CozzieNige

Hi All, long time no login to the site.. Please can anyone help me? I am trying to source a working or ideally new condensor rad and receiver/dryer for my small turbo Cozzie. My original condensor had a leak (possible bottom end corrosion) and was removed (not replaced). I acquired a 2nd hand one off ebay years ago, but that has evidence of a fluid leak through the vains and never had any means of pressure testing it, so no idea if any good to use or not.

I know Ford in their wisdom discontinued these parts many years ago and I have scoured numerous online suppliers and never found anything suitable, as the sizes of the original seem to be pretty unique and not stocked by any of the main manufacturers like Delphi/Delco et al. Even the dryer is unique with it's own bracket mountings. The nearest I've found that looks similar is for the mk6 Fiesta I think though that has a much longer/larger mounting bracket, so would need specialised re-piping plumbed in to fit. The rad also needs to have 2 bottom feet/male type brackets to fit/slot comfortably in the main radiator bottom supporting (female) brackets ideally. Does anyone know of anywhere who still retains a stock of these rads or like for like after-market replacements, or anyone who can make up a new rad and dryer to order? No one in the aircon trade I've spoken to so fas has been interested in pressure testing my ford rads and I haven't found anyone yet who will/could use one of my rads as a template to manufacture a new one.

Has anyone else on here managed to get around this problem? Or, has anyone successfully transplanted a different set of more readily available parts into a Cozzie that works/fits ok? Really want to get my aircon working again, as it never worked properly from the time I bought the car 16 yra ago and would be great to finally resolve things.

Thanks guys, Nigel..

Oh FYI! By the way, just time for a big plug for Specialised Paint Services in Reading, who have been doing a cracking job restoring the underside of my car (front to back both side - replacement floor pans, footwells, complete inner/internal/outer sills, all to Ford factory standards - excellent job and their customer service has been fantastic. Credit where it's due, so if you're looking for a highly professional and friendly helpful service, you won't go far wrong using these guys! (Dan/Carl ). They specialise in Lotus's/Porsche's, but are now into their 3rd E/Cossie restoration now - all same issues and all Mallards, ha. I'll be getting it fully resprayed by them later in the year, making a tidy £8-10k worth of work done by them by the time we're finished.. Good job these babies are now going back up in value..

jsa

After searching hi & lo for a like for like replacement, I ended up with a generic condenser core. Slightly narrower, same height, thinner, but more efficient.

Had to amend the pipes to suit and make brackets to mount to oem points.

CozzieNige

Hi John, thanks for taking time out to reply - appreciated. Please can you let me know which make/model of condensor you opted to use along with the receiver/dryer also. Did you fit it all in yourself, or did you emply an aircon specialist to dom it instead - who/how did you sort out the shaping of all the new pipework? I suppose it is a fairly straight forward job for someone in the know with all the right tools? What brackets did you need to sort, were these added to the main rad or the bodywork, as normally it would all be bolted with the main rad to the front slam panel area? Did you encounter any other issues along the way, can you recall? CheeRS mate.. Nigel..

jsa

Hello Nigel,

I only changed the condenser, and its connecting pipes. I left the rest alone, so OEM parts.

Having failed to locate a direct replacement, I took the dimension of the original and rang some local auto A/C companies for universal cores, until one agreed to let me look at there catalog. Took along the old one and chose one with the same connection type & closest dimensions. The receipt does not have any identifying details. I also purchased some extra pipe of the right size.

Google for universal condensers in inches, you will see many around the right size. Just a matter of what is stocked locally.

DIY fit and pipe forming. I only changed the pipe shape forward of the radiator, so only had the two pipes to revise, as the rest is OEM. I re-used the pipe ends from the old condenser and got them to braze the pipe pieces together. Basically took the old ends and screwed them on the new core, shortened the old pipes in the vertical where they dropped down in front the radiator, then filled in the gap.

For mounting, I made some small metal clips from flat strap. These went between the condenser and the OEM mounting points on the radiator/car. 1.25" X 1.5" in size at most, 1 per corner.

Yeah, you need some basic mechanical skills. For tools I used spanners, tube cutter, tin snips, drill, drill bits and tape measure.

Got them to gas and test once all back together.

No great issues, just fidly time consuming, hence why companies don't want to take it on. They know you'd choke on the bill.

jaiscossie

I have all the aircon parts off my big turbo car if your interested, im not sure if they are the same though?

CozzieNige

Hi John, thanks again for all the useful advice - very interesting and sorry for the delayed response mate!