Expanding Family - I Need Help Keeping The Wagon Cool and Comfy

JesseCRXJesseCRX Council Member
in Electronics, Fueling & Air Conditioning
It's been a while since I've posted in these forums.
God I miss this old place!

Ok, so I have some great news to announce. I am getting engage very soon to a wonderful woman that I've known since I was in high school. She's going to be moving to Austin to be with me here and she has two awesome 4 year old twin daughters.

Now me being the stubborn old man that I am, I don't wanna toss my Shuttle just yet. We took a ride in it and right away I noticed that it's hard as hell to keep the wagon comfortably cool, especially in the rear part of the cabin where the kids will be riding.

I wanted to know if there is a way I can route AC to the rear section of the car through the center console or even the roof. I see a lot of the newer cars have these nice AC features and I was just curious to see if anyone had done some mods to keep their wagons cooler.

I've heard of insulating the headliner(I have no idea how or what to use or if it makes a difference).
What else can I do to help the car get colder, faster and keep it comfortable. I am running R12 but it's hella weak!
How much of a difference would tinting the windows make?(I sorta like being fishbowl but I will change it if I must).

Just brainstorming now, so any ideas or thoughts would be awesome!

Comments

  • greenteagodgreenteagod Moderator
    Tinting the windows, especially here in Texas will help a good deal. You can also get the windshield tinted which definitely helps too. The difference is pretty significant. I can feel a lot more heat where the little corner is cut out for the windshield sticker, vs the rest which is all tinted.

    Also you don't have to get it blacked out to achieve a good amount of heat blocking, another benefit is keeping your interior nicer since you're blocking out a bunch of UV.

    For the roof, blocking out heat there definitely helps as well, and also cuts down on road noise. You can go with a dynamat type liner or they make more insulative foam, that's backed with aluminum as well, either work.

    For AC in the rear, while I've not done it myself, I'd consider rerouting the floor vents since they're already back there. We don't need the heat much down here so losing the heat rising in the back wouldn't be such a problem. But getting the cold air up higher so it flows down, especially with the young ones would be a much better solution. That would also let you keep the center console unmolested and if needed you can just point the vents back there.

    My method for the ducting would be to work with some foam to build a channel and then molding fiberglass around that to set up new ducting. That way you could contour it around under the carpet and not have it be totally obtrusive. I'd also put some liner underneath the new ducting to help keep any heat soak from the road down, every little bit helps.

    Hit me up if needed, I have the interior mostly out of my car right now so it might be easier to visualize that way.

    If you ever do toss that Shuttle, let me know first =D I can't find a damn passenger side fender mirror to save my life, and I have two drivers sides. Meh!
  • JesseCRXJesseCRX Council Member
    greenteagod wrote: »
    For AC in the rear, while I've not done it myself, I'd consider rerouting the floor vents since they're already back there.

    Already back there?? The wagon has floor vents in the rear?? Or did I misunderstand? lol!
  • greenteagodgreenteagod Moderator
    Mine does, not sure if the 4WD version didn't or not, I think it should though, but yeah they route out along the driveline tunnel and then out under the driver and passenger seat. Check under the seats see what you have there.
  • JesseCRXJesseCRX Council Member
    greenteagod wrote: »
    Mine does, not sure if the 4WD version didn't or not, I think it should though, but yeah they route out along the driveline tunnel and then out under the driver and passenger seat. Check under the seats see what you have there.


    Will do!
    Gee, I never thought they would have been engineered like that. Hope they are there.
    Are you running R134a?
  • JesseCRXJesseCRX Council Member
    Also, what kind of insulation are you referring to for the roof? Do you use a certain type of adhesive that's resistant to heat?
    While I have it off I midas whale get the roof liner reupholstered.
  • MrJayDMMrJayDM Wagonist
    I just read this yesterday, I think I'm going to used this too
    MrWhoopee wrote: »
    I used adhesive backed sound deadening foam with reflective mylar on one side from McMaster-Carr for the roof.http://www.mcmaster.com/#5692t63/=xixgtk Comes in 54 in width, very easy to apply. Took about an hour to do the roof once the headliner was out and the roof supports re-attached.
  • greenteagodgreenteagod Moderator
    Yeah, that stuff right there from mcmaster carr is a good buy for the price. At 54" wide you'll get some off cuts that you can use to insulate elsewhere. The thinner stuff like dynamat works as well but with that foamy stuff it's not going to be as dense as the heavier mats can sag if you don't get them pressed firmly in place. Also since the foam is such a light weight material you could potentially do a double layer of it and fully take up the gap above the headliner.

    I am running R134a but I'm in the process of redoing the AC myself. Mine is running the craptastic Matsushita compressor, so I'm putting a Sanden unit in there. Full flush, evaporator cleaning, and replacing the expansion valve while I'm at it.

    That might be another thing to check, if you're still at full charge on the R12 it should be getting decently cold. Caveats to that would be the compressor you're running. You can check that based on the location of the hoses, if you can't see the label on it. That and this many years in if the evaporator has never be cleaned sometimes it can get all dusty and mucked up so you might want to give that a gander as well.
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