Alfetta GTV A/C questions

[drubie@macquarie.com.au (David Rubie)]

I just got my retro-fitted A/C unit gassed up and it works
beautifully.  Nice cold air, just in time for the end of
Summer down here in Sydney :-)

(part of a major set of work on this car, new engine too).

However, I have a couple of questions to people who have
the A/C system as fitted from the factory:

1) I am having trouble tracking down a fan speed resistor.
   I was originally planning to just use the maximum speed
   until I found one
   but it was so damn noisy (and breezy :-) that I cobbled
   up another speed using a spare ballast resistor I had
   lying around.  I checked first that it allowed the fan
   to go at a reasonable speed (it is about the same speed
   now as the original 2 speed fan from the plain heater).
   Is the original resistor common to another make of car?
   I'm actually pretty happy with just having two speeds.
   I can get the ballast resistor pretty much anywhere,
   I'm just hoping that nothing internal is being damaged
   by using it (it's mounted in the engine bay).

2) The lights on the unit (when the headlights are on) are
   pretty feeble, but do dim correctly when the dimmer is
   turned up and down.  I noticed after I had wired the unit
   up that the American "Sprint Veloce" (closest wiring diagram
   I could get in the Haynes manual) runs a wire directly from the
   dimmer to the A/C
   unit, rather than attaching to the "round the houses" wires
   of the instrument illumination (which is where I tapped in).
   Are the lights supposed to be really dim? (The gradations
   around the fan speed and the "DEF" indicator are the only
   things that seem to light up).  Being pretty naive about
   electronics, I was wondering whether the direct connection
   method would yield more current to the bulb and hence give
   a brighter light.  It's not a huge problem, but you can
   only see the lights when it's pretty dark outside.


I had the unit upgraded to R134a and it is pretty cold (had to
get a new condensor and filter/dryer).  The whole exercise turned
out to be fairly pricey but it sure makes the car more comfortable.
I guess I'll get used to those relays clicking on and off, but the
first time it happened I started to worry that something was catching
fire :-)

dave.