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[Megadoomer]

My aftermarket A/C is recirc only too. I rarely use it for a heater being in San Diego but when i use A/C the inlets are right above the tranny hump. The same part of the truck that also goes by the name of "Volcano". It seems like it is counter productive for cooling the cabin. i had aspirations of ducting up to the cowl and possibly being able to switch from recirc. I have lots of aspirations, but i usually just lay under the beast and day dream.

BTW LOL @ "sweat like Pamela Anderson in a spelling contest"

 

[PabloCruise]

Thank you!
Feels good to be out putting miles on instead working on it.


That's the plan!!!.... Thank you.





Small update on the Restomod heat A/C unit, by design this unit is a recirculation only system and by not allowing fresh air inside the car, the "old," warm, moist air stays inside longer; when it hits a cool glass surface of your window, your windshield and side glass fogs. I will say that the windshield defrost okay but everything behind the driver is a no go.



I’m looking into some anti-fog wax like Cat crap now, Cat Crap - EK USA



Let you know what I find but for now I have to keep a side window cracked to let outside air in.

Just to be clear, you are fogging, even with AC running, correct?

FYI - I tried the cat crap on swim goggles (fogging can be a bear when swimming) and was not impressed.

 

[J Mack]

Just to be clear, you are fogging, even with AC running, correct?

Yes, once they start to fog it's not possible to move enough air to get them to clear hot or cold, When you run our Restomod system all the way on defrost it will cycle the A/C pump to attempt to dry the air but I believe the volume of our 55 cabs is too much for the unit to dry on it's own.

FYI - I tried the cat crap on swim goggles (fogging can be a bear when swimming) and was not impressed.

I just bought four containers of the Crap from the Hippie store so we'll see if it works better on a 55 than swim goggles!

 

[PabloCruise]

Looks like you got a better price from the hippies than the local ski hill was charging...

 

[Ferntucky]

It’s not all bad, the A/C works very well and I have no issue with the recirculation only system especially when driving off road in dusty conditions.

The heater will get the cab hot enough to make you sweat like Pamela Anderson in a spelling contest, the defroster worked okay until it started raining then no combination of hot or cool air could keep up unless you rolled down a window and it got really bad after we got out of the pig in the rain then got back in with damp clothes.

I don’t know of any station wagon’s from this Era that didn’t fog up in these conditions so it’s not a surprise but I wanted to note it so the guys with the Restomod systems can possibly put more thought into their defrost system than I did.

There is another company called McNett that makes a pretty good anti-fogging product (at least for ski goggles).

And yeah, from what I understand Pam did not do so well in English; I think all she ever got were Ds.....

 

[PabloCruise]

I think Pam made the courageous decision to focus on her modeling career, although regrettably, she would have to put her dreams of spelling champion on the shelf...

 

[scrapdaddy]

J Mack,

What about a small heater/ defroster fan, like this...Amazon.com: Peak PKC0J5 12-Volt Heater/Defroster/Fan: Automotive

EDIT... seems they don't get good reviews, maybe with your interweb powers you could find us a good one.

 

[J Mack]

J Mack,

What about a small heater/ defroster fan,

Ron,

That unit can only move the air in the cab, if it’s already moist air than no it won’t help.


Our Restomod units do a better job heating the 55 cab probably magnifying the issue but I believe our issue is going to come down to the volume of the cab, we only have vents in the very front and our units can only dry so much air to begin with combined with the fact that Toyota designed the doors to just let the water pass through and drain out the bottoms, I added wipers to the outsides but water still gets passed and will always condensate in the doors adding more moisture than our units can deal with. I’m going to add better moister barriers to the door panels and I believe that will help but in heavy rain I’m still getting moisture in various locations from unknown source.

No barrier is going fix our door issues entirely and 55’s are not known for being water tight to begin with but we need to find a way to keep the moisture out if we want heat the cabs to a comfortable level when its cold and wet outside and not fog out all the windows.

 

[Napster]

I think fresh air is where it's at! Why not get some? It seems like all you issues are because all you have is recirc so why not fix the problem? Like you said, it might be fine until it rains, you get wet, and then get back in the rig. So you can either fog up the cab or find some fresh air. I hope this does not come across like I'm telling you what to do, but I really think it is the only real solution and I know you have the fab skills as well as the trick s*** finding skills necessary to make it happen. The only other thing I can think of is moving to San Diego which might be cheaper...

 

[J Mack]

I think fresh air is where it's at! Why not get some? It seems like all you issues are because all you have is recirc so why not fix the problem?

The recirculation only system works very well if you minimize the amount of moisture getting into the cab and up to this point I’m not sure that’s a realistic option for a pig.
I believe the issue is twofold and I’ll add some quotes from an article I’ve read to save myself some typing.

“When it is very humid out and a bit on the cool side, condensation can form on the inside surface of the windshield. This is because it is always more humid inside the car than outside, thanks to the fact that human occupants emit humidity via perspiration and respiration (breathing). In the small confines of an automobile, especially with a lot of passengers, the relative humidity inside can quickly reach 100%. If it is cooler outdoors -- even only a few degrees -- then the inside surface of the windshield will be cooler than the inside air and condensation will form.
Heat, as provided by a conventional defroster, won't do a lot for clearing this condensation. Heat lowers the relative humidity of the air, but as long as the glass remains cool there will still be condensation forming. To halt the condensation, the heat must be applied long enough to heat the glass itself above the dew point of the interior air. Unfortunately, by the time the glass has been heated that much, the interior of the car has been heated a lot, and the passengers are sweating like pigs! Hence, the humidity inside the car is rising rapidly, maintaining a relative humidity of nearly 100% as the temperature rises. Eventually the occupants are cooked and the windshield is still misting up.”

