The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks AC conversion

Ouch. They are dang proud of these things.

I guess I see no real way to own one of these things, only drive it in the summer and not have AC. it will clean up the engine bay for sure, but clutter up the cab.

Looking at the Vintage Air systems?

When I did the last couple conversions, I built the AC system from parts and it was much cheaper than the off-the-shelf guaranteed to fit kits. If you want some help putting together a parts list, shoot me a PM and we can chat about what you have and what you need.

I have had an A/C in my 54 since 2013 and have never really used it. Turn it on just to circulate the freon. I have the cowl vent and sliding rear window for ventilation. It has close to 40000 miles on it since I got it, most of that is from my trips to KC, 9.

Vintage and.old.aire are similar in price. There are two others in the 4k range. I like the styling of old aire better, but looks like more people have vintage. Lots of YouTube on vintage. None with old aire.

I put the Old Aire system in my 78 vette about 8 years ago and I have been quite happy with it.

Take a look at the "inside cab kit" that is a bit under $1000. Then you can get a mid 80s factory evaporator and drier from rockauto for under $150 as opposed to the $300 that Old Aire wants. Looking at Old Aire's pictures, I think that is what they are actually selling you.

Then you just need a few random fittings, a bit of hose, and a safety switch from coldhose.com. I replaced all of the hoses/fittings on a buddy's truck over the winter for less than $100 from coldhose. I had the fittings crimped on at the local Napa for $5 each.

I am starting with the assumption that you are going to be running R-134a. Both the Vintage Air and Old Air Products evaporators use expansion valve based systems (not orifices), so that is what I will set this up for. I am also assuming that you can source/install the heater hose portion of the system with parts from your favorite FLAPS. I know that the Old Air Products system uses a heater cut-off valve in their setup, but the installation instructions for it are pretty straightforward.

The diagram below shows the basic block diagram of major components and the size of hoses that connect them. Pretty much any AC system will be the same block diagram, though there are some differences in where the high/low pressure fill/test ports are located.

The major components in an AC system are:

Compressor: Compresses (imagine that) the refrigerant, resulting in a very hot and high pressure gas in the output line.

Condenser: A radiator that takes the hot, high-pressure gas from the compressor and cools it enough to condense into a high pressure liquid (note that the phase change is important for maximum AC performance)

Receiver/Drier: A tank with desiccant to draw any water out of the system. This is the most common place for the pressure switch to be located, especially in aftermarket systems.

Pressure Switch: Not 100% required (Dodge doesn't use them), but prudent.
*A binary switch here will turn off the compressor clutch if the pressure gets too high or too low in the system. This helps protect your compressor in cases where something has gone wrong.
*A trinary switch here serves the same purpose as the binary switch, but also integrates electric fan control to automatically turn the fan on when the high pressure side reaches a given pressure. This control can be tied into the coolant temp fan control with a couple diodes.

Expansion Valve/Orifice: The heart of the system, this allows only small amounts of refrigerant through at a time, causing it to rapidly lose pressure, expand, and most importantly get cold. The two types work differently, but serve the same purpose.

Evaporator Core: Same concept as the heater core, this is under the dash and blows cabin air though the radiator that has the cold refrigerant flowing through it. The outlet of this feeds back into the compressor and the cycle repeats itself.

High/Low Pressure Ports: A port is needed on each side to measure the pressures when the system is operating to ensure the correct amount of refrigerant is in the system. The refrigerant is filled via the low pressure side while the pressure in both sides are being monitored.

In the case of your system, you already have a compressor from your engine builder. Based on the picture you sent me, I believe it is a standard 7B10 peanut compressor. That is one of the most common ones in the aftermarket world. It has a proprietary hose connection, but a set of adapters (see below) will convert it to standard o-ring fittings (#8 outlet, #10 inlet)

You said you liked the look of the Old Air system the best, so lets start with their IP-1100 (you can use the 1100 or the 3100 depending on where you want the firewall penetration to be, the 2100 is more complex so let me know if you want that and we can talk more). This kit comes with everything that goes inside the cab and the expansion valve. The inlet to the expansion valve is a #6, it connects directly to the evaporator core, and the outlet of the evaporator core is a #10.

I recommend the condenser from a mid-80s C10 because it is the same size and shape as the 60s one, just with different mounting brackets. It has a #8 inlet and a #6 outlet.

Any receiver/dryer will work for you. In this case where there is not a standard one for that truck, I recommend a universal with an integrated test port to save needing a test port fitting. They can be purchased in multiple hose sizes, but I suggest one with #6 inlet and outlet because that is what the hoses on each side of it already are (outlet from condenser/inlet to expansion valve).

I like to put the low pressure port on the outlet of the evaporator and the high pressure port somewhere conveniently near there so hooking up the test gauges is simple. The high pressure port needs to be after the condenser, but before the orifice/expansion port. In this application I recommend putting it on the inlet to the drier, but it could go anywhere in that line.

Recommended Parts:
Old Air Products: $750
Hurricane IP-1100 inside parts package. This has your choice of controls and all the ducting/vents for inside the cab as well as the expansion valve.

Rockauto: $112
APDI-PRO 7013642 Condenser: $112
This part is for an 84 C10 and is the same size as the stock 66 condenser from what I could find online. I have been known to just take the dimensions of the condenser I want to the junkyard and look for something that will fit.

