue heater hoses are silicone – if you wanted to know (and are not cheap) and are not necessary or recommended for most people.
Note: This car is completely stock – except for drive belts, hoses, filters and so forth. It does have the smaller 22” radiator in it – but I plan on upgrading it to the wider 28” radiator, one of these days.
The only exception to being completely stock, is I did replace the solid 4 blade fan with a 5 blade fan with fan clutch – for better fuel mileage.
Note: the firewall is different between A/C and non-A/C cars, but that shouldn't matter for what you want to do.
The A/C condenser, both pair of hoses and drier can be removed from car. I do recommend making a steel plate the size of the A/C expansion valve, drill a hole in middle of it and paint it – to block off the expansion valve holes. It will look a lot nicer and if you save the parts (to give to new owner) – can increase the resale value of car, as well. The plate doesn’t have to be air tight – but is to keep dirt, debris and bugs out (and for better visual effect),
It might be best to place your parts in a box or plastic bin and place it somewhere safe. They make an item called Cap-Plugs (and other products of the same nature) that will plug the holes of A/C parts – which is important to do. Rust, dirt, bugs, etc. can ruin A/C parts if ports are not plugged.
I wouldn’t mind purchasing many of the A/C parts you are removing – but not really looking towards cost to ship overseas. I even wouldn’t mind swapping my non/AC parts for your A/C parts – but I don’t have plans on making my changeover for a couple of years from now (and currently my wagon is only vehicle in my fleet running at 100% right now).
The two pulleys you will need will look something like this
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mopar-340-318-Upper-Lower-Crankshaft-Water-Pump-Pulleys-W-P-S-Dart-Duster-Cuda-/332309285153?hash=item4d5f2d4921:g:AmwAAOSwbIRZbi4P&vxp=mtr
This set is a lot more $ than I would spend – but gives you an example to look for.
Note: the bolt pattern on crank pulley changed in ’70. Older no A/C crank pulley will work but one bolt hole is off center. A small grinder (or drill) will fix that one bolt hole (fairly easy modification – that no-one will even know about (sense bolt covers the extended hole) – so year of crank pulley shouldn’t matter. The water pump pulley may look different but as long as pulley diameter and distance from hub is the same – it will work.
The pair of alternator brackets are like this example:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Mopar-Small-Block-Alternator-Bracket-340-360-318-1970-up-Dart-Cuda-Challenger-/162586550099?hash=item25dae9df53:g:OdcAAOSweuxWSl2J&vxp=mtr
The brackets are a lot simpler and the arch is different between no A/C and A/C. They make chrome brackets – but in my opinion, they look out of place on an M-body (it’s your car so if you want chrome – they go for it).
To recap:
The P/S is not effected,
The water pump is not effected – except for some pumps might need to have a reinforcement ground down slightly.
The alternator will work – but one grove of pulley will be un-used (nothing to worry about).
You will need a pair of pulleys for crankshaft and water pump. Most all no-A/C small block pulleys from mid ‘60’s to ’78 (when C-171 aluminum A/C compressor came out. The pulleys and brackets are different for it). The crankshaft pulley will need to have two groves, one grove for alternator/water pump and other grove for P/S.
It is recommended to replace the alternator brackets - for it but old ones could work with exact size washers (exact size of A/C bracket thicknesses) and a different (weird length) drive belt – which might be hard to determine or locate, there.
I highly recommend fabricating a (and painted) metal plate to bolt onto the expansion valve after you remove A/C hose from it.
Removal of A/C parts.
Your existing wiring harness will be fine as is. Just leave the unused wiring harness connectors disconnected.
You’re done.
BudW