“A better solution is to turn the A/C on. Heat does nothing for the total amount of moisture in the air; it merely lowers the relative humidity by increasing the capacity of the air to hold moisture. A/C, on the other hand, actually does remove moisture from the air, draining it as condensate out the bottom of the car. In general, you want to get the evaporator coil of the A/C system as cold as possible without ice forming on it so that moisture condenses on it in great quantities. Then this moisture drains off and out the bottom of the car, leaving the air much drier. This will help prevent moisture from condensing on the inside of the windshield.Unfortunately, the air still has a relative humidity near 100%, because getting it drier also made it colder. To begin with, the windshield started to clear up because the air coming out the vents was now colder than the glass, so the glass appears to be warm and condensate will no longer form and will actually start to dry up. The occupants, meanwhile, have chattering teeth. And eventually, another nasty problem comes along: The cold air eventually cools the glass enough that condensation begins to form on the outside. You have to turn your wipers on to keep it clear.”

“The solution is obvious you must turn on both the heat and the A/C at the same time. It works like this: the air goes through the A/C evaporator first, cooling it to perhaps 45ºF (7ºC) and draining a lot of moisture out the bottom of the car. Then the air goes through the heater coil, heating it back up -- and lowering the relative humidity greatly.”

The Restomod system will do this but will not keep up unless we find a way to reduce the amount of moisture entering the vehicle to begin with. Rolling down the window not only reduces the cab humidity but also drops the temperature reducing the relative humidity and helps clear the windows but at the expense of a cold cab. I’ve gone through a lot of trouble to seal up all the holes in the cab of this pig to eliminate all the drafts and leaks and thought the wipers on the side windows would do a better job of keeping the water out of the doors but with the amount water entering in this area I’ve built a mobile Turkish bath house when it’s cold and rainy.

The second issue is the side and back glass, most modern cars the size of a pigs are typically fitted with electric resistive strips embedded in the glass to help with the defrost/demist and I’m not sure anything will solve this issue short of adding resistive strips or moving to San Diego!

I hope this does not come across like I'm telling you what to do, but I really think it is the only real solution and I know you have the fab skills as well as the trick s*** finding skills necessary to make it happen. The only other thing I can think of is moving to San Diego which might be cheaper...

I certainly welcome all conversation and hope I’m not coming off like a know it all, I am posting what I find or think I know to see if someone finds fault and can point me in the right direction. My hope is with the help of the Mudd knowledge base we can make these pigs more drivable in all conditions..

 

[Megadoomer]

Moving to San Diego isn't the end all fix. There is still 6 or 7 days that are cold and/or wet a year.

I once left a hot mug of coffee on my dash and it steamed up the center of the windshield. I didn't have anything to wipe it so I let it dry on it own as I drove. A year later that portion of the windshield did not fog up on cold days. Something to consider, or market for someone less lazy than me.

 

[J Mack]

FYI: for you Restomod guys I know it sounds like I’m bitching about the system not working, that’s not the case in fact it works very well for heat/cooling and does a much better job at defrosting/demisting than my old factory system but unfortunately it’s just not big enough to keep up with the amount moisture the interior of the pig attracts.

 

[scrapdaddy]

So, other options might be another unit in the rear or would simply fans work, forcing warm air to the back.

 

[Napster]

Moder cars the size of pigs would also have rear ac/heat units. Just get another system They would also have vents that went to the rear of the car. I bet you could figure out a way to add the little heating elements to your windows. The tailgate would be a challenge though.

 

[J Mack]

Yes another large unit would go a long way at drying the air in the rear but I don’t know that it’s necessary for the heat/cool, the Restomod unit is really doing a good job controlling the temps. The day we were out for a joy ride putting miles on the new gears it was rainy and 36 headed to snow and 34 and it was after several hours of driving with the cab temps between 70/75 before the glass fogged to the point we needed to start wiping the glass to see.

So the question would be is a second unit worth the extra $$$ & time just for clear glass?

 

[scrapdaddy]

So the question would be is a second unit worth the extra $$$ & time just for clear glass

I quit asking those type of questions several years ago. Now where can we mount the second unit!

 

[DieselFJ]

I didn't even know these existed until I started researching because of this thread. Don't know if it is even a viable option, just thought it was interesting. If it works I could use one in my 40.

Car Dehumidifier Reviews.

 

[J Mack]

I quit asking those type of questions several years ago. Now where can we mount the second unit!

Not sure where you would put it but I would look at something like this if I were thinking about it.
Classic Auto Air - Air Conditioning & Heating for 70’s & Older Cars & Trucks.

 

[J Mack]

Car Dehumidifier Reviews.

I didn't even know these existed until this thread. Don't know if it is even a viable option, just thought it was interesting. If it works I could use one in my 40.

That's a cool idea, I'll have to dig a bit deeper to see whats out there that could be mounted in the back of a pig.

Thanks

 

[npulver]

I realize this doesn't truly solve the situation and potentially causes another. But as a temporary solution, why not rainX the inside of the window? Did this a lot in NC when I found out my firebird defrost couldn't keep up with the humidity as well. Instead of the window fogging the moisture beads up and rolls down.