I have been running a unit I bought about 20 years ago from somebody that's out of business now. It's basically a clone of Vintage Air but not as well done. Anyhow the defroster part has always been dodgy as it has too much moisture from the Evap unit.

I'm almost to the point of going back to the factory Fresh Aire heater with Ranco valve. That system worked pretty well except it has no A/C.

All the packages I've found, combine the heater and evaporator in one unit to save space. I believe that's the basic problem with my unit. They don't adequately drain the water off the evap unit and it ends up in the cooled or cooled-then-heated air. This is a pain. I'll spare you the details.

So what I hope to find is an aftermarket unit that has completely separate evaporator and heater core units as the factory HVAC units are, such as the one in my GMT400 Suburban. These have a screen in between the two units that somehow precipitates out the moisture to the bottom drain.

Does anyone out there have experience with one of the known kits whose defrost is actually workable?


1951 3800 1-ton
"Earning its keep from the get-go"
In the DITY Gallery
1962 261 (w/cam, Fenton headers, 2 carbs, MSD ign.), SM420 & Brown-Lipe 6231A 3spd aux. trans, stock axles & brakes. Owned since 1971.