1990-1995 ZR-1 AC Condensers

[XfireZ51]

Thanks Jeff. I went ahead and picked up a used condenser from Jason at V2V yesterday. Perhaps u could try to recall what mods were required in order to make the // condenser fit. The one I bought had no provision for the oil cooler mounting as an example. I could handle that but the connector lengths and angles were just not going to work.

[-=Jeff=-]

Dom,

What year is the condenser out of? would you mind posting pictures of the ends? looking at your old one, it might be Parallel flow. I know the 90 OEM was Tube and fin and not sure what year they fully switched the corvette to R134a.. the Parallel flow is why some of the 'newer"/ cars that are converted are a bit more efficient

[XfireZ51]

Jeff,

Here is a pic of what the condenser that I just pciked up from V2V. Jason said this is a 90-93 condenser but not certain which of those years

[-=Jeff=-]

looking at it on both ends, I would say it is parallel flow, so a later version

[XfireZ51]

Originally Posted by -=Jeff=-

looking at it on both ends, I would say it is parallel flow, so a later version

Is that anything like the cross flow rads they started using in the LT1/4 motors?
I'll see if I can get a part# off it or my old one to better ID it.

[-=Jeff=-]

Originally Posted by XfireZ51

Is that anything like the cross flow rads they started using in the LT1/4 motors?
I'll see if I can get a part# off it or my old one to better ID it.

not sure I remember how the cross flow radiator worked

[XfireZ51]

Here’s why a 94 AC condenser is different than 90-93.

1. Its thicker and appears to be made of aluminum, likely due to reduced effciency of 134a
2. The oil cooler does not mount onto it as it does 90-93 condenser (see pic)

NOTE on condensers. Altho they may have same part # as any other 90-93 condenser, some have a smaller diameter low side connection. My Low side AC line would NOT work with one of the condensers I picked up from V2V.
I returned that one and Jason and I looked into the rest of his inventory. And we found what Jason thought were 90-93 condensers but nearly half of them had the smaller diameter orifice for the low side. Pic is below. Note the smaller orifice on the condenser behind the Autozone condenser.

[WVZR-1]

Originally Posted by XfireZ51

Here’s why a 94 AC condenser is different than 90-93.

1. Its thicker and appears to be made of aluminum, likely due to reduced effciency of 134a
2. The oil cooler does not mount onto it as it does 90-93 condenser (see pic)

NOTE on condensers. Altho they may have same part # as any other 90-93 condenser, some have a smaller diameter low side connection. My Low side AC line would NOT work with one of the condensers I picked up from V2V.
I returned that one and Jason and I looked into the rest of his inventory. And we found what Jason thought were 90-93 condensers but nearly half of them had the smaller diameter orifice for the low side. Pic is below. Note the smaller orifice on the condenser behind the Autozone condenser.

So the snapshot in #23 is of the "1st bad guess" by Jason?

I've no idea what Jason had in his inventory to sort but '90 - '93 condensers all share the same threaded specifications. Jason was 'guessing' as to his inventory applications - half of his pile just weren't '90 - '93 condensers. There was an SPO part # change very early in '92 but without having the 2 side by side I don't believe you could speculate physical differences differences. Inlet and outlet ports would have shared the same thread specifications.

You're correct that the oil coolers are different on '94 & '95 cars but that's 'by design'.

The 'reason why' '94 is different is because of the 134a changeover by design. An 'engineering' thing.

I've never been concerned enough to see if there's actually stamped ID on a condenser but it's reasonable to assume there likely is.

[XfireZ51]

WV,

When I posted this, I was hoping u would provide some further insight. We checked the condensers including the one I removed from my ZR. No part# appears to be stamped on it. I’m including a compare pic of my original condenser alongside the AutoZone sourced one. U can see the difference in the angles of the connections.

[WVZR-1]

Originally Posted by XfireZ51

WV,

When I posted this, I was hoping u would provide some further insight. We checked the condensers including the one I removed from my ZR. No part# appears to be stamped on it. I’m including a compare pic of my original condenser alongside the AutoZone sourced one. U can see the difference in the angles of the connections.

That's not a very effective way to attempt comparisons. You've got them 'front to back' stacked. You can't effectively compare the profiles. You would need to lay them on their 'face' and with measuring devices do comparisons. I don't doubt that there's likely a difference but is it a 'tolerance ' that can be accommodated? I'd think so. Could I be wrong? FOR SURE!

I had buyers guide (paper) at one time that I relied heavily upon for some stuff. I don't have them still and the only definitive difference that one vendor notes in there guide is that their last offering for the applications was '90 - '93 6mm serpentine, '94+ is parallel and I believe that nearly all (if not all) GM 134a productions were parallel.

I do believe that if a '94+ was checked there would be 'notches' in the HEX to the condenser and assorted AC components. That would ID them as being Metric vs an SAE thread spec which I'm quite sure yours is.

I serviced a very large fleet that used all OEM - the GM offering didn't fit and required a considerable 'force fit' and they weren't happy. I bought after-market that fit and after that it was the only source I used for that condenser application. That was the only thing that fleet bought that wasn't OEM if available. Filters aside.