After getting the carburetors sorted on the black 365GTC/4, I was asked to take a look at the air conditioning system. I had some good guidance from my friend Scott McClure on the the Dino A/C, but my next challenge was to see what hurtles I would have to overcome with a C/4!

My biggest concern was how difficult it would be to access the evaporator parts hidden behind the dash. As bad as this photo looks, I found I didn’t have to remove the whole center console to reach the fittings I would need to disconnect so new A/C hoses could be installed.

The A/C hoses ran through the firewall on this car, and were found under an insulating wrap. This particular system seemed to be in pretty good shape, and I decided to leave the evaporator in place and change out the rest of the system. It was a calculated risk, but I felt the main failure points of this system laid elsewhere. The plan was to remove the old hoses and expansion valve. Flush out the old evaporator with cleaning solvent, install new custom hoses with the proper flare fittings that would mate to the old evaporator fittings. Run new A/C barrier hose and install modern o-ring fittings on the other end of these new hoses to mate up with the new components I would install in the engine compartment.

The compressor in this car looked in good shape, but still had the old R-12 fittings. Replacing the compressor with an identical newer unit with more environmentally friendly coolant and modern fittings would help with repairs in the future, not top mention any A/C shop would be able to handle the modern compatible parts.

When I removed the old A/C compressor, I found my first problem that was not so obvious during my first inspection. The bearing in the A/C compressor clutch was seized, so it was forcing the compressor to be engaged all the time! Who knew how long this going on, but it was not good. Having the compressor engaged all the time meant refrigerant was always circulating through this system while the engine was running. Worse yet, if the system was empty, how much lubricating oil was in the system? These compressors rely on lubrication oil in the system to keep the compressor functioning. The safety switch is designed to disengage the clutch and stop the compressor from spinning when it’s low on refrigerant but with a seized bearing, this was not happening. Luckily, the old compressor was still working, but replacing this compressor was prudent.

The clutch coil was also showing some age as the resin that sealed the coil was cracking. I would imagine moisture would eventually find its way into the coil and cause issues. A new one was on its way to me.

With the new compressor in hand I started transferring the mounting studs from the old unit to the new one. Since the compressor is American made, the fittings were SAE, but the hardware that went on the Ferrari side were metric, so these custom studs had to be transferred.