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Need a little advice on what to do. I have a procharged Z06 that just lost it's AC. Turned out to be a leaky condenser, so when I put the new one in, my air filter no longer fits without wedging in the condenser. My old one was bent (done before i bought the car), and touched the filter as well but that may have been what caused my leak. So do I bend the new one enough to not touch, or use a shorter filter? All the shorter filters have considerably less surface area then my current one though.
It looks like you only need a little bit of clearance.
Maybe you could remove some material from the tabs on the sides of the condenser so that it ends up being lower once it is installed and slotted into the radiator? It looks like you only need about a half an inch of clearance. Its aluminum so you could easily cut off about 1/2 from the bottom of the 4 tabs of the condenser with a grinder or dremel.
Only other thing I can think of would be a custom radiator hold down that would allow the entire radiator/condenser assembly to tilt a little farther back toward the engine. Wouldn't need much to get the clearance you need.
It looks like you only need a little bit of clearance.
Maybe you could remove some material from the tabs on the sides of the condenser so that it ends up being lower once it is installed and slotted into the radiator? It looks like you only need about a half an inch of clearance. Its aluminum so you could easily cut off about 1/2 from the bottom of the 4 tabs of the condenser with a grinder or dremel.
Only other thing I can think of would be a custom radiator hold down that would allow the entire radiator/condenser assembly to tilt a little farther back toward the engine. Wouldn't need much to get the clearance you need.
Yeah I don't need much, I think I'm going to trim the tabs on the old one to mock it up and see if that gets me the clearance I need.
Another thing you may want to look at, if you have the air filter too far on the inlet pipe, or the inlet pipe too close to the supercharger, then you are essentially cutting down the angle in the pipe to clearance over the radiator/condenser. See how much you can extend the intake pipe with the couplers. If you can move the air filter forward 1/2 an inch or so it may give you the clearance you need. Then if the air filter gets bumped it should hit the intercooler and not the condenser.
Another thing you may want to look at, if you have the air filter too far on the inlet pipe, or the inlet pipe too close to the supercharger, then you are essentially cutting down the angle in the pipe to clearance over the radiator/condenser. See how much you can extend the intake pipe with the couplers. If you can move the air filter forward 1/2 an inch or so it may give you the clearance you need. Then if the air filter gets bumped it should hit the intercooler and not the condenser.
The air filter is as far forward as it can go, its smashed into the front of the car. I'm not hitting the intake tube, its the rear bottom portion of the filter that is touching the front of the condenser.
So I notched the tabs on the old condensor 1/2 "to test fit and I can lower it enough to get the filter to rest on top. It does still have some down pressure on it when the hood is closed.
AC condenser dilemma help please!
