I am an old retiree living near Palm Springs, California. For folks not familiar with our area, it's 120 miles (200KM) east of Los Angeles in the SoCal low desert. Summers are very very hot, 120F (50C) is not uncommon; winter is nice with day time temp of 70F or so. I would like to get a second car, probably a XK150 coupe for weekly events, and monthly outing to Los Angeles. A few questions to help with my purchase:

1. For our climate, an AC would be very welcome. Would adding an AC be a bad idea to a 60+ years old car that wasn't designed for AC?
2. How to upgrade the cooling system to handle our hot climate and the addition of AC?
3. Anyone tried adding an oil cooler?
4. Anything else that may aid the monthly 250 miles trip to LA?

Any input is welcome, and thanking you in advance.

 

Will there be space for AC condenser, space seems to be very limited even for radiator, and what about an oil cooler?

 

I live in Phoenix and have a 63 E Type. It has an oil cooler, aluminum radiator, high speed fan & new water pump. It does not have AC. At the last engine rebuild, all the water passages were cleaned and modifications made to the cylinder head to prevent the tappet guides from loosening.....a known problem with XK heads in hot climates. In the summer, as long as the car is moving above 50mph, it will generally run water temps around 90C. But slowing down or stopping at a traffic light, it will quickly head toward overheating. As a result, I dont drive it very far when the ambient temperature is above 105F.
I dont know about XK150, but I can't imagine it would be any better, even with the modifications. Adding AC would make the problem worse because the condenser would shed it's heat into the engine compartment.
Assuming you have not already purchased the XK150, I suggest a more modern Jaguar with a better designed cooling system. I had a 91 XJS V12 convertible, very smooth highway car, classic looks and could drive all day in the Phoenix heat. The car the followed the XJS, the XK8 also would be a candidate IMHO.
Cheers, Richard