355 challenge aircon ?

No offense, but why buy a challenge car ? Sounds like you would be happier with a GTB.

 

Hey Erik how are ya?
To the OP, You would not only have to add the compresor back but also add the AC condenser it was located on the left side in front of the water rad. in the engine compartment(there is an engine oil cooler in its place). The gearbox oil cooler is located in the frt bumper area on the left side, opposite area as the battery. The AC lines that ran to the HVAC system were then used to move the gear lube to the cooler and back and to the gearbox. You would have to reconfigure the whole system(gearbox cooler, oil cooler etc), believe me ferrari spent a lot of time re-engineering the 355 for the track it doesn't make sense undo all that work. Stop being a girl and drive the car on a cool day
As Erik said you might be happier with a GTB.

 

+1

The F355Ch will require a lot of reconfiguration to make it into a Berlinetta with a Challenge badge. It's easier to make a Berlinetta into a "Challenge lite" if that's the use case you're after.

For racing in warm climates, I installed a coolsuit system into my F355Ch, along with a blower for the helmet. It's great for those hot track days.

 

There was a local CH turned back to a street car with the A/C reinstalled. There was a radiator, cooler and a condensor sandwitched 3 deep in the fender. It wa snot an elegant solution and I am with Nizam. Start with a GTB or get a cool suit.

 

it may be they were discussing cars that were not built at the factory and had the AC unit in place still, although that seems odd since you need to use the AC piping for the gear box oil cooler update added in '98. The '95 cars were what I would call kit cars, the factory offered a complete set of parts to convert a road car to challenge specs so it could be possible to leave the AC in place on the '95 cars because the factory wouldn't have any control on what an individual may or may not do and the gearbox update cooler wasn't used yet. The factory started in '96 to build euro CH spec cars, the cars for the US started in '97. There is a parts book that will show you all of the parts used on a CH, it will amaze you how many there are. You could actually convert any year 355 to a challenge car by purchasing this package of parts.
Of course you should consider your source of information....you know... The French only use half of the alphabet and mispronounce the other half, hahaha come on I am just kidding!!

 

And after WW2 their cars were all 6 speeds ( 1 forward and 5 reverse )

 

Open windows on hot days work fine when the car is moving. The booster fan helps when the car is stationary.

Consider reinstalling the heater core. It will be welcome on cool days.

Barry

 

Also btw, in the sort of temperature levels where a/c would be most valuable, the standard Challenge engine cooling is not adequate to run a/c as well.