A/C Pulley recessed back 1/8 inch

[kowalj04]

The car we acquired a year and a half ago did not have a belt on for the air conditioning. The previous owner who only had the car a few years told me that he bought it that way himself, and never bothered to put a belt on. I went to put one on yesterday and upon my initial visual inspection I determined why there was no belt on currently. The A/C pulley is recessed farther back and misaligned with the water pump and crank pulleys. Everything seems stock based on looking at other 1960 thunderbird engine compartment pictures online. There is one exception though, and that is I have not seen another painted black compressor before on a 1960 Thunderbird. I'm leaning towards this being the wrong compressor. The Ford sticker over the black paint reads Part # COAE 2875C2, Serial # Y196502. I'm thinking this compressor is for another model and slightly different, is there a catalog in existence which breaks down 60's "C" part numbers for compressors by application? I will upload pictures in the near future.

[jopizz]

Most of the compressors are the same depending on the manufacturer. It's the clutch and pulley that are different from car model to car model. Here is info from the Ford parts book that may help. There is a part number on the clutch/pulley itself. You will need to find that to figure out what pulley you have. The '60 stock pulley should have a part number of B8AA-2981-A. It is type 2A on the chart.

John

ford ac clutch a.jpg ford ac clutch b.jpg

[Pat in Ma]

Jim,

Here's a picture, not great, of my a/c compressor on my 59. I can try to get another from the front
or belt angle if you need it.

[kowalj04]

Thanks John and Pat. I don't live where the car is, although I'm taking it to a car show tomorrow. I plan to look at it and compare it to the attachments/pictures above that John provided at that time.

If anyone from this page is from western N.Y. and sees this comment, reminder that the annual "Caz" car show is tomorrow. It is every May and in Cazenovia Park, South Buffalo.

https://m.facebook.com/thecazcarshow/

[Pat in Ma]

Hi Jim,

I went out and took three quick pictures of the front of my a/c unit. I think it's original but I don't see a tag on it
anywhere. The only numbers are white on the front edge of the pulley, 4H1 or something like that. My belt is a
little off since I didn't use a belt tension tool to keep things aligned properly.
Hope these help a little.

[kowalj04]

As an update, attached are my pictures of the believed incorrect clutch and pulley. Thank you for the comparison pictures Pat. It seems you have a 4B pulley and the lowest clutch pictured on the chart John gave. It works, so it is nice to know that one could be an option. I noticed that our compressor cases are different. Thank you John for telling me which is the correct part. I appear to have the middle clutch pictured and a pulley which is not even on the chart that you provided. Do you think that the pulley I have pictured is a non-1960? I may try to pull the pieces off of the compressor tomorrow or Thursday and then assess my options. It's going to be a busy week as my daily driver bird (a 96') needs some attention too before the trip to Carlisle for Ford Nationals later this week.

[jopizz]

That pulley doesn't look like anything I've seen before. You might want to contact Carl Heller (partsetal) to see if he has the correct one. I assume he's going to Carlisle also.

John

[partsetal]

Jim's A/C clutch pictured in Post # 6 is identical to this one which is on one of my '60 352 cars. I've also examined one that has been removed and there are no markings on it so I can't say whether it is or not the correct one for the '60 32.
Clutch1.jpg Clutch2.jpg

[jopizz]

That's interesting. The ones I've had look closer to the one that Pat has. I wonder if a spacer can be put on the shaft to push it out farther to line up with the other pulleys.

John

[partsetal]

The one that Pat shows is similar but not identical to the one on my '60 430. Not sure if it is correct either. There is a major difference in the ones shown by Pat & Jim in that Pat's has an external brush that energizes the rotating coil, where as Jim's has a fixed coil that is attached to the compressor and when energized, engages the clutch. The crankshaft end of the compressor that fits into the clutch is a tapered fit and would not be compatible with a shim. It would be simpler to shim the mounting bracket forward.
Carl

[kowalj04]

I just found great relief in seeing Carl has a car with the same clutch/pulley/compressor (with case grooves) setup. Even his water pump pulley matches, which was another concern of mine. I will shim the mounting bracket tomorrow if my other projects already on the agenda are completed without complication.

Thanks for the invaluable information!

[jopizz]

Carl,

Good point about shimming the bracket. That's the way to go.

John

[kowalj04]

I'm finally getting around to doing this repair/adjustment. It was put back on the priority list since the fuel pump diaphragm is starting to go bad on the car. I pulled off the a.c. compressor, pulled one bracket bolt, and picked up some washers. I am going to finish removing and shimming the bracket tomorrow when I swap the fuel pump. When I got the compressor off, I eyeballed the compressor bracket to see if it looked bent. It seems perfect, which leaves me thinking it was off another Ford.

Does anyone know if a part number is stamped on the a.c. compressor bracket? If so, what the number should be for a 1960 Thunderbird (352)?

[YellowRose]

Jim, I went through this AC Compressor mounting bracket with one of our previous members several years ago. He was adding the aftermarket Classic Auto Air Perfect Fit AC system to his 1960 430 Squarebird and needed the AC Mounting Bracket that bolts to the engine body that allows you then to mount the AC Compressor on it. It was nearly impossible to find a used one but after some time of searching all over the country, I came up with 2 of them, one off a Lincoln of that period and another off a Tbird, or other Ford with AC. On the side of your mounting bracket, IF it looks like the ones in the pix I am about to post, you should find the Part # stamped into it. I gather you have not taken it off yet, and when you do, you might see one of these two part #'s stamped in it. My problem is, I do not remember which is from the Lincoln and which is off the Ford. The second pic is EDJ-2882-B-YorkCompressorMountingBracket.jp. I did find a picture of another one which I was told came off the Lincoln. It was B9ME-2882-A or B. I think the last pic, XE-48002 was off a Lincoln. I would probably have to find that Thread on the Forum to find more of the details. Does your AC Compressor mounting bracket look like one of these?

[jopizz]

It should have a part number stamped underneath. It could be B8A-2882-A or it could be C0AE-2882-A or C0SE-2882-A. The same brackets were sometimes used on Full size Fords and were not always Thunderbird only. If you find a number let us know what it is and we can narrow it down.

John