Classic Retrofit sells its product range to most well-known independent Porsche specialists, but we also sell direct to the public. One of the joys of working closely with private clients is that we get to follow their projects and see how our products are being used - sometimes in ways which were never envisioned - or being integrated into Porsches in a way that Porsche could not have imagined.
One such project is the 1967 Porsche 911 SWB of Scott Bartmess, currently undergoing a bare metal restoration at Rillos Restoration in Washington to the original Irish Green with several modern-day improvements. Scott’s sunroof coupe was originally built with no blower fan/airbox assembly, so installing Electrocooler was never going to be plug and play. As Scott is not shy about modifying his car to get the best results, we were delighted to think outside the box with him to achieve the first SWB electric A/C install.
“All later 911s evolved from the early cars, so we knew it would be possible to use the same basic layout as the impact bumper cars after a few modifications,” says Jonny Hart. “There are bulkhead mods to do, as the SWB cars do not have vent holes through the bulkhead to the cabin. Also, the scuttle stay has to be removed.
“The easiest way to get started with the mockup process was to send Scott a set of blower end caps, bonnet scoop and tie rods, so he could construct a dummy blower for trial fit. This was easy to post flat and then Scott could assemble at his end.”
“It takes some modification to the Electrocooler fan housing and the fresh air intake, along with some fabrication to the SWB 911’s water drop pan and fresh air inlet box. The stopper flap also has to be removed: I used a micro die grinder to do this on my car. Inside the car, we used the original vintage A/C housing (part number 901.570.504.00) on the trunk bulkhead under the dash.
“The whole install is a nice marriage of today’s tech and yesterday’s look to deliver cool air. I really appreciate Jonny’s help in sending me the parts to carry out the mockups and trial installation.”