by Bob Yurasits
First of all, if your car runs hot (200+) don’t even bother installing air conditioning. To make my car run cool, I installed a 4 tube 2 3/8″ thick radiator (top hose bent up slightly); full fan shroud; kept the overflow tank; installed a 14″ stainless steel flex fan (hard pitch); and blocked off horn holes. Also, I installed a 260 water pump (more vanes; the water moves faster at idle and absorbs less heat). Room is very tight as we know in the Tiger, so everything that is done must be to the bare minimum. No sloppy workmanship here. The radiator must be placed as far forward as possible. This is done by straightening the lip on the radiator opening and moving any excess material which will interfere with the radiator. Remember to place the radiator as far forward as possible because the rack must be moved forward 1/8″ by using a spacer on the mounting surface of the rack. I used a 260 water pump on my 289. My car ran hot at idle, not at driving. Pullies used are PN 3905989 Chevy 6 cyl. water pump; 2 grooves redrilled for Ford. Possibly, research could produce a V8 pulley which would bolt right on. The lower pulley is stock Ford pulley machined and welded to match the Tiger pulley. The pulley’s clearance is about 1/8″ to 3/16″ from the rack. The air pump (compressor) is a Sanyo 505 which is 6-7/8″ long, with the charge fitting on top of the purnp. The air pump is placed on the left side of the block in place of the oil mter. Use a remote oil filter under the fender which gets it out of the engine cornpartment. The air purnp brackets must be made. To do this take the air purnp and place a long rod through the pump mount holes and thread it into the left head where the oil filter bolts. Now proceed to make brackets. Mine consists of a spacer at the rear of the pump and a triangular one at the front of the pump. It goes from the pump to two bolt holes on the water pump. The adjusting bracket is a shortened Chevy generator bracket which also goes from the water pump. The condenser is from a Celica, or anything small enough to be placed in the radiator opening. I chose an aluminum condenser because it is less dense when looking through it. The condenser is placed in front of the radiator like in conventional cars. Brackets are made to go from condenser to existing radiator lugs which are not being used. Now for the dryer (receiver). I used one from a Plymouth Duster. It is very small, about 5″ tall. I placed this behind the stock water bottle on the right fender. Here again, another bracket must be made formounting. The evaporator used is also from an old 65 Plymouth (under-dash type). Mount this under the dash (hood latch handle must be relocated). I relocated mine alongside of the evaporator. Hoses run from the evaporator (both together) out of the car’s firewall under the brake servo and then over the right inner fender. One runs to the dryer, from the dryer to the condenser. and from the condenser to the pump (compressor). The other goes around the front of the condenser, out of the horn hole, to the pump. After the pump is hooked up and all hoses are attached. a fan spacer must be made. I used a stock Ford spacer and cut it down to size. Make sure your fan clears all objects, hoses, etc. Now that your fan is only 5/8″ away from your radiator, you need a full fan shroud which can be made out of fiberglass. Remember to keep your fan 1/3″ in and 2/3″ out of the shroud with 1″ gap on the diameter. Naturally, every Tiger is different, so brackets may vary and so will dimensions. But, the theory is here. My car runs very cool, around 180 to 185 degrees. It goes up slightly with the air on (190 to 195). I also installed a 160 degree thermostat.
I hope this will be of some help for you Tiger owners who would like to install air conditioning in your Tiger.