Vintage air system for 68 Fury III

[Knebel]

I am playing around with the thought of wanting to put an AC in my car. My Plymouth was an original 318 with AC. Still has the hvac box but only for heat. The engine was switched to a 360 with no AC.

Has anyone used a system from vintage air? I am a little overwhelmed by their selection... I would want to ditch the original huge heat/ac box and get an underdash unit that has heat and ac from vintage air (or any other manufacturer if there is). Something that I can hook some if not all the original vents onto. And have a simple heat and AC option.

My biggest issue is, how and where would I put the AC compressor? There are no brackets or anything that I can see....

Would be awesome if anyone with expierience could chime in!

 

[wish4hemi]

This might answer some of your questions. It’s the installation of a SureFit kit. Gallery: Vintage Air Sets Up This 1967 Satellite For Summer Sundays - Mopar Connection Magazine | A comprehensive daily resource for Mopar enthusiast news, features and the latest Mopar tech

 

[CBODY67]

Many of the add-in a/c systems are designed for cars that did not come with factory a/c (or have the related cowl holes for the factory system). In that regard, you might need to contact your proposed vendor for guidance of which system might work best, or if they might have a system that would work with the existing factory a/c configuration on your vehicle.

As to the underhood items, they all should come in what we used to call "Mount and Drive KIt". This was the a/c compressor and the items it took to mount it to the engine, usually not hoses, but possibly wiring instruction to energize the compressor clutch. There are also some conversions kits to change the Chrysler RV-2 compressor to the later Sanden compressor, of which there are some threads in here on that.

Check out a more recent thread by "TxDon" on what he did to his Dodge Monaco wagon, about 1966 or so, which would be similar to the later models, in many respects. Use the forum's "Search" function. Yet, what he did was under the hood, rather than inside the car.

Once the new a/c in hidden behind the instrument panel, just connect the ductwork to your existing dash vents. All flex tubing. You might get cold or hot air in the right places at the right times, but I also suspect you'll get more fan noise as the fan is inside with you, rather than outside under the hood. Just as the pure "hang-down" evaporator units are noisier than the factory systems were back then. But then, cars usually were not as quiet as they now are, so it didn't really matter that much. Nor were car radios as good as they now are, either.

Call the vendors, after looking at their websites, for more information and pricing of a complete kit to do the job. Customer support can be a key issue, as can be a correctly-sized (BIG enough!) condensor! Consider, too, that many of these companies started out in the street rod area of things, which usually have much smaller interiors to cool, rather than a 1965+ Chrysler C-body's HUGE interior to cool. Plus, all of that glass increases the heat load, too, from a '30s car body the original systems were sized for.

In some respects, it might be easier to fix the innards of your current system and then get the Sanden compressor conversion kit for the underhood items, with a new up-sized condenser.

Just some thoughts,
CBODY67

 

[Knebel]

Ok so my car has 0 AC parts left in the engine. The only thing thats left is the heater box under the dash. I would essentially start from scratch.

I think I might have to word this differently... i can possibly find the right underdash system, that should not be that big of a problem, however I am curious as how to mount the compressor. I have not founf any mounting brackets that would retrofit an ac compressor to a 360LA engine. Condenser I'd just use the biggest one I can fit in the radiator opening I guess...

 

[CBODY67]

A factory retro-fit can come from the 1980 Chryslers with the Denso a/c compressor. That application is what generated the thermostat housing re-clocking a bit on the intake manifolds (as evidenced by the Edelbrock Performer intakes for the LA motor). That car (my '80 Newport 360 2bbl) chunks ice cubes in about a minute of run time in the TX summer, after sitting all day, on R-134a.

CBODY67

 

[TxDon]

@Knebel , here is my thread which may be of some help:
66 Monaco Wagon A/C Resurrection | For C Bodies Only Classic Mopar Forum

As CBODY67 mentioned I did an underhood conversion to newer parts but still had a working evaporator inside the car. A Vintage Air unit would definitely work under your dash and can be hooked to your existing vents but I doubt they have a complete Surefit kit for a C-body. Check their catalog, they may have underhood mount kits, crank pulleys, etc. Also check Bouchillon.

