Rich's Triumph TR6

Even if we don’t have a ready-made solution for your car air conditioning needs, we’ll try to help. As an example, today’s blog post tells about how we helped Rich Roesch in Panmama City, FL with his 1974 Triumph TR6.  Rich told us:

“I am a retired engineer, grew up building hot rod and restoring cars, I have a small collection of cars and motorcycles that I restore and maintain in my shops .  My 1974 Triumph TR6 is a very original-looking car that at first I thought I would keep original. But as I drove it and realized how much I liked it, I decided to keep it looking original but upgrade to modern components where a major advantage could be realized such as electronic ignition, wrapped headers, rust prevention and of course, the AC.

I contacted several companies that typically do hot rod air and a couple I have dealt with in the past for vintage Porsche’s but none were interested in helping with my TR6; except Ron [at Classic Auto Air].  For me cost and time were not really issues as much as good service and quick responses to my questions; Ron excelled in both those categories.  As a retired engineer I am aware of the principal that you can get it fast, cheap, and good quality; but not all three at the same time.  In my case, quality service was the most important, timeliness next and I had no cost expectations.  I did get the impression that Ron helped to speed up the turnaround time for reconditioning my condenser, expansion valve and fan unit to satisfy my second expectation.  I suggest you warn people that a custom AC effort will cost around 2K and give them some realistic estimate of the time it will take if you are involved in the installation or refurbishment due to your backlog.

Classic Auto Air A/C Compressor in Rich's TR6

[I got some help from the attached TR6 air conditioning installation instructions (PDF)] by a fellow that installed AC in a TR6 that did not have the original dealer installed factory AC like my car had, biggest issue would be the compressor bracket.   He also ran the compressor belt off the water pump.  I chose to go off the crank since I already had that set up. I was unsure of the drive speed and belt adjustment is an issue.  I already had an idler pulley and room for belt alignment was also going to make it difficult to find room for the compressor.  I tried to follow up with the author but decided that since my car already had AC and I could reuse many of those parts and he really did not offer me any expertise. Again, thanks to Ron Mineo!

Have a custom air conditioning need for your car or truck? Let Ron, Mike, Tim or one of the other Classic Auto Air Team helm keep you cool.

Tags: 1974 Triumph TR6 air conditioning, aftermarket a/c, custom car air conditioning
Posted in: Air Conditioning