> I bought an ' 82 Westy recently. It's just swell. It has an A/C unit on the little shelf in the back. It does not function. It blows its fuse when I put one in the proper slot when I turn the fan on. What the hell. I live in the Northwest and have little need of A/C. In the engine compartment, I found what I believe to be the compressor( pump? ) for the A/C. It has a belt that drives it. My question is.....If I don't plan to use it, can I just cut the belt. Would it improve engine performance? It also seems it would be easy to remove the unit altogether. From the helpful postings on this list, A/C seems expensive to repair and convert etc. I think I'd rather just have the shelf storage unit with the speakers and the cabinet opening. Anyway, I'd appreciate any advice on this. Maybe someone in a hotter climate area might trade me for the non-A/C cabinet unit. Thanks in advance for your help.
>
> Terry Parker
> ' 82 Westy ( " Himmelblau" )

This, being an aircooled, probably is using an aftermarket compressor.  You
can simply remove the belt, but this won't gain you any power -- the A/C
pulley has a clutch in it, so that it just spins freely unless the A/C is
on.  If you remove the compressor, you will have to also get the replacement
tin to cover the hole that the compressor will leave.  The engine will
overheat if you start sucking air in through the rather big hole it will
leave near the oil cooler.  Aircooled Vanagons are a little weak for running
an A/C anyway, so it should not make you feel bad to leave it inop.

So, removing the belt probably won't get you anything, and removing the
compressor will require more work than just yanking the silly thing.  Just
letting it sit would be fine until you have to fix one of those dropped valve
seats (sorry -- I have another of these, and I can help wanting to dig into
the folks that badmouth the waterboxers for head leaks...).

Malcolm