A/C removal

[John Howar]

Has anyone removed their A/C compressor, condensers, evaporator, etc? Where can you find a shorter belt? What about the underdrive crank pulley?
John Howar

[Cloudsurfer]

Removing the compressor is easy when the engine is out of the car, and not so much fun with the engine in the car. As to the belt, your local auto parts store or dealer would be able to give you the correct length belt for a non-A/C car.

As to removing the condensers, that's not a huge job, but getting at the evaporator is going to be not so fun.

Short of a track only car, I can't see why you'd want to do this. I remotely considered not putting the A/C back into my 03 car when I put the 3.8 in it, but then the practical side of me won out as I knew I'd never be able to drive the car on a hot day with no A/C, not to mention the loss of resale value it would cost you with most buyers.

[Topless]

Eric Oviatt just gutted his car for BSR racing. Here is a build thread with pics:
http://www.renntrack.com/forums/showthread.php?1228-Guess-who-just-got-a-boxter/page7
I am sure he can answer any questions you have.

[Banana S]

I'm not a fan of air conditioning, as I grew up in a house without it. Suffering through 90+ degree, 100% humidity, Indiana summers is no big deal to me. I actually like it hot. So I have completely removed the air conditioning systems from 2 of my prior cars (not Boxsters) in order to save weight.

HOWEVER... I would never do it again, for one simple reason: One day you, like me, will get caught in a downpour on a hot, muggy summer day. You won't be able to roll down your windows, lest the inside of your car gets soaked. And you will not be able to do a darn thing about the steam building up on the inside of your windshield, which will make it impossible for you to drive. So you'll be left, like I was, sitting in a parking lot in your own personal sauna until the rain ends.

Trust me, the weight savings isn't worth it.

[yelojkt]

Originally Posted by Banana S

I'm not a fan of air conditioning, as I grew up in a house without it. Suffering through 90+ degree, 100% humidity, Indiana summers is no big deal to me. I actually like it hot. So I have completely removed the air conditioning systems from 2 of my prior cars (not Boxsters) in order to save weight.

HOWEVER... I would never do it again, for one simple reason: One day you, like me, will get caught in a downpour on a hot, muggy summer day. You won't be able to roll down your windows, lest the inside of your car gets soaked. And you will not be able to do a darn thing about the steam building up on the inside of your windshield, which will make it impossible for you to drive. So you'll be left, like I was, sitting in a parking lot in your own personal sauna until the rain ends.

Trust me, the weight savings isn't worth it.

Listen to this man. He knows of what he speaks. There is a good reason that car manufacturers put AC in our cars. And unless you are building a dedicated track car you will lower lap times at the track more significantly by changing tires than by removing some weight from the car.