Cool/Heat: '63 Lark A/C compressor question

[jjsmith8301]

Hi everyone, first post on the forum. I just bought a '63 Lark last week. It's pretty much bone stock and in great shape. I even got the entire factory a/c system, it's in a box right now though. I'm going to take the car up to South Carolina next week for the wife to drive. The family has relocated ahead of me until I retire in a couple of months and I want to get the air going. I've done some reading about using a Sanden compressor to replace the York but haven't been able to pinpoint which compressor to buy. I know I need an adapter bracket to make it work. Just trying to find out which compressor I need to pickup. Thank you in advance for any input.

[bezhawk]

Most use the 508 model. That is also what most adapters are made to fit.

[jackb]

Make sure in the box you've got the pulleys for crank & water pump for complete install. They are usually missing and very tough to find...

[r1lark]

Joshua, is your Studebaker a V8 or a six cylinder? The commonly available adapters to fit the Sanden 508 will work fine with the factory V8 ac compressor bracket, but will not be a 'bolt on' for the six cylinder engine. The six cylinder will require some additional fabricating to make the Sanden work with the factory brackets (due to the design of the original six cylinder factory bracketry).

[jjsmith8301]

It's a 259. I forgot to put that in my post. Luckily for me the harder to find things are there. I may end up just using the York compressor and sticking with R12 if I can find a shop that has it. I still have a few things to do before I get to that point.

[jjsmith8301]

Thank you everyone for the input. Hopefully I can get some pictures up today. You know everyone likes pictures.

[64studeavanti]

R12, if you can find it, is likely $200+ per pound. At 3 pounds for a fill, you should reconsider springing for the sanden upgrade.

[jjsmith8301]

Yeah, didn't realize that R12 was running that much. Thanks for the heads up.

[6hk71400]

A friend of mine in the A/C business has a storage of some but eventually the R-134 will be replaced. He also is a car guy but the wrong brand. He says First on Race Day but I say Fraud on rally day.

I would say that $200 per pound is a low estimate. In Arizona, most have converted to R134.

Bob Miles
At 80 mph, there is enough airflow to cool you down with the windows open

[bensherb]

This is the simple bracket I made to use a Sanden compressor in place of the York unit. It simply bolts in place of the York compressor on it's bracket and the Sanden bolts to it. It's made from 2" x 1/4"angle iron.



Here, it's bolted to the York bracket

Here's the Sanden bolted in place.

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[AndyK]

Do you know for sure that the original York compressor is bad? They were pretty rugged units.
My 63 Lark still has the factory York compressor that has been converted over to R134 and cools well.

[64studeavanti]

There are brackets as well as kits available on ebay for reasonable prices. You could also look in the classified section of Turning Wheels. Even if your York compressor is good, you would likely need new valve, dryer/accumulator, and hoses. You may need new evaporator and/or condenser as well.