Quote:
MrPushbutton wrote:
Does anyone in this esteemed group own a '55-'56 Packard with a functional Lehigh air conditioning system?
I know that the stunning '56 Patrician that Robert Fordyce restored in the early 2000s was running, but I can't say I have known a lot of people with cars having this system in service.
My thought these days is that the Classic air system, with the Sanden compressor and Mark V style box on the trans hump for the evaporator core and fan is probably a good way to go if you start with a (more plentiful) non-AC equipped car.
I have ridden in several V8 Packards over the years with functioning factory air conditioning systems. I had two that functioned and one that didn't courtesy of a broken fitting at the base of the firewall.
And yes, I've seen Lehigh compressors on all manner of commercial refrigerated equipment and cases. A very sturdy piece...at least for its day.
As for the reason Packard didn't stick with Frigidaire, this was simple. Jim Nance knew that rear air systems were absurdly inefficient and he wanted cutting edge stuff only on the new Packards. A nice as Cadillacs were at the time, the rear air system with vents mounted blowing forward over the rear seat (even and especially in the convertible) were ridiculous.
Everything about the new V8 Packards was moving to cutting edge technology and state-of-the-art. Frigidaire was hanging onto a system that could be adapted to a bunch of different cars and sold in a fairly standardized package. For instance even the Frigidaire brochure was almost the same for Oldsmobile as it was for Packard. That strategy just didn't pan out for what Packard wanted and frankly, for what the industry ultimately wanted. Only a theater-format (front-to-rear) air system was logical for optimum cooling and for the future.
When Packard's V8 factory air system was working, it was magnificent and yes, was fully capable of allowing a modern mix system in the system of cool and hot air... much like systems that followed decades later and even today.
As for having one functioning today, the nature of factory air-ANY factory air unit-not just Packard is that the older they get, the less likely they are functioning. Seals go, valves go and charges go. Eventually many people driving these cars give up and quit servicing them.
Of course to have one of the V8 Packard factory air units functioning today there are other matters aside from parts. For instance using R-134 rather than R-12 freon and other possible issues.
I have installed several V8 factory air units in Packards that did not orgiinally have them and I would not hesitate to install another. As long as one can find the proper parts, this is a very bullet-proof system. And remember, while little Japanese Sanden units may work, they were never designed and engineered to do the kind of duty required to pump a comparatively huge Packard V-8 factory air conditioning system.
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