As a direct result of the soaring temperatures of the last few summers, the heatwaves in Europe provoked me to look for an air conditioning solution for our camper van build – not for when we are parked up, but for when we are driving.

VW did manufacture the T4 Caravelle model which came with aircon, but there are scarce few T4 vans fitted with AC in western Europe, espcially here in the UK – I guess the delivery van base of the T4 rendered it bottom of the list for such driver and passenger comforts as air conditioning. Bare in mind, not even the center vents in the T4 blow warm air – more about why in one of the videos in the series.

As original T4 air conditioning parts are now twenty years old or more, and extremely difficult to get hold of in working condition, I had to find alternative means to getting chilled in the camper van.

The solution came in the form of a kit that I purchased from a kit car parts supplier called Car Builder Solutions – I’d bought various bits from them over the years for my project cars as they have an extensive catalog.

CBS actually sell a few different Air Conditioning kits, mainly for small kit cars, but they do have a couple of AC units that pump out enough BTUs to cool a van cab to a comfortable level – basically the more BTUs you can get out of an air conditioning unit the better – the van cab will be chilled much easier and kept that way.

I chose the AIRCON3 Universal Air Conditioning Kit for £516 as it was a compact enough unit that had a pretty good output in an a powerful under-dash package delivering both Heat and Air Conditioning. So I could not only chill the van but also have warm air in winter. This unit offers manual controlled air conditioning – not automatic Climate Control – so you need to switch it on and off old school style, which is fine by us. You can also use this unit just to blow air and of course, it can be plumbed in to provide warm air in winter too – but that will come later. It’s the cold factor we are after now.

Some of the features of this AC unit by Kalori are:

Size 368mm wide x 216mm front to back, 136mm high
Heating capacity 4.3Kw (14,680 BTU)
Cooling capacity 3.5 Kw. (12,000 BTU) – plenty for a four-seat saloon, so I figured it’d be good enough for the T4 cab driver and passenger
Maximum air movement 440 cubic mtrs./hour.

Now the AC unit is the heart of the the air conditioning system, but there are also other vital ingredients to make the whole system work:

AC unit – this is the one I bought
Compressor – depending on your engine, the product code will be different so double check (7D0820805C)
Condensor Radiator (not the same as coolant radiantor) – I used this aftermarket one
Serpentine belt (V-Ribbed Belt 6PK2236)
AC bracket – Part number 074260887B
Idle deflection pulley #5 – 074145278E
Hoses – 3 different sizes available here. I bought 3m Dash 10, 3m Dash 6, and 1m Dash 8 then cut to size
Drier – came with the kit I bought
Trinary switch – came with the kit I bought
Connectors – this standalone install uses UNF/UNM threaded o-ring connectors – came with the kit I bought but I also used bulkhead adapters
Wiring – use thinwall automotive cable from an auto electrician supply store
R134 Refrigerant – once everything is installed you need to get the system gassed

Watch the series of YouTube videos on the process I went though to install AC in our camper van – I’m sure that the same could be done for any vehicle or van that needed aftermarket air conditioning – just adapt my process for your automobile.