was ac available on 69 corvette 427 eng 435 hp with tri power
trying to find out what options were available this car does not have ac but the heater controls shows ac selector
the production date was sept 1968 it was the 834th car made
Oh yeah. It did. Also as a dealer option was a 45 RPM record player. Yes a 12 - volt record player.
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wow! what a car! why do you care about AC? that engine was not meant to be a "cruiser"- I would think that anyone who ordered that engine back then would not care squat about getting AC with it- or having an automatic, for that matter- the question should be- "was any one ever assembled with AC?" my guess: no
If this was the L-88 or track preprepared car, the answer is NO. If the car has vent controls, it was not ordered with A/C. If there are no vent controls, is has had A/C. Someone may of raced it or wanted the 15 more HP the compressor took, and removed it.
FOR YRS I WAS UNDER THE IMPRESSION THAT ANY SOLID LIFTER CHEVY ENGINE IN THE 60S COULD NOT HAVE A/C! THE OTHER DAY A GUY TOLD ME HE ORDERED A 69 VETTE 435 HP W/ AC AND TURBO 400 TRANS . HE ALSO SAID THAT HIS WAS ONLY 1 OF 4 MADE LIKE THAT ! HE SAID HE HAD THE DOCS WHEN HE SOLD IT FOR 82gs !! HE SOUNDED BELIEVABLE !!!
It was not the solid lifter engine that prevented the A/C from being placed in the cars, it was the fact the solid lifters was a power built engine and the A/C took away usable HP. The LT-1 small block Corvettes came with A/C and the engine was a solid lifter.
The reason that you couldn't order AC with the 435 hp option was because the 6500 rpm redline of the engine was prone to throw the fan belt off the AC compressor.
RJZ1, Oh not so my friend. My 1969 Corvette 350/350 had a red line of 6500 RPM and it came with A/C. The reason the A/C was left off that engine was it was designed to be a street monster, putting out the max HP and the A/C not only added weight, but it also sucked HP away from the rear wheels. If memory also serves me correct, that engine did not offer power windows and maybe no radio also, and only a manual four speed tranny was offered. This was not the L-88 engine either. That engine was set up as a race car track repaired. Over the years, Chevy did not offer A/C on the big block high HP engines for that reason. If you wanted A/C, you simply got a different engine. At least that is what Road and Track, Car and Driver, and other car magazines said, including the Corvette magazine put out by Chevy at the time. The sales people at Chevy also said the same thing. Granted, the belts back then were not like todays belts, and did throw belts at high RPMs, but the distance from flywheel to A/C pump was a long distance with no tensioner available. Also, the A/C back then had the high-pressure lines from the A/C pump going directly straight out the back and the heat from the exhaust pipes melted holes in the pipe until a few years later, GM put a 45 degree angle on the hose leaving the pump. I went through so many hoses my first year, GM told me I could not get anymore replacements. I went several years w/o A/C in So. Cal. That was a hot time. Remember, big HP was a new thought back then, and the parts industry was not keeping up with high output parts, so there was a lot of repairs needed.
Good point! I forgot all about those pesky high reving small blocks. I'm the owner of a 69 435hp coupe. You mentioned power robbing accessories, mine was ordered without power steering! Side note, it also was purchased with power windows.
A/C was not available on the solid lifter engines(big block or small block) I believe. However, the 427/390(4 barrel carb) and 427/400(tri-power) were hydraulic lifter engines and a/c was optional.
