F4Gary

In a t-top C3 with the windows down, there is not airflow below your nipples. Your feet will roast. Anyone that doesn't use a/c in N. Texas is a cheap bastard or likes to boast. I drove my 78 with a broken a/c belt from Slidell to Cocoa Beach in July of 78 and it was miserable. Selma to big D in my truck in the summer a few years ago with a bad a/c compressor...miserable.

sweeet76

I actually run my Vintage Air A/C with the tops off. You can still feel the cold air coming out of the lower dash and when at a stop light, I can feel it coming from all of the vents. I know I'm a weakling but still cool.

Little Mouse

i drove a mack 4 yrs no A/C in arkansas with more humidity then Texas. Then I drove a rig 17 yrs in north texas 16 hour days with no A/C both of these trucks had no power steering much less a/c. The other truck my driver drove had a good A/C system and power steering. One day it quit I spent around 4 hours fixing it after 16 hours driving so he would have A/C for the next days work. Never once in the yrs he worked for me was he without a/c or power steering. When i was hard up one time i bought a truck all i could get at the time the power steering did not work no money to fix it. If you think a car with power steering not working would be not good try driving a truck with 10,000 lbs on the front axle for a yr without the power steering working. I guess people before A/C came about were just in a terrible fix lol. Its easy to see why terrorist view us as a weak and soft people.

I ordered a new 1973 vette 454 with no a/c living in little rock at the time kept it 18 months. Sold it bought a 66 vert with nothing on it no power anything. None of it was because i was cheap i pulled the engine out of the 73 with only 4,000 miles on it changed everything not enough power.

To the OP just leave out very early around 3:00am get all your driving in early in the cool. If your going to fix your a/c take ajrothm advice and scrap the factory a/c.

7t9l82

i had a clear heat reflective film applied to my windshield and glass tops along with tint on the other windows,i cannot overstate how much that ceramic film on the windshield cuts the heat out of the car, its in the 90's today and i rolled down the highway with just the drivers window down and it wasn't bad. still its nice to have the a/c.

7T1vette

{....weinies.....}

I have A/C in this '71. I "required" it when I bought the car, living in Phoenix, AZ (where it stays above 100*F till after MIDNIGHT!! for 100 days straight in the summer; Hi daily temps from 110-117 EVERY STINKING DAY!!).

I moved to TN and haven't used it since 2007....

sweeet76

That's me, old weenie.

Little Mouse

I drove the motorcycle to work last three winters it gets 52 mpg in town or hwy. After the second yr decided to break down and get a full face helmet to keep the wind chill off my face. Come to think about it i may be a cheap a-s

Phil Zell

Knads, all you need, get them polished up and go for it. Little Mouse has the idea.

PeteZO6

In this day and age, we tend to forget that A/C, power steering, power windows, etc., weren't always available. In the 30s, 40s, and 50s people,drove all over this country without those aids. Heck, they crossed the the country in covered wagons without air conditioning, they didn't even know what it was!
Driving on the highway with the windows down was the norm on hot days.
Like others have said, start early and stop early so you avoid the hottest part of the day. Wear cool clothing and drink plenty of water.
Go for it and have fun!

Pete

Phalanx_vette

Ever put a hair dryer on full blast and point it in your face?
That's what it's like to drive down the Highway in Phoenix with the windows down in the summer.

I like my A/C. I may be a weenie, but it's damn hot here.

7t9l82

the hottest place I've ever been is nashville Tenn in august, all that heat and humidity trapped between mountain ranges, you can have that. i know Arizona and Nevada are bad but ill take either over Nashville

sweeet76

There are a lot of people that don't know how hot 95* with a 90 to 100% humidity really is.