Well, I saw one of these at a car show that took place right outside the shop where I was working on a boat. I had no idea what it was but it looked really cool (IMO) so I did some research on "rocket launcher attached to old car" and "window missile launchers" and found out that they were one of the oldest forms of automotive air conditioning. They were pretty much all after market, and not for everyone. There were a few different versions made by several companies; some had the ability to be filled with ice, some had electric fans, and some just moved air (almost useless). The main design is to have an exterior intake tube, an interior barrel that rotates as the water on it evaporates, and to cover the tube in a water holding weave - think like SOS pads or packaging material. Then you have a water reservoir for when the pad dries out. Air goes into the intake, through the water mesh and blows into the car. It's simple, and all you need to do for it to work is drive forward.
Since these cost about $300 for a rusty pile of junk on ebay, I decided to naturally make it out of junk, and want to keep the construction aspect free, but will spend some money on painting it to match the roofline and body work on the piece. They were mostly popular in the 40's and 50's but did continue into the early to mid 60's. My car is a 1968 so it's just past the point where this kind of thing would be correct at a car show, but it is removable and my car has no air conditioning, and my kids ride in it, so why not...
First I found the body. my dad's landlord donated it out of his giant "I have junk" pile.
A water shooting fire extinguisher. It was old and barely compressed anymore, but kinda shot all the water out and then proceeded to take it apart. The top nozzle just unscrewed. Then I ground the handle hook off.
I marked out the hole that needed to be cut to allow a 10" X 1 1/2" rectangular tube to be inserted. This will carry air from the cylinder into the window and the window will close on this (once its got padding on it of course). Then there will also be flanges on the rectangle to hold it in the car, but I'm not quite there yet. I only work on this if I forget to bring food at lunch, as something to do, so it's slow.
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I left a flange so that the tube could be bolted to the body, then glued later.
I took a single piece of 3/8" aluminum and measured out various "V"s to be cut to fold it into a rectangular tube that was 10" X 1.5".
I clamped the tube to the cylinder and then drilled 3/8" inch holes to mount bolts. I stacked stainless washers inside to keep the tube from compressing at all (even though I doubt the bolt would do that).
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Then once it was bolted, I ground off the remainder of the 6" bolts, and cut up the dumb piece of plastic on the end. I am going to cut that side flat, then find an old school metal desk lamp, cut off the lamp shade, and stick it inside the end, which will make a funnel at the end. I then have to figure a way to make it removable to adjust the inside parts once they go in.
This is where I'm at so far.
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And this is a general idea of what they look like:
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Today I found a metal clip lamp in the metal bin. It was perfect for the job of making the front funnel. (figuring a way to attach it in a fashion that it will be removable is for another day).
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I cut the back housing off that recesses and holds the bulb in place, then sanded the inside off so it would be ready for primer and paint later. The inside clip things for the old lamp glass look kind of cool - like parts of a turbine. Since rocket ships held roles in design when these came out I thought it would be cool. This will funnel air in the front of the canister and into the center of the revolving cylinder. It will be notched upward slightly so only the top part of a fan will be hit with air. It'll all make sense in the end.
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I decided to make the funnel a permanent mount, and then just have the back come off. Its more of an undertaking, but will hold up better.
I cut a hole in the front a little smaller than the lamp shade.
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I then sanded the edges down, and made four relief cuts to allow a slight bend, then jammed the funnel in until the body rested inside the channel that was around the funnel. It fits snug now and doesn't move in or out, but spins so I can adjust how I want the ridges to sit before it's mounted permanently and sealed.
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I found a perfect little object to become the water drum for the inside - a small stainless lamp cover for some kind of heat lamp. Once I cut some of the material out, I will wrap a mesh around it, then the cloth, then mesh to hold it on and that barrel will rotate through a water reservoir at the bottom and allow air to pass through the funnel, and through the side of the barrel, and into the car.
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Then I cut the back end of the body off to work out the opening portion and allow to install all the inner pieces. I will also seal it from the inside.
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I've always thought these things were pretty cool. it's a shame they don't really work here on account of the humidity, I'd totally be riding around with one if they did
[QUOTE=butre;41655801]I've always thought these things were pretty cool. it's a shame they don't really work here on account of the humidity, I'd totally be riding around with one if they did[/QUOTE]
Yeah that's the downside is that they only work in the Southwest or areas with low humidity. They would probably still look cool though...
I know it's more than 6 months in the making and I haven't gotten very far, but I am working on this probably about 30 minutes a week, since it's not on the front burner right now of things to complete. So far I did some more bolt locations and mounting hardware, and did some body work on it to match the lamp shade to the body of the extinguisher. Pretty close to looking like one piece. I used an eyewash emergency bowl to make the back, and am shaving that down and filling as well. It's starting to look like something.
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Test coat of some red random paint just to see where it's off... which is mostly in the back, but it's moving forward kind of.
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Now to get all the red off and get to more body work, then it's on to the brackets, then the drum system inside.
More bodywork and sanding. This time i got impatient, took a flap wheel and a angle grinder and went to town, it was fast and messy, but allows me to get to the next layer of filler and speed things up.
I'll need a bit more stainless grafted in I think, and then something to seal the entirety of the inside. I'm trying to stay with water friendly stuff - stainless, aluminum, etc. Still only working on on my lunch when I forget to bring food... oh well. No hurry now that it's winter.
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Finally found a use for my random piece of 1'x3' carbon fiber laying around from a leftover project. Aluminum reinforcement. Hell yeah.
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All sanded down
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First layer of top filler, less than paper thin so it's going well.
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Well today was the day. I got the bondo filed and sanded down, then it was time to glaze it.
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I didn't have to glaze much, then suspended, sanded some more with 320 to break the glaze down flush. It filled the minute holes and such nicely. I like suspending things like this during sanding so you don't set it down on a side that needs paint, and scratch it again. It really cuts down on the headaches.
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Then I dusted it with a white enamel primer. It said self-etching, but I wouldn't say it did a good job. I had to break a couple little scratches after it dried.
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Then after 10 minutes, sanded and recoated, then sprayed some gloss white enamel. The nozzle was dirty or something. I didn't like the outcome. I'll have to sand and recoat.
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Also gave up on bodywork of the inner window mount since it's getting wrapped with vinyl and foam anyway.
I found a sink strainer, and drilled some holes and JB welded it to the funnel inlet to try and keep some bugs out. Then I also found some oldschool gutter guard that will work good for a water block, to keep moisture from entering the cabin like a waterfall.
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I did a test fit on the car after the first coat was dry enough to handle, after the fit, I cut the crappy finish back with some 320 and reshot it with some more gloss white enamel. I'm much happier with this finish coat so far.
But here's the test fit, with a pad just rolled into the window channel.
I'm happy because it seems i will not need to rod it down to the bottom of the window channel. I should be able to make two clamps that just hold it to the window's upper door frame with plenty of clearance and strength to hold the 3 pound tube. It will look a lot better without the rods going downward also. Also, it's night-time, but you get the idea I think.
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rockets armed and ready?
[QUOTE=Most wanteD;43667985]rockets armed and ready?[/QUOTE]
A-firm
Impressive. You have done a splendid job of giving this vintage car a cool look with a cooling device. I just want to ask you one question, did you do these all by yourself or took the help from some [URL="http://www.amtekair.com/ac-service-repair/"]air conditioning service west palm beach[/URL] professionals.
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