ColdHose.com: $258
6' #10 Hose: $30
6' #8 Hose: $26
8' #6 Hose: $28
1x #10 90 degree Female O-ring fitting with low pressure port (Evaporator Outlet): $12
1x #10 Straight Female O-ring fitting (Compressor Inlet/Suction): $9
1x 7B10 Compressor O-ring adapter set: $60
2x #8 Straight Female O-ring fitting (Compresor Outlet/Condenser Inlet): $13
1x #6 45 degree Female O-ring fitting (Condenser Outlet): $9
1x #6 90 degree Female O-ring fitting with High Pressure port (drier inlet): $12
1x Universal Drier with safety switch port and #6 Inlet/Outlet: $23
1x Drier Mounting Bracket: $5

1x Trinary Switch: $16
OR (see notes above)
1x Binary Switch: $9

1x #6 Straight Female O-ring fitting (Drier Outlet): $7
1x #6 90 degree Female O-ring fitting (Expansion Valve Inlet): $8

Total Cost (pre-shipping): $1150

You will still need to fab up some brackets for the condenser and provide R134a/oil. Your compressor *might* be pre-oiled, but I would check with Blueprint. With this size of system, I would estimate about 20 ounces of R134a, but the right way to fill it is by pressure and temperature. If you would like a writeup on that sometime, let me know and I can put something together.

I am making some assumptions about your hose routing. I would recommend mocking it up in your head to make sure the angles of the fittings in this list make sense for how you want the hoses to go. As long as you keep the size/type the same, you can swap out different angles/sweeps all you want.

I might also be overestimating the amount of hose you need, but I like having some extra just in case.

When I have my fittings and hoses mocked up in place, I mark the ends with a sharpie and take them to the local NAPA to get crimped. If they charge me, it is usually only a couple bucks per crimp. They have done it for free a decent percentage of the time.

Hit me up if you have any more questions.

Yes, Vintage AC is expensive, but it's not like you install one every year. I keep my vehicles a long time so it does pay off in the long term. Just do it !

If I lived in NH or WI, I sure wouldn't need A/C.

I don't have ac in my '57 but everything else I drive and the house has it, here in southern Michigan it's the humidity that ac is working on to control comfort.

Humidity decreases the cooling efficiency of A/C but the units will remove moisture and drain it off. The max temp of any month in NH or MI is about 82 F. ....and that happens only in one month. I have 9 months over 82, four of them are over 100. Sometimes 120. You guys a lucky. Just observing benefit vs cost vs budget. Building your own will have you dizzy with all the seperate parts to buy from different sources and shipping for each. It's like building your own wiring harness, you don't save anything. (I had that itch once). Some guys will enjoy the gathering, designing, learning, customizing, upgrading....nothing wrong with that. The economy is not there. The effort is greater than a kit. IMO.
The kits have instructions!

A complete system at Old Air is $1110. They use an underdash style, looks to me like a clone of an old Mustang evaporator. Looks like a Sanden 508 compressor or clone. Includes heater function. you don't have to hook that up. A/C only kit $1035 and $1070.

Vintage Air.........has nice units.

Semi DIY option:
In my opinion the old school underdash is way more era correct for 1966. 1966 did have factory air option. Many owners bought aftermarket A/C at some point. You can buy a used genuine underdash evaporator on Ebay. Nice American made chrome ones. Selectaire is a nice "era correct" evaporator. Then obtain all the other comnponents new. Singular assemblage or kit. Which will all be R134 compatible. The evaporator will have been used with R12. It is the least critical and easiest to convert.

I have no info, good or bad, on any one source for kits or parts.

Bart, just because someone has a different opinion than yours or a different desire does not make it wrong.

Yes, cheap underdash options exist but that is not what he wants.

The number of parts is no different between a hand selected system and the "kit" from Vintage Air or Old Air products. Sure, you have to order from a "dizzying" 3 places instead of 1. Is that worth saving $400? Up to you.

I don't know if you have actually built one of their kits, but they come with a selection of parts to pick from as you go. None of the off the shelf kits I have personally built ended up having all the pieces I needed to make a clean installation, resulting in needing to go out and find compatible parts halfway through the project to finish it. It is much easier to make a plan up front and buy the right parts the first time.

This is not at all like a wiring harness where you can just buy one off the shelf and it drops in. The selection of fittings is very specific to your particular installation. Unlike building a wiring harness from scratch, there are no minimum orders for supplies and no additional fabrication work.

Even if you buy the all in one kit, you still have to do the same amount of hose routing, cutting, crimping, assembly, etc. The one thing a kit gets you is a single point of contact to call with questions.

FIB....I think as a moderator, you should read more carefully. You should realize almost every post on Stovebolt is an opinion. The opinions are based on experience, belief, study and they include some supporting info/links/comments/prices as you and I both did.

Please go back and notice Quote: "Some guys will enjoy the gathering, designing, learning, customizing, upgrading....nothing wrong with that. The economy is not there. The effort is greater than a kit. IMO."

Another quote: "Just observing benefit vs cost vs budget"

You need to learn to not get angry when someone has a different opinion. Also your $400 math is wrong.

Are we not allowed to peacefully express an opinion? I said it was my opinion twice.

The $400 math is an apples to apples comparision of the Old Air all-in-one kit to building it from parts. Not a comparision between the cheaper, lower capability underdash system.

I will send you a PM tomorrow to discuss the other issues privately.

Don't bother, I have nothing more to say. You are carrying this too far. I just needed to defend my right to an opinion.