The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Original Air Conditioning - repair or replace

After several years of no air conditioning on my 69 step side I am looking to repair or upgrade the AC. The AC came factory on this truck so its mostly intact and ran ok for many years except for a small leak. The compressor froze a couple of years ago.

I can get all the parts but after looking at the Vintage Air kits I am wondering if new might be better. Plus a new system might free up some space under the hood.

My options as I see it are to rebuild/test the existing system or rip it out and install a modern ac system.

Have any of you gone though this process?

That old system was good. I would repair it. Those compressors are rugged & available cheap used all over the place. Replace the comp., flush the system, put in Easter oil & you will be good to go. The vintage-Air is a good system. I put one in my 70 when I had it because it didn't have factory air. It was a lot of work. It still was not as good as factory air.
The one big advantage is freeing up space under the hood.

Since your system just needs to be rebuilt why not keep it simple. You can upgrade the system to 134 w/out problems. You won't have to replace the "Complete" system only the broken parts. You can buy just about all the hard replacement parts for you truck for about half the cost of a Vintage Air system, you'll remove less parts while repairing it & keep $$$$$$$ in your pocket.

thanks guys just needed some re-assurance
One more thing are there other parts that should just be replaced at the same time? I assume replacing hoses?
anything else

thanks greg

Replaceing the hoses is a good idea. Also the receiver/drier. I meant to mention recharging with 134A. They have kits to change to cycling compressor but I would continue using the POA system as long as it works. It is a good system & retains the original look. It does take more energy (gas mileage).

I had a 69 with factory air with a locked up compressor and a beat up 66 Buick with air and swapped out the ancient, working compressor. I converted it to 134A and ran it for many years w/o any trouble. It blew ice cold air until I sold it.
I have a friend who did a magnificent restoration on a 69 Camaro. His only regret was "upgrading" to Vintage Air rather than staying with the original AC. He would have had a spot on RS/SS. It would now be a major undertaking to switch back.

A/C blows Ice cold air in Virginia even if it's not working. Carl, your high is our low!

thanks guys

Now I have a project to get on!!

bart, I don't know what blows where you live, since I can only narrow it down to somewhere in the USA (and I'm not so sure of that). Where's the mean police?! I am under personal attack!
Carl

AZ (az in: hot az hell)

Apology accepted.

I think you should take help of expert technician for this problem. He would suggest you which parts need to be replace & which needs to be repair. This would save lot of investment & time.For more information you can check http://bergenairconditioning.com

(Moderator's note: I suspect this is a spammer. The link has nothing to do with truck A/C. I suspect he is being paid for each click. This is being investigated.)

The original Frigidaire A6 compressor is heavy but probably the best one ever made. One thing we often change on these old systems is the elimination of the POA valve. If it works good by all means keep it but if not they are very pricey anymore. Clean the condenser and evaporator coils, replace lines and filter/dryer, check the draw of the fan motor, clean intake air plenum under the windshield, and check all the ducts to the diffuser outlets. Put some PAG oil in along with 134A and it should cool fine.

What is involved with removing the POA valve to make the system work good? Thanks

Here is a link with some good info on POA valves--

http://www.classicautoair.com/POA-Valve-Home.html

Old Air in Ft Worth markets a POA elimination setup. It uses a cycing clutch pressure switch. We used one on a buddy's 69 C10, also used a modern R143a-type parallel flow condensor from same folks. It worked even better than the OE R12 system.