jettadude
07-14-2004, 12:09 PM
Yes, you heard right folks. I got fed up with my Jet this summer that didnt have air conditioning. If you have that little fold down thing that you can get into your trunk from the back seat, and you don't have COLD A/C, then listen up! With a few supplies from the junkyard and a local hardware store, I turned my trunk into a very efficient evaporative cooler. Here is the list of parts you will need, and instructions on how to do this. I'm going to get pictures ASAP too.... Also, don't get any ideas, I have patents pending (as if it really matters) LOL...
Parts and Supplies:
1x Radiator fan and housing. I used a dual electric fan from a suburban.
1x Water resiovior. I used a 45 gallon water holder.
1x Bus Boy, or comparable plastic holder with lid
6 gauge battery lead wire.
1x Power inverter
1x 110volt submersible pump.
appropriate tubing for pump (3 feet of it)
Sheet metal or tin. Get about 5x5 foot slice of it.
small swamp cool tubing to run from resivior to pump tank.
1x Swamp cooler float. (so you don't overflow into your trunk!
1x Rivet gun and rivets (any size, really)
LOTS OF DUCT TAPE
swamp cooler padding
1x Caulk and cilicone and construction sealing foam.
1x Fuel injector rack off an old VW (4 cylinder)
INSTRUCTIONS:
What you are going to begin doing is cutting a hole in your trunk. It needs to be about 1 inch smaller than the housing of your radiator fan. I suggest you put window screen over the bottom of the fan to prevent bugs leaves etc from getting in. Cut the hole on the back of the trunk. Look under your car, and you can see where there the best place for this would be. Thee metal is not very thick, and there is nothing in the way. You be the judge. Hook the fan upto the wire lead with a toggle swich, and ground the fan to the chassis. Now your going to bend the sheet metal so that it fit's PERFECTLY into the hole that goes into the car. If it is not near perfect, air will escape, past the pad, and you won't get cool air. Remember you can always do the final sealing job with construction foam when you are done. I mounted the sheet metal to the metal part in the trunk to make it solid. What you are trying to do here is make a duct that is sealed. Running from the chassis. Then you cut a hole in the sheet metal at the back to make a square place to mount the swamp cooler pad. You are trying to fasion this sheet metal so that ALL OF THE AIR is passing over the cooler pad. You need to cut a hole in the lid of the bus boy so that the sheet metal and pad can go down inside the container. You need a lid so the water doesnt splash around in the trunk! Now, get that injector rack and mount it above the cooler pad. Hook the water hose up to it, and now you have water running down the pad! just make sure you take off the injectors, lol... You should take proper precaution to make sure that all the water is going to drip back into the bus boy container, and not down the side of the sheet metal and onto the carpet in the trunk. Mount the resivior anywhere were there is freespace. Make sure that the resivior is higher than the bus boy container. Run a tube from the bottom of the resivior (seal it properly) and run that to a float on the bus boy container (so it doesnt overflow, you idiot!) Wire up the power inverter to the battery lead, and ground it anywhere. Wire up the pump.
You get the basic idea. Let me tell you right now, THIS DOES WORK, and I have done it. It took a lot of rigging, but it's a complete success! There is only one other problem. There is black carpet like crap in the back seat that vents the trunk out. You need to cover every single hole with duct tape. Why? BECAUSE THE AIR WILL ESCAPE INTO THE CAR! It doesnt have to be perfect. You are running 2 high powered radiator fans, and most of that air is going to go past the pad, so don't worry about small air leakage. NOW, there is one other problem I encountered. I got a lot of water leakage... Not much, but it adds up... So I bought more sheet metal, and put everything under a giant drip pan. I drilled another hole in the trunk, and made it so that all the run off water driped out of the trunk and onto the road. Small leakages like this will run down your water fairly quickly. That is why I bought a 45 gallon container (HUGE... I have no trunk space left.) Another thing... After it is all done and blowing cold air, you have to take into consideration the fact that your car is going to be moving and making turns. I used 4 bottles of caulk and sealed everything up. Overall, it took me about 3 days and 60 bucks to do this. Big advantages are that you don't have to have your engine running to cool the car. Just make sure you don't run your battery dead, these big fans and inverter with a pump will run any brand new battery dead in a matter of 10-15 minutes. My future plans will be to run power switches to the dashboard, make a bigger duct and bigger pad, put a 55 gallon barrel for the resivior. Stiff sport suspension to handle all the weight. Putting nice grill over the hole. I'm actually going to see if I can't get a small swamp cooler from the department store, and replace the motor with a strong 12 volt motor.... That might actually work the best, but what is the fun in that?!
One last and for all statement. MOUNT EVERYTHING DOWN AS TIGHT AS POSSIBLE! Your crazy driving will break ****z! I think it's kinda funny that I'll be sitting at a stoplight, and I'll leave a little puddle of water where the drain off is... People wonder WTF I am doing, but I just smile and drive on. It is a real efficient system, and cools the car well, but it's just not cold enough... I need larger pads and bigger fans. I actually ended up using about 20 gallons of water in a 1 hour 45 minute driving period. So look forward to starting your day a few minutes earlier to fill up your resivior! My gas mileage droped by about 4mpg, and it is harder to stop, and acceleration is slower (with all that water) but it's well worth it!!!!!!!!!
