Well Begun IS NOT Half Done

The saying, "well begun is half done" was posited by a hard-working fellow lost in time. But many Porsches come to us with "half done" jobs. A half done job on my recently acquired 82 Targa was the A/C delete.

In reality, the job was 10% done. The compressor and evaporator were removed from the engine compartment, Oh, you can also add in the compressor belt.

So, I had the task of removing all the other parts listed in the four above diagrams. That is a lot of stuff. I have, I am not afraid to admit it, smallish hands. But even my diminutive mitts got scared and scraped digging into the smuggler's box and recesses of the engine compartment.

So, a "half done" job on your Porsche is not great to leave as is. It is not something to stand idly by and abide. If you work on those stuttering jobs in fits and starts, that is OK. You are in great company. I remind myself of Gaudi's Sagrada Church, still not done. But they are working on it....

And, if you sell a car with a "half done" job. Shame on you.

A/C Delete Finally, Finally Complete

Finally the Rapunzel's hair-sized rats nest of wires and devices and hoses that is the air conditioning system in a 944 has been removed. The shot above shows all the contents that are hidden behind the passenger dash. Out of sight, adding weight silently. Like an extra chocolate bar a day, the weight sneaks up on you.

Good thing I did just hack out all the wires because I wanted to keep my heat in tact for defrosting my windows on early race mornings. There is a ground and relay that need to be kept for the heating system to function. But careful following of wires will allow you to remove the entire A/C wiring harness from behind the center console to the under dash connections.

Next I'll be installing some new brake lines and bleeding the clutch and brakes. Because right now both of them are softer than Ron Jeremy before his dose of, as the French say, le weekender.

A/C Delete Not Totally Complete

The nooks and crannies of a 944 hide more parts than the nooks and crannies of an English Muffin hide butter. I thought I took all the stuff for the A/C out but there seems to be a passle of stuff left under the passenger dash.

Can I take all this stuff out? Will I mess up some of the regular heating system which I want to keep? Who knows? Find out soon...

A/C Delete Complete, Bonus Euro Bumper Depth Mod

After three days, and a total of 9 hours the A/C delete is complete. Thanks to the tech article on the spec 944 website I was able to create this super cheap bracket. I was wandering around the pick and pull yard looking for a suitable bracket and found a plain on on a mid-eighties Volvo. I kept looking though and found this toothed-washer bolt and bracket combo on a 91 VW Jetta. It works like a dream and really holds the alternator in place.

The picture above was taken from beneath the car and really shows how simple this is. The write up keeps talking about the 'top' alternator bolt, but the writer obviously meant the bottom one. Also, to get the belt tension right I had to use a pry bar between the alternator and the big bracket the alt is bolted to. The 5pk860 belt fit perfectly. I also had to twist the hose that goes to my radiator overflow tank so the alternator did not rub on it. Simple, but a big mess if you over look this.

Since it was 50 degrees in Denver today and being outside was so nice I also did the euro bumper mod. This was as easy as taking a 9/64 bit and drilling into the bumper supports, this way, the bumper can be pushed back to euro depth after it is installed. I did have an old towel that I held over the drill while I did the job because it does erupt with some force. It also made clean up very easy. In the above photo you can see how much deep the bumper is. I'd guess around 4".

Off to finish decorating my Buche de Noel cake. If it does not come out terrible I'll post a pick. Heck, making this cake was almost as complicated as the above work. Maybe more complicated.

A/C Delete.

You've no idea how much wiring, plumbing and other mechanical bits are involved with a car's air conditioning system until you go about removing one.

There is, on my 944, the condensor, evaporator, extra blower, miles of wire. 12 feet of metal and thick rubber hosing, controls, etc. What a mess. There is even a whole passel of stuff behind the passenger side dash that will be staying put.

And every bit of this cold air making machinery is very, very well installed. Heck, I had to jack up the car and cut through the lines with a sawzall to make the pieces manageable.

But, the benefits outweight the sweat equity. Without a condensor, the radiator gets much better air flow. There are the weight savings of course. And most importantly, maybe a free HP or two with the removal of the compressor and its associated drag on the belt.

Porsche has a very nice A/C delete bracket. It is $160. I will be going this route. For a total of $22 including new belt.

And, contrary to what others have mentioned, I needed to undo almost the entire front valance to a point so that I could pry it outwards enough to let the condensor drop.

Bonus removal - Power antennae. You know, this thing weight 2.5lbs. High up on the car no less.