My 67 Dart has dealer installed air conditioning. I know that the condenser and all the parts weigh a great deal but is it possible to gain a few extra horsepower by removing the drive belt for it? If so how many? It also has power steering. Would removing those two belts give me any more noticable horsepower? The air conditioning is not charged so it's no big deal to lose that. But I do enjoy the power steering! Are these changes worth the time and effort?

Losing any kind of parasitic drain will increase HP, but I'm not sure how much. I took the a/c off of a Scamp that I had, and it made a noticeable difference.

I added AC to my car and saw no noticeable difference when it's turned off . There is a big difference when it's on. You can buy a switch that will automatically turn it off when you are at WOT.
Bob D

When it's off, it saps about 5-8% HP max, so not a big deal.

Lou

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Home of Slant6-powered fun machines since 1988

That sounds about right.

I'd just take the air-conditioning system. It will give you less weight which equals more speed. Just shutting off the air-conditioner won't do much and if you don't use it then taking it out will give you the best gains. I did it on my 73 Dodge Dart and, though I like the speed, the ability for ease of maintanance is wonderful. I had to replace the motor mount inserts and though one side was super tough to get out, the other side took about two minutes. Either way, if your engine's like mine (I don't think the slant 6 changed very much over time), then taking out the ac should be a fairly easy 2 hour task. The hardest part for me was taking off the cooler that is in front of the radiator and (at least on my car) located under the metal shelf with the hood lock assembly. I've been running my car for a year now on this so, though I give no guarantees, it shouldn't hurt the running of the car. Just be carefull what you take, it would be bad to remove something not related to the ac.

Losing the A/C woudl help, like the guys said not a great deal.. but how I see it every little bit helps... it something turning over that never gets used... why not get rid of it? I did this on my 77 Volare becuz the belt needed to be replaced so I got a belt for a car with no A/C but had power steering... if your gonna get rid of your power steering you should get a manual box.... I dont know you have ever driven a car that lose power on the steering, but it is a bitch to a steer, like twice as hard as manaul firm feel....

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Mike C
http://cuda.iclownz.com
67 - Barracuda Coupe - 225 - Automatic

I would get rid of the AC, but power steering is nice wherever you live. An open window won't fix the loss of power steering either . I've driven a power steering car without power steering, and it wasn't fun. I'm sorta a little guy(5'8), and I have to use a lot of strenght to move the wheel. This comes from someones who has a lot of strength(for a skinny 5'8 guy). Either way, I'd suggest leaving power steering. If you do, get the manual gearbox. If you don't you'll probably be sticking the power steering belt back in right away.

On a stock manual steering car, about the only time you notice the lack of power steering is at real slow speeds, or when parking. My '66 Dart has 'muscle steer', and I intend to leave it that way. Less of a headache, and less parasitic drag.

That only is relevant to a stock manual car though, in a power steering car this is not the case. I guess the best way to get a feel is to take the belt off then drive it around the block. If you don't mind the feel, that's great, if it's too much, put the belt back on and consider a change to a manual steering system. As Auto Trans said, stock manual steering is only hard at low speeds. I'm not sure, but I think it actually gives you better gas milleage in a manual steering system too, not sure though. I would ask someone more knowledgeable than myself.

My advice would be to not drive a vehicle that has power steering without the belt. I'm approx. 6'1"/220lbs...I had an old Ford p.o.s. truck and the pwr steering belt snapped. It's a constant battle with the wheel especially over bumps and pot-holes. A manual steering box would be the way to go because of the difference in the gear ratios within the box itself. Good luck with it!

-Don

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Forget the flowmasters...here come the good ol' GLASSPACKS!!!