Hi all! My AC is a gonner. I could spend money to fix it and charge it, but I rarely use the AC and would rather go faster than worry about a sweat stain on the back of my shirt.

That being the case, I found the AC airpump pulley thing at Mid America and the other aftermarket places. You rip off the AC pump, put this on, and supposedly get extra horsepower and a faster revving engine. Does anyone have real world experience with this? Does it really work? I thought as long as the AC wasn't actually on and engaged that there was not much drag on the engine anyway.

Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Mike ('87)

supposedly get extra horsepower and a faster revving engine.

Maybe and no.
The A/c is not stopping the engine from reving.

Your A/C pulley doesn't really drag your engine down all that much, because the weight of the pulley isn't more than a pound or so. I think you'd be much better off keeping your A/C compressor on for the increased resale value of your car down the road. I doubt the pulley would pull more than 1-2 horsepower at 5000 rpm. There are much better ways to gain more horsepower.

Your A/C pulley doesn't really drag your engine down all that much, because the weight of the pulley isn't more than a pound or so. I think you'd be much better off keeping your A/C compressor on for the increased resale value of your car down the road. I doubt the pulley would pull more than 1-2 horsepower at 5000 rpm. There are much better ways to gain more horsepower.

Like an air foil, they claim 10 hp:pigsfly: but I think it was tested to get about 1 hp at 5000 rpm:woowoo:

Makes engine bay pretty and easy to work on:thumbsup:

http://i171.photobucket.com/albums/u309/vetteoz/Image1.jpg

Hi all! My AC is a gonner. I could spend money to fix it and charge it, but I rarely use the AC and would rather go faster than worry about a sweat stain on the back of my shirt.

That being the case, I found the AC airpump pulley thing at Mid America and the other aftermarket places. You rip off the AC pump, put this on, and supposedly get extra horsepower and a faster revving engine. Does anyone have real world experience with this? Does it really work? I thought as long as the AC wasn't actually on and engaged that there was not much drag on the engine anyway.

Any ideas or thoughts would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks!
Mike ('87)
once upon a time, sports cars didn't have air conditioning (or electric lifts or cruise control, for that matter);

the more creature comforts obviously designed for the expansion to a softer (read feminine) market you can live without the better;

in the case of your AC, while it is a primitive type compared to the modern units and thus i suspect draws down somewhat more than 1-2HP, you only need to heft the unit one time to recognise the dead weight you can do without on any sports car;

if you live in a state what allows it the next boat anchor you might replace with a pulley system is your AIR, better known as the poor man's supercharger;

next, dispense with boat anchor no. 3, the spare and its attendant pieces;

oh, and do ditch the unneeded AC plumbing and condensor, sell them on EBay and clean all the 20+ year old leaves your are going to find in the gap created and the cradle your radiator sits in;

in one afternoon's work you've shed apptoaching 100lbs of the albatross of all sports cars, unsprung weight;

added to the parasitic loss you've recovered via your pulley systems, there is not much more you can do cheaply (save shaving down the airbox and getting a K&N filter) to make your baby run like Madonna through a church;

wouldn't you be a lot faster were you a bit lighter and not hampered by 10-15lbs, an extra pair of shoes and a carrying case?

That's funny, because I was going to open up a whole new thread asking about weight. I've added all the bolt-ons I can find (aka afford), I was going to ask about shedding weight. I'm torn on fixing the AC, but agree getting rid of it may just be the best idea. Not sure what the AIR system is, but if I can drop it and save weight, I'm for it. The tire - I'm really torn on that one... I've never needed a spare in the Vette, but I know the day I remove it I'll run over a 2x4 with nails hammered into it. :-) I'm willing to take that chance.

Thanks!
Mike

I'm torn on fixing the AC, but agree getting rid of it may just be the best idea.

If you plan on getting rid of A/c for good , do the mod in my post above.
Get to remove the compressor and mounting bracket as well as the air pump and don't need a delete pulley to replace compressor. Makes for a clean , easy to work on engine bay
A std water pump and new belt are cheaper than the air pump eliminator alone. :thumbsup: