VWAR Old forum !

As I'm resoring my '74,  I came across a factory-air set-up and plan to have it hooked up.

My '78 Conv. has had such nice Air Conditioning for many years, and I'm dying to see how it will interact with the autostick.

Any suggestions?

i have a 74 with autostick and a/c. my  a/c makes it accellerate slower and takes up like a bunch of room in the engine bay i dont like to use it cuz it drains the power from my engine and i need it because i live in texas :p i just need some more power and it would run fine

Hiya dinger & 74,

First off, know that I have absolutely no experience with air conditioning in a Bug, AS or otherwise.  However, I have been privy to a heckuva a lot of discussion about A/C setups.  So I thought I'd pass this along........

The original dealer installed A/C could eat up both power and gas mileage.  It could make a real difference in the overall performance of a Bug (even more so in a Bus).  The culprit was the compressor.  This guy would sap the energy out put to the tune of a few horsepower and 3 to 5 miles per gallon.  In fact, the advice of the day was to run the A/C intermittantly so as not to rob and excessive amount of power from the engine.

However, technology being what it is, big time advances have been made in compressor technology.  Replacements for the original compressor are available today which will barely affect engine performance and give you a more efficient rate of cooling.

Moral of this story?  If you are considering reactivating the A/C setup, spring for a newer generation compressor.  Both you and your car will be happy you did.

Mike

1970 AS Bug