I am looking to remove the air conditioning system out of my car (ap1). The actual process of removing the components isnt my difficulty as i have the mechanical knowledge to do this. However, I want to make sure i wont encounter any problems along the way. Is there anybody out there who has done this before that could give me a few pointers/let me know what to look out for. Also i would like to keep my heater/defroster, is this possible? Thanks for any help.

 

Air conditioning 'system' is rather vague. Are you going to remove any of the interior HVAC controls/fan? Or are you just going to plug the AC lines at the firewall?

If you are just going to plug the lines at the firewall, it is rather simple. Only two thing you need are:

1.) Have a mechanic shop evacuate the refrigerant in the lines. Even though S2000's use R134 (CFC free) it is still illegal to evacuate to atmosphere.

2.) Get a shorter belt. You keep heater (it is a separate unit). You keep the defroster vents and fan, but you lose the ability to run AC air through them. Your defroster will work still, but not as effective.

 

Thanks for the reply RWD. Sorry for the vagueness but yes i am going to just plug it at the firewall and leave all other HVAC controls alone. Anything else to watch out for?

 

If you are looking for an opportunity... with the front bumper off to get to the condenser and evaporator... you can always do a nice install of an AEM intake!

Other than that... try to keep everything pretty. If you ever go to sell the car, you will want to put that stuff back in. No AC in this car kills the resale. You would think because of a convertible no one would care...

Good idea leaving the HVAC stuff inside the car alone. It is only a few pounds. 90% of the weight is the engine bay stuff of the AC system (compressor, condenser, evaporator, lines...)

 

How do I remove the part inside the car that looks like a condenser? I forget what the part is called, the a/c lines from the engine bay attatch to it. On older FWD hondas that piece is easily removeable from the heater box, after that just plug the holes and reinstall the empty box. Can this be done on the s2000? Also how do I unhook the a/c lines at the firewall? My car is an 04 if that makes any difference.

 

The biggest thing is to get the system drained by a shop that does a/c work, don't try to drain it yourself.

Here's my a/c removal how-to: http://robrobinette.com/S2000RemoveAC.htm

 

that article was very helpfull robrob. thank you. im still trying to figure out how to remove the stuff under the dash but keep the heater functional because i use my s for the street and track, ill probably also want to reinstall the a/c if i move to a warmer climate so keeping it intact would be better. would you possibly be able to do an article on how to remove the interior a/c stuff?

 

Hi guys

As I currently have the car stripped down and engine out I have decided to also loose the AC.

I'm in the process of doing this and have removed the AC condenser, rad and canister without issue. I DON'T want to loose the heater exchange (I live in England!) my only question is, have you guys simply cut the metal AC lines going back into the fire wall?

If so what did you cut and plug them with?

Not sure I like the idea of cutting the metal lines as I can't see how i could re-install the AC system in the future if required?

Help appreciated!