Integrating Air Conditioning with the Original Defender Dashboard

Adding AC to an Original OEM Dashboard

Outside, the summer sun beats down on your Defender, which is delightfully cool on the inside.

At least, this is the ideal scenario!

However, as any Defender owner knows, the older Land Rovers were never designed for Air-Con and their poor thermal efficiency means that the interiors often become heat boxes in the summer.

The traditional way to retrofit AC to a Defender was to add an underslung dashboard unit. This gives you an internal AC system but retains the separate heater box mounted in the engine bay. In this arrangement, the air conditioner is unable to dry out any air that enters the cabin via the heater box. Hot moist air condenses in the cabin area, the screen fogs up and the interior feels damp.

That's why, when developing our own integrated AC system for the Defender, we didn't want to just manufacture another underslung unit that places the AC and heater elements in two separate places. We wanted to combine heat and AC into one unit, running everything on one set of controls.

You can retain your original Defender dashboard with minimal alterations required and zero loss of legroom. There are two ways to do this, one is to simply retain the OEM dashboard as it is and just change how the controls and vents are operated. The other way is to add a MUD style dash console and integrate new controls into that instead, alongside some extra facial vents.

Advantages

✔ Combination AC/Heater core giving year round climate control
✔ Quieter operation and no loss of legroom as all parts are in the engine bay
✔ Unique design allows the driver to dehumidify the cabin air
✔ Recirculating air provides compounded heat, even on the coldest days
✔ Smooth ‘Factory Fit’ integration with your existing Dashboard
✔ Wide choice of vehicle-specific mounting kits
✔ Fast and easy installation

Download the 319 HVAC Installation Instructions