Onboard air or onboard welder

[Joel Wilson]

As usual, one thing leads to another. I have pretty much fixed the oil leak on the driver's side intake manifold which was the largest oil leak. I drove a bit more and have noticed another leak on the driver's side valve cover. Not much, but it's there. Unfortunately, to fix this means removing the factory AC compressor which weighs a good amount. I have a soft top so running the AC is not a real priority, plus I need to replace all the seals in the AC system anyways and recharge the system and from what I've read, I need to make some upgrades if I want the AC to effectively cool the Jimmy anyways. And I need to keep the AC bracket for the power steering. Currently running an original R12 compressor.

So what I'm thinking is lose the air conditioning and put onboard air or an onboard welder alternator setup. Not sure if I can convert my R12 compressor over to just an air compressor. Just wondering what my options are.

 

[Blue85]

Theoretically any A/C compressor can become an air compressor, but lubrication can be difficult. If you build something to separate oil from the outlet and feed it back to a sump/inlet, it can happily pump tons of air. The reason the Yorks are so popular for this is the built-in oiling. Plus, you can get brackets and fittings to put them in almost anything.

Now if you want both a welder and onboard air, put the welder on the belt and do an electric compressor.

 

[HankScorpio]

I believe the Premier onboard welder is set up to replace your existing alternator which would still leave room for an air compressor.