308QV AC blows COLD

Steven the important part of that was at night During the day it will be a mouse blowing on a ice cube. What was your temp at the vent I never could get mine lower than 38 degrees but that was with 134

 

Mine works excellent also 83 QV

 

The ac on any Ferrari I have ever owned or driven has always blown cold air. The problem has always been that Ferrari has always used substandard fans that just don't produce enough air volume to keep the car cool on a sunny day here in the sunbelt...especially with the steep sloping windscreen. Also,Ferrari didn't put enough vents in their cars to keep the entire cabin cool, especially with no vents on the sides of the dash near the doors. My Boxer blows very cold air, it just doesn't blow a lot of very cold air.

 

Mine, (1977 carb 308) was recently converted to R134a and it will freeze my a$$ off at night. However, on a hot sunny day, it's nowhere near that cool inside. Nonetheless, it keeps it pretty comfortable. I think a lof of the people who complain about the 308 A/C are dealing with a system that is not operating anywhere near ideally because it needs a charge.

 

try a dodge viper on a 100 degree afternoon, i could only wish i had my 348!

john

 

I spent a lot of time getting my 308s A/C system to cool like I wanted. Now even in 95F southern days it works and keeps me cool. I installed a rotary compressor, larger drier, new hoses, high speed fans for the condenser/rad. (did this when I first got my car but it helped), fluid flush, etc. Now I am comfortable. My QV with the stock system isn't near as comfortable. Believe me I went through the system thoroughly and I am still disappointed by the stock system. My main complaint now is the frost on the windshield from the middle vent.

 

Do you have any part #'s for this mod? I am strongly considering doing a major system upgrade on mine. The cooling capacity, air volume I guess, is not enough. My guess is that the air volume needs to double for this system to be adequate, right now, at the most, if the ambient air is 80 degrees, the AC will be enough, but only if the car hasn't been sitting out in the sun too long, otherwise, the AC will have a difficult time getting the heat out of the interior. I am wondering if I could upgrade to a larger condenser(near radiator) and/or the drier. I already have two 12 inch hayden fans that have helped cooling alot, already refoamed the radiator and surrounding areas to prevent cool air from bypassing the radiator and condensor. I am running R-12 on a 75 308GT4.

Also wondering if the evaporator(that sits within the dash) needs to be enlarged or upgraded. The AC system on my 88 BMW 535I is the best in the world IMO, it is way way more than enough. Just want my 308 to be half of the BMW's system.

 

Don I to have a gt4 74model.Does your A/C blow only from the top or do you have the two rectangular slotted vents in the centre console?I know the later FERRARI badged cars have this.I don't have this on mine.I only depend on the air coming from the three vent on the dash(A/C mainly comes out of the centre vent though)But I have made a modification to the duct layout.I made a 4 way air distributor and have disconnected the ducts from the vents that serve the feet area and have connected duct from the 4 way distributor to those vents.So now I have cold air coming from the top as well as the bottom.The 4 way distributor is made out of 4" pvc Y pipe that looks like a Y with a extra pipe coming from the centre of the V section.To explain it better in referring to the diagram#Disconnect duct 16 from vent 15.Connect 4" duct from A/C blower to A.Connect 4" duct from 23 to C.Connect 4" duct from 15 Left hand side to B.Connect 4" duct from 15 Right hand side to D.Again this mod. will only suit if you dont have the vents in the centre console.This has improved air flow,but would still like to get a more powerful fan.s. this is all hidden under the cover under the front bonnet so visually you cannot tell that this has been modified and if you open the heater vaves and turn on the fan you still get a bit of heat coming out when the slider is in the middle.
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Maurice, thanks a ton! I do not have the two rectangular slotted vents. I wished I did. I wonder if getting parts for that would be alot of money or not.

This 4 way distributor is a brilliant idea! Did you fabricate this distributor yourself? It is made out of regular PVC tubing? I can make one pretty easily then if it is.

 

Don yes the 4 way distributor is made out of regular 4" pvc pipe.The way I made it was with a 4" 'T' piece (that you can buy at your local hardware store or plumbers supplies) and just added an extra bit of 4" pipe cut into the top so it looks like a cross.The thing that I did was to put a small piece of sheetmetal in the shape of a V to help deflect the air evenly.The other way of doing it is get a straight piece of 4" pvc pipe and cut two holes on either side of it and get two other shorter bits of pipe and fit them into the sides at an angle so you end up with a 3 way prong.I hope the diagrams help explain what I mean.Sorry for the poor drawing not mutch of a sketch artist and drew it with the mouse.PS: when and if you decide to fabricate make it as small as possible as you will find out that you dont have alot of room under that cover.Mine just fits.You will also need to get some flexible 4" duct.If you cant find it there is a place here in australia that makes it.If you need I can find out their Web address.Hope this helps.Pss: GT4,s RULE!
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Maurice, again, many thanks for the priceless helpful info. I just got off the phone with an old F-car mechanic---he also told me that the evaporator on the GT4 could use some retrofitting. He is selling a larger evaporator for $500 parts only and told me that the retro is not that labor intensive. I will be paying him a visit to further investigate this setup along with your setup, my AC problems should be no longer. I mentioned your solution and he still insisted that more airflow will be required with running two additional vents counting the 3 dash vents. stay tuned.