The A/C is now installed. Although I had the compressor and dryer rebuilt, the rest of the A/C components are still vintage 1959 (50 years old) so we were crossing our fingers as to any leaks. Greg ran a preliminary test by putting on a vacuum pump and sucking it down. Several days later it was still holding vacuum. It’s not an absolute, but generally a good indication there are no leaks. As Greg advised, “vacuum certainly isn’t 250 psi of hot gas and liquid but it’s a good place to start.” He put in a dye pack in case it does leak so at least we’ll have a clue where it is.
Greg installed a few more things to get the engine working with the key again, hooked up the fuel lines, dumped in some gas and let ‘er rip. She started right up and started sucking in the freon. It took the load no problem and the gauge readings were within parameters. 195 high, 28 low, and a 44 outlet temp. The 28 was the good number to see, that meant the expansion valve was working correctly, not bad for a somewhat complex 50 year old unit! Ambient temp was only 70 but the car did noticeably lower the temp so the 44 is good.
Below are a couple shots of how the Air Conditioning Vents inside the car work. These shots were taken before the car was disassembled (note that the carpeting below the dash on the air vent tube is incorrect). This first one shows the large center vent…
Check this out…the entire vent slides out to direct air both upward and downward…pretty cool huh!
Here is the passenger side vent…
… and this one extends outward also to direct the air just where you want it!
Below is the page from the actual 1959 Buick Facts Book describing the Air Conditioning option (Click on Picture to Enlarge).
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~ Tom Sidoti
1959 Buick Electra 225 Convertible
Good Morning, my 1959 Lesabre in almost perfect original condition with two previous owners only (I am the third) has the original factory installed A/C but the fan belts do run over the compresssor.
previous owner has re-routed the belts and bypassed the A/C.
compressors seems fine . it is not seized and does not make any noise when turned by hand. all components seem to be in place!
never tried to run it.
any idea why would they do that?? what risk could i run if i tried to get it to work.
thank you for your advise and
best regards
Suhayl
Suhayl,
Sounds like you have a great car…air conditioning was rare on any Buick in 1959, and extremely rare on a LeSabre. The belts could have been taken off the compressor for any number of reasons, perhaps because of a problem, or maybe simply because it wasn’t being used and there was no need to put the extra drag on the engine. If the compressor runs free by hand it shouldn’t hurt to hook it up and see what happens, at the very least you’ll probably need a new freon charge and new dryer. Keep in mind that different freon is used today that might not be compatible with your old system.
If you haven’t already been there, please visit http://www.buick-59.com which is a forum dedicated to 1959 Buicks. You are sure to find people that have encountered every possible air conditioning problem and might have other solutions for you.
~ Tom
Dear Tom, Thanks heaps for the great article, its really great reading. I used to own in the late 90s an Invicta coupe, red with white roof, factory air con,spotlight rear view mirrors w/toggle switches,speed buzzer and lap seat belts,interior color was charcoal grey. It still had the dealer badge on the back, Demontrond Buick if I remember right from Texas and it even had safety tips cards and maps from an excursion to Mexico in the 60s. The noise of that 401 was amazing for a stock car. Hi from Australia.