Any questions feel free to reply to this post!
Parts and Supplies:
1x Radiator fan and housing. I used a dual electric fan from a suburban.
1x Water resiovior. I used a 45 gallon water holder.
1x Bus Boy, or comparable plastic holder with lid
6 gauge battery lead wire.
1x Power inverter
1x 110volt submersible pump.
appropriate tubing for pump (3 feet of it)
Sheet metal or tin. Get about 5x5 foot slice of it.
small swamp cool tubing to run from resivior to pump tank.
1x Swamp cooler float. (so you don't overflow into your trunk!
1x Rivet gun and rivets (any size, really)
LOTS OF DUCT TAPE
swamp cooler padding
1x Caulk and cilicone and construction sealing foam.
1x Fuel injector rack off an old VW (4 cylinder)
INSTRUCTIONS:
What you are going to begin doing is cutting a hole in your trunk. It needs to be about 1 inch smaller than the housing of your radiator fan. I suggest you put window screen over the bottom of the fan to prevent bugs leaves etc from getting in. Cut the hole on the back of the trunk. Look under your car, and you can see where there the best place for this would be. Thee metal is not very thick, and there is nothing in the way. You be the judge. Hook the fan upto the wire lead with a toggle swich, and ground the fan to the chassis. Now your going to bend the sheet metal so that it fit's PERFECTLY into the hole that goes into the car. If it is not near perfect, air will escape, past the pad, and you won't get cool air. Remember you can always do the final sealing job with construction foam when you are done. I mounted the sheet metal to the metal part in the trunk to make it solid. What you are trying to do here is make a duct that is sealed. Running from the chassis. Then you cut a hole in the sheet metal at the back to make a square place to mount the swamp cooler pad. You are trying to fasion this sheet metal so that ALL OF THE AIR is passing over the cooler pad. You need to cut a hole in the lid of the bus boy so that the sheet metal and pad can go down inside the container. You need a lid so the water doesnt splash around in the trunk! Now, get that injector rack and mount it above the cooler pad. Hook the water hose up to it, and now you have water running down the pad! just make sure you take off the injectors, lol... You should take proper precaution to make sure that all the water is going to drip back into the bus boy container, and not down the side of the sheet metal and onto the carpet in the trunk. Mount the resivior anywhere were there is freespace. Make sure that the resivior is higher than the bus boy container. Run a tube from the bottom of the resivior (seal it properly) and run that to a float on the bus boy container (so it doesnt overflow, you idiot!) Wire up the power inverter to the battery lead, and ground it anywhere. Wire up the pump.
You get the basic idea. Let me tell you right now, THIS DOES WORK, and I have done it. It took a lot of rigging, but it's a complete success! There is only one other problem. There is black carpet like crap in the back seat that vents the trunk out. You need to cover every single hole with duct tape. Why? BECAUSE THE AIR WILL ESCAPE INTO THE CAR! It doesnt have to be perfect. You are running 2 high powered radiator fans, and most of that air is going to go past the pad, so don't worry about small air leakage. NOW, there is one other problem I encountered. I got a lot of water leakage... Not much, but it adds up... So I bought more sheet metal, and put everything under a giant drip pan. I drilled another hole in the trunk, and made it so that all the run off water driped out of the trunk and onto the road. Small leakages like this will run down your water fairly quickly. That is why I bought a 45 gallon container (HUGE... I have no trunk space left.) Another thing... After it is all done and blowing cold air, you have to take into consideration the fact that your car is going to be moving and making turns. I used 4 bottles of caulk and sealed everything up. Overall, it took me about 3 days and 60 bucks to do this. Big advantages are that you don't have to have your engine running to cool the car. Just make sure you don't run your battery dead, these big fans and inverter with a pump will run any brand new battery dead in a matter of 10-15 minutes. My future plans will be to run power switches to the dashboard, make a bigger duct and bigger pad, put a 55 gallon barrel for the resivior. Stiff sport suspension to handle all the weight. Putting nice grill over the hole. I'm actually going to see if I can't get a small swamp cooler from the department store, and replace the motor with a strong 12 volt motor.... That might actually work the best, but what is the fun in that?!
One last and for all statement. MOUNT EVERYTHING DOWN AS TIGHT AS POSSIBLE! Your crazy driving will break ****z! I think it's kinda funny that I'll be sitting at a stoplight, and I'll leave a little puddle of water where the drain off is... People wonder WTF I am doing, but I just smile and drive on. It is a real efficient system, and cools the car well, but it's just not cold enough... I need larger pads and bigger fans. I actually ended up using about 20 gallons of water in a 1 hour 45 minute driving period. So look forward to starting your day a few minutes earlier to fill up your resivior! My gas mileage droped by about 4mpg, and it is harder to stop, and acceleration is slower (with all that water) but it's well worth it!!!!!!!!!
Any questions feel free to reply to this post!