1953 Cadillac Series 62 Coupe with Factory Air Conditioning Part 2

Описание: There were a couple of things I meant to mention during the tutorial--the factory air-conditioned cars had a six-bladed radiator fan instead of the four-bladed one. Also, the '53s were furnished with an auxiliary fan belt to be installed during winter months to idle the compressor since it wasn't considered a good idea to force an air-conditioning system to keep running during below 45 degree temperatures, even if the freon was bypassing the compressor. As these cars aged, I'm sure this troublesome project was not attended to and even tho' these are tremendouly tough compressors, the fact that they turn whenever the motor is running probably doomed many of them to short life spans as the miles piled up. The compressors in '54 had a solenoid mounted on top of the compressor which connected to an external clutch. By 1955, the clutch was integrated into the pulley and the compressors would gradually evolve into the familiar A-6 unit sometime in the early 60's--arguably the best and most reliable AC compressor ever developed.

This is the first year post-war that air-conditioning was available in Cadillacs, as well as Buicks and Oldses. There is a remote possibility of AC being available in the 1941 models--I have seen vintage technical literature that shows a cut-away view of a '41 fastback with an AC system in it. Whether or not any left the factory, or if they did if any exist would be pure speculation--they would be tremendously scarce in any case. I have seen factory air units in many 1940 Packards and have seen a post card showing an AC unit in a '42 DeSoto--an auto publication reprinted a vintage classified ad from the mid-40's for a Chrysler or DeSoto with AC, so at least one must have made it out the door. It's clear that if WW II had not have happened, auto AC would have become quite common by the early 50's.