The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk OLD AIR vs VINTAGE AIR

I haven't purchased the A/C System for the '66 C-10 yet and thought I might tap the Experience Barrel here on the forum.

Personally I like both the OLD AIR & VINTAGE AIR systems and can see each offers different perks, but I don't always see the detail stuff and as they say "Two Heads Are Better Than One".

So if ya have some hands-on experience or inside info, share it with me...!

Thanks in advance for any info or insight.
Rusty Nuts

Being in Texas we put air in nearly every car/truck that we build. If you can get up to Ft. Worth, Old Air has dashes from many of the vehichles they offer units for in the show room so you can see the actual finished look. Chisenhall and his group at Vintage Air in San Antonio do much of the R&D in their shop for an ever larger variety of vehichles so their unit is usually a bit higher priced to recoup developement costs. Many of the other suppliers buy a Vintage unit that comes out for a new application and simply copy it. A plus on the Vintage set up is if you have questions you are talking with people that actually build them not someone that just put the various parts into boxes. That said, units from both places have performed well.

I have used both Vintage as well as Old Air in truck builds. The Old Air went into my 54 truck, primarily because the Old air setup has the fittings poking into the engine compartment through the round access hole. This makes for an easy hookup for the lines over the front fender instead of scrunched up under the dash. Both units are easy installs.....the Old Air uses a couple existing holes in the firewall as a guide for mounting the evaporator and with the finished look of the plenium and vents, it blends in well with the underside of the dash.

The Old air brackets are included and all lines are crimped and ready to charge. I went with the manual control over the electronic control so the system is simple, very quiet, cools the cab on low compressor settings, as well as low fan settings.

I mounted my alternator on the passenger side, fabricating a simple mount that sandwiches between the head and the thermostat housing. With this setup, you only run one belt over the water pump and the a/c compressor runs off the front v-groove of a dual groove modified 250 balancer.

I think the main difference in the units is the hookup to the evaporator. The Vintage Air hookup is cleaner but the Old Air is easy to access from under the hood. I'd check both out...don't think you can go wrong with either one.

Dave

Dave,

When you mentioned A/C compressor & 250 in the same sentence I had to read it twice. Then, I went to your photos and it was like sitting down with the master...

My C-10 has a 250 & Powerglide and although some might find it hard to believe, that is why I bought it. I'm older than dirt and Slow & Easy is how I drive. But the git-up-n-go has got-up-n-died.... A head-wind will hold me back to around 47 mph and if I hit a hill, 35 mph is tops.

I was entertaining the thought of changing manifolds, carb and distributor, but the total cost would be almost that of a V8 swap. I found Langdon's website and found his prices to be more than tempting. I see you've got his 2 bbl carb kit and my only question is the Carb Heat. I saw you plumbed the headers, but was wondering if ya had tried the water heat plate yet...?

Danny (aka: Rusty Nuts)

P.S. Thanks for you input on the A/C Systems also.....

You nailed it on the cost of all that "fluff" costing more than a V8 swap.....way more!!!! So why would anybody spend that much coin on trying to squeeze out a little more HP from a 4 main 235?
One that was designed for work on roads that in the 50's, were sub-standard by today's standards? The answer is that it just got out of control. One thing led to another......

I've had plenty of "Go-Fasts".....so I planned the old Chevy as a cruiser with gearing being the main concern and the rest just feel into place. In reality, adding 20 HP to a torque engine in my estimation, is a pure waste of time and money if you don't have time and money to waste!! I just wanted a setup that was totally dependable and that could keep up with traffic on the open road. A stock 216-235 with the right gearing would get the job done. The 230-250's were a major step up with 7 mains and a more sophisticated suspension.

As for the carb setup....I wanted the engine to fire instantly, to accelerate without hesitation, and to loose the constant leaking from a poorly designed (by today's standards) carb. The Carter/Webers perform flawlessly. The carb heat is simple, it works quickly, and doesn't require a lot of plumbing or welding on the intake manifold and there is no potential for overheating in the event of a coolant leak. Langdon prefers water heat (?) and we've discussed the merits of both...and I use his heat plate but that's the beauty of it all....choices!!!

It looks like you've got "happiness" pretty well figured out....add to that, tinkering with old Iron and you've got my life pretty well figured out!

Dave

I've put Old Air set-ups in 3 of my trucks ('52 3100, '49 &'52 Burbs). They have all been relatively easy installs and the AC has been superior in each case. I initially made my decision based on cost... (Old Air has a significant cost advantage)...but over time, it has been reinforced by the excellent customer service I received from Old Air.

Dave,

I called Tom Langdon this afternoon and he was pressed for time, so the conversation was cut short. But, he told me his Holley/Weber Carb linkage wouldn't work on my truck as the carb was Counter-Clockwise or something like that. I know what he's saying, but not sure why it's a major block. Besides that, I thought I saw his carb on your truck using his linkage.
Set me straight if I'm off track...!

I found the Redline Website & WeberCarbs.com and anything I would need to convert the water powered choke or linkage seems available. Not to mention after viewing your fabrication examples I think I could make-up something. (You inspire me..)

Thanks again for listening...
Rusty Nuts (aka:Danny)

Today I exchanged email with Wayne Potter at HOT ROD AIR and now I'm even more drawn, as HOT ROD AIR offers a filtration option on their system (and with Man's Best Friend riding shotgun with me), I feel that filtration would be a good thing. They also offer a Fresh Air Intake option and I know for a fact the OLD AIR does not because Lee Baker of OLD AIR sent me an email regarding that.

So I'm still up in the air about the whole decision process, HOT ROD AIR, OLD AIR & VINTAGE AIR all produce great products, I'm just looking for the perfect fit for my needs.

So, keep those cards & letters coming....

Thanks.
Rusty Nuts

I had very bad luck with Hot Rod Air and their tech support. It never worked right from the start and still doesn't. I would recommend staying away from them.

By the way,the Carter-Weber discussion belongs in the engine and driveline forum. Please, just one topic per thread.

This may be a bit of an archaic approach, but I've discovered that a lot of the do-dads that are added onto systems turn out to bite you in the butt. That's one of the reasons why I prefer the simpler setups that have fewer things to go wrong. The Old Air unit I installed was a bare-bones system with a simple mechanical actuation control cable as opposed to an electronic control module. A filtration system in an AD truck might be something to consider, but it's not going to sway me in that direction, unless I know it really works and isn't going to cause me issues. The evaporator size in the add-on A/C systems is relatively small and you really have to move a lot of air through them to keep everything balanced. I've found that many inexpensive underdash evaporators need to have a lot of air moving and the air movement im the cab is like a mini-tornado.

In reality, I really rather drive with my windows down and enjoying the feel of an open vehicle. The cowl vent gives me great air flow through the cab and the split rear window lets the air flow with very little interior wind noise. The a/c is nice if you're stuck in heavy traffic but in my particular case, I wouldn't rate it as a "must have." But then, that's just me!

Dave