Has anyone ever swapped a V8 and saved the air conditioning?

The Chevy V8 is sitting on the mounts and is stuffed as far back as it will fit. The engine has a long pump and serpentine belt accessories, which I'd also like to keep. There's enough room for a radiator but an electric fan will have to sit behind the grill in place of the AC condenser.

I really want to keep the air conditioning.

If I reform the firewall around the distributor enough that the cylinder heads become the limiting factor (or go with an LT1), it still doesn't look like it will buy enough space to put the fan behind the radiator or fit a belt fan.

Has anyone successfully done this before?

 

I ask some fun questions, don't I...

I will figure this out, and I'll post the outcome with photos when it's done.

 

If you go with the LT1, you can put the fan where it belongs and keep the AC. You need a slim 16" electric fan and I bought the brackets from Street & Performance.

 

Nice. Does it stay cool? Would that have worked with the factory engine brackets?

I formed a pocket into the firewall last night for the distributor so the block now sits as far back as an LT1 would fit. Still has that water pump pulley in the front, though. At the very least, there is now a lot more room to work with than before.

The plan at the moment is to use a Summit aluminum 22"x19" radiator, trim the sheet metal so the AC condensor can move in a little closer to the engine, and then mount a fan or two in front. Need to make sure the grill will still fit.

 

I made my own motor mounts and moved the cross-member to fit. Can you go with a short water pump and keep the serpentine belt? I would check on that option. It would give you the room you need for the A/C and room for the fan also. I used a V6 auto radiator and the original LT1 pressure tank.

 

The long pump is required for the GM serpentine belt setup. I like the reliability of the stock belt drive, and the more OEM parts the local smog police see under the hood, the less trouble they'll give me.

Wonder if I can use a belt fan? All this work to carve out 3 or 4 inches for a high dollar electric fan. Why wouldn't a low profile belt driven fan fit in the same space? That would solve a lot of problems.

Hmm...

 

I am in the middle of this same problem right now on a 85 4runner with chevy small block. So far the cheapest route I have found is a sep. kit from www.alangrovecomponents.com It uses the corvette short water pump reverse roatation which is within an 1/8" from the old shorty pumps from the 60's Looks like you could also still use an engine driven fan without clutch and not have too hack anything on the yota

 

I still haven't figured this one out. With a long pump and GM serpentine belt accessory drive, the choices are:

Radiator in stock location, electric fan in front of radiator = No A/C

Move radiator forward in grill, electric or belt fan behind radiator = No A/C

And I've modified the firewall for the distributor and moved the block back as far as the valve covers will allow. Even then, it's tight up front.

A short pump setup would help a lot.

I'm contemplating building a small freon-to-water intercooler under the hood, then plumbing it into a mini-radiator under the bed. Hey, it might work?