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Air Conditioner

When I first started this project several years ago, I went ahead and bought the controls for a Vintage Air system so I could modify the dash to fit. Since then the system I was planning on using was discontinued and the new system has 3 dash knobs instead of 4.... so I had to weld up the 4 old holes and drill 3 new ones. I also went ahead and ordered the complete system.

I didn't go with their “Sure-Fit” system since I had some modifications that may not work with it plus I didn't want the duct/vents under the dash so I called them and we pieced together a system that has part of their Sure-Fit and some generic components as well.

The condenser/drier portion was basically the same as the Sure-Fit so I went ahead and mounted that on the front of the radiator. I then modified the dash for the new controls. I will need to 3D print some new knobs similar to what I did awhile ago for the old controls but I'll have to do that later.

Next up was mounting the evaporator unit. The evap base unit was the same as the Sure-Fit and I went ahead and ordered the mounting brackets figuring that I would either need to modify them or make new brackets since I had already filled most of the holes in the firewall. Luckily I could still faintly make out the outline of the large hole that I filled in the firewall and some of the surrounding bolt holes since the Sure-Fit bracket and evap unit was located off of this existing pattern.

I also had to order two 90 degree fittings for the heater hose connection since the unit I ordered came with 2 straight fittings that didn't go thru the firewall and the Sure-Fit system used one 90 degree and that snaked down to go thru the big hole in the firewall (that I had plugged). Since I wasn't limited to go thru the large hole, I figured that I could just go straight out but I needed to check clearances and make sure it didn't have other issues. So I made a simple cardboard template of the mounting bracket with the proposed hose penetrations in it so I could work outside the cab instead of under the dash. I also drilled out the top bolt hole that I had plugged to see how it all situated on the firewall.

When I laid the template on the firewall aligned to the bolt holes and level,it was obvious that the top hole fitting was going to go right thru the curved lip near the top of the firewall. I decided to just angle the two fitting down a bit so instead of going thru perpendicular to the firewall they would be pointed down slightly....which is ok since I will probably route them along the top of the inner fenderwell below the penetration when I final assemble the system.

Once I had it planned out in my head then I went ahead and cut off the portion of the mounting bracket that went around the large firewall hole (that no longer was there) and I added a few more mounting holes in the remaining bracket using the old nutplates that was in the portion that I had cut off. I then drilled the firewall to match the 3 holes in the bracket and then dry-fit the bracket inside the cab to make sure it fit.

I then drilled two larger holes (larger but still a little undersized) in the firewall for the heater hose fittings. I then mounted the evap unit under the dash to see how well they lined up. I adjusted the hole positions slightly and then opened it up the two holes into a slot so the unit would go in place easier.

With the heater hose fitting angled down slightly, sealing up the hole/slot became a little more difficult. I took some 1/16 rubber sheet I had around and made a gasket that fit tightly around the hose and then fabbed an aluminum plate that had slightly slotted and oversized holes that sandwiched the rubber to the firewall.

With the evap unit in place I then could see where I needed to place the hi & lo pressure AC lines to go thru the firewall. I settled on the the lower corner on the passenger side to place a bulkhead fitting. I had ordered a bulkhead fitting on Amazon but it didn't fit the fittings (cheaper but trash) so I ordered a new one as well as a 45 degree hose fitting since the generic hose fitting set that I bought for Vintage Air didn't have one. That is where we stand today. The bulkhead fitting came in today but it looks like Monday before the hose fitting gets here. I'll pick up here when I get further along.....