 

[Knebel]

I see Bouchillon has small block brackets, Awesome! I'm trying to ditch that huuge heavy bix under the dash and want to do something smaller. Man for all I care I just need adjustable heat and one button for cold air lol. As simple as possible..

 

[Knebel]

Maybe the 'simple' solution would be to keep the underdash stuff how it is and hook the ac components up to the original evaporator?

Since there was nothing left in regards of AC vomponents in the engine other than the two pipes sticking out of the firewall, how would I go about fitting an expansion valve to this system?

 

[Knebel]

What size fitting is this? All the ac hoses and such I find have only 6 and 8AN on them... this looks quite large like 1".

 

[TxDon]

Maybe the 'simple' solution would be to keep the underdash stuff how it is and hook the ac components up to the original evaporator?

Since there was nothing left in regards of AC vomponents in the engine other than the two pipes sticking out of the firewall, how would I go about fitting an expansion valve to this system?

Your biggest issue with this will be that the system has sat so long open to the air. First test is whether all the controls and vacuum parts work correctly. Second you will have to fully flush the evaporator coil and make sure it has no leaks.

 

[Knebel]

Your biggest issue with this will be that the system has sat so long open to the air. First test is whether all the controls and vacuum parts work correctly. Second you will have to fully flush the evaporator coil and make sure it has no leaks.

I know my controls work, for sure. The hvac box does its thing when I push the buttons! I need to flush the evaporator out yes.... thank you for all the tips and suggestions here, I think I got an idea now of how to approach this. I'll ask more questions down the line for sure lol!

 

[Knebel]

So far I have put a condenser in. I have to mount the dryer still and I have a custom made hose coming for the high pressure side. Once I have that sorted out, I'll tackle the compressor and mount. Then I'll have to see how to adapt a suction hose to that huge fitting on the evap...enentually it will come together. Once its all hooked up, I'll have to tackle the electric to use the dash AC sqitch to turn it on...

 

[TxDon]

So far I have put a condenser in. I have to mount the dryer still and I have a custom made hose coming for the high pressure side. Once I have that sorted out, I'll tackle the compressor and mount. Then I'll have to see how to adapt a suction hose to that huge fitting on the evap...enentually it will come together. Once its all hooked up, I'll have to tackle the electric to use the dash AC sqitch to turn it on...

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Nice condenser mounts!

 

[Knebel]

Nice condenser mounts!

Ace hardware. 1/4 screws, aluminium spacer and I did rivet threaded rivets into the radiator support. I already mounted the dryer too and should have one of the hoses coming today. I'm debating if i need to use a small fan for the condenser so my electric cooling fan runs seperate from the ac fan

Edit: i screwed up a little on the custom hose and didn't order the charge port 90° offset. However, I can still use it like that... I'm just mocking things up...still need to flush the evaporator.

 

[Knebel]

Got a little further in hooking up the hoses. Now It gets to the expensive part finding a compressor and the bracket for it.

 

[TxDon]

One thing that helped me when I was planning out my hose routing and buying components was drawing a diagram showing high and low sides. My setup was pretty complicated because my car has dual air and I had to connect the rear unit into the lines. One thing to consider when planning your compressor and bracket setup is a premade set of hookup lines with both charge ports built in - this is what I used.

 

[Knebel]

Sweet, where did you buy those #12 fittings if I might ask?

 

[TxDon]

Sweet, where did you buy those #12 fittings if I might ask?

I got all my fittings plus the Sanden compressor at Cold Hose: Cold Hose
I got the compressor hardlines and thermostat at Nostalgic A/C Products.
Pay a little extra and buy a genuine Sanden, not the cheap Ebay knockoffs.

 

[Knebel]

Thanks, funny I bought my custom hose from coldhose too... I just couldnt find the stuff to go from a #12 to a #8.

 

[twostick]

So far I have put a condenser in. I have to mount the dryer still and I have a custom made hose coming for the high pressure side. Once I have that sorted out, I'll tackle the compressor and mount. Then I'll have to see how to adapt a suction hose to that huge fitting on the evap...enentually it will come together. Once its all hooked up, I'll have to tackle the electric to use the dash AC sqitch to turn it on...

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Vintage air uses Bouchillion to source their compressor brackets.

Home - Bouchillon Performance Engineering

Kevin