'53 F-100 AC PROB.. CONDENSER TOO FAT

[jniolon]

Hi guys.. I'm John and I live in the 48-56 forum... I'm building a '53 and have incorporated a major blunder in the build. The truck is 3/4 finished with frame painted and 9/10s of body work done. I'm using a Fairlane tilt hood.. I'm using a custom alum. radiator in front of a 460 with puller fan and condenser for A/C mounted on front of radiator. Since the air deflector is part of the hood we had to fab up radiator mounts.. much like drag car mounts with stubs welded to frame cross member and radiator mounted to tubes that slide over stubs. When we fabbed up the radiator mounts we fitted it close to the engine but the hood wasn't in place... (see where I'm going ??) Remounted hood and the air deflector hits the condenser. I can gain a little room here and there but I'm afraid not enough...which will mean moving engine back... cutting out mounts and transmount and it's all pretty and painted... I'm wondering about remove condensers w/fan... I can probably find room under cab or bed... but wondering how efficient they are and if I'll get adequate cooling from the a/c... anyone got any experience with remotes and can give me the 411 ??? problems, advantages (if any)... other solutions... If I can't find the extra room it's gonna be a major setback in this project... so I'm looking for miracle solutions.. thanks John

[critterf1]

Condenser needs to be in "direct" airflow or will cause "high" head pressures. You should be able to figure out some way to make it fit.

[hhott71]

Are you using an aftermarket comdenser? I know some can be as thick as OEM models at about 1.5" thick and others as thin as newer OEM stuff at about 0.75" thick.

The 3/4" thick models are as thin as they get. There are many sizes available, 14x20, 13x 24, etc

[jniolon]

Here's what I've got... it's the thinner one... and it's spaced about 3/4" in front of the radiator... I can squeeze a little there maybe... gonna get the engine back soon and I'll know how bad my blunder really was...

john