A/C installation from scratch

[Theotherotter]

This kind of thing is eventually going to inspire me to DIY an effective AC system for my Fiat one day.

[Mike W.]

This kind of thing is eventually going to inspire me to DIY an effective AC system for my Fiat one day.

Wow, now that's ambitious!

[Theotherotter]

This kind of thing is eventually going to inspire me to DIY an effective AC system for my Fiat one day.

Wow, now that's ambitious!

It was delivered with AC! But AC in Spiders was never very good, though it was good enough to help in Atlanta summers when you had to get the top up because of rain or whatever. The system is still all there except for the compressor, special bracket and belt.

It would be relatively easy to put functioning AC back into my E12 - everything behind the firewall is still there, and I’ve talked to AC Solutions about the front half of the system - but I may or may not ever get to this. The Fiat is a lifetime car for me.

[Robert Bondi]

I knew body work was coming, but a closer look at the front end really made it clear that installation of the AC condensor really forces the issue now. On my Euro car, the upper front apron is really gone and there is some nice previous owner work on the passenger front corner....the bright orange in the corner is the spray-in expanding foam in a can that you might buy at Home Depot. This piece of sheet metal is the attach point for all the front grills and the head light buckets and it's gone enough that 2 of the 6 mount points for right front grill are gone.

This is text book example of project scope creep. I'm now doing body work instead of AC. Replacing the upper front apron requires removing both front fenders and the fenders basically force you to remove the lower rocker panel strips........now you find yourself on the front side of the back wheels!

Full front view with the destination for the new condensor. The shiny new Ron Davis all-aluminum radiator stands out amidst the iron(III) oxide carnage.


Side corner view.


Side corner close-up and the spray-in foam.


New sheet metal. I've been planning this for a long time, but was setting it aside more for the final cosmetic work. I've also got a nice pair of new Euro fenders. I''m no body work expert, so the good news is that most of this stuff is bolt-on/screw-on, except that nasty upper apron. That will require drill out of all those spot welds that remain. The Euro lower valence is least available (been checking for years), so looks like I'll be repairing that piece as another POR15 project. Fortunately, the lower valence is decent enough where I've not completely lost the edge anywhere.


Unfortunately, so much of the Euro front bumper mounting design depends on female capture structures for square nuts and square shoulder bolts. It's great when it's new, but when rusty and bound up, that capture structure gets abused and mangled when the rusty square nut inevitably starts to turn with rusty bolt. The chrome finish is fine on this bumper corner, but it's getting replaced just because of that rusty mount shown on the back side.

[528i-1981]

I can almost hear the telltale sound, upon removing trim parts, of rust rain pattering on your well-intentioned piece of under-car cardboard. A good horsehair broom is your companion when exploring previously unseen regions of an E12. It totally stinks and I feel your pain. Did your US 530 have any body issues? I know you're in TX now but is that were the car was from? My 81 was a Massachusetts car, and even though the original owner was attentive, rust is a battle. There was some previous body work done on my car that must be remedied, but nothing as DIY-tastic as spray foam.

I've seen NOS upper aprons on eBay from a seller in Greece for, iirc, about $650 before freight - which in the tariff era could be pricy. Just heads up if the carnage is complete.

I'm about to turn to some body problems and a respray after I sort out a hard hot start issue.

[Robert Bondi]

I can almost hear the telltale sound, upon removing trim parts, of rust rain pattering on your well-intentioned piece of under-car cardboard. A good horsehair broom is your companion when exploring previously unseen regions of an E12. It totally stinks and I feel your pain. Did your US 530 have any body issues? I know you're in TX now but is that were the car was from? My 81 was a Massachusetts car, and even though the original owner was attentive, rust is a battle. There was some previous body work done on my car that must be remedied, but nothing as DIY-tastic as spray foam.

I've seen NOS upper aprons on eBay from a seller in Greece for, iirc, about $650 before freight - which in the tariff era could be pricy. Just heads up if the carnage is complete.

I'm about to turn to some body problems and a respray after I sort out a hard hot start issue.

Hah. Yes! There is almost nothing worse than the sounds of rust chunks precipitating while working or tapping on something during a project. The broom or shop-vac provides temporary relief from that anxiety rush caused by the new mess. Project by project, I've been eliminating those rust regions, but there are still a few big ones to conquer.

My 530i has no body issues. My dad bought it new and it ended up in Texas within its first year. It's also spent a few years in both New Mexico and Georgia, but still no rust belt exposure.

Fortunately, I already have that new upper apron ready to go. I'm pretty close to getting into the meat of this and drilling out those spot welds.

Robert