The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Air conditioning in an AD burb- what works?

I have been looking around for an air conditioning unit in my '52 gmc. I looked at the Vintage Air units and a couple of others too. I have couple of questions.

1. The standard units are made for pickups (a small cab) and are they able to keep the carryall cool?
2. They can be used with 6 cylinders, but do I have to run an alternator? (I have a 12v generator)
3. Is there a double pulley available that I can use?
4. How about the units that use the speaker grill, do they work well?

Any help is appreciated. -Tony

I have a panel, I called Vintage Air and discussed with them. they recomended a GenII Super Cooler. but with the suburban you will have a higher heat load, so call them.
I have not purchased a system yet, but I am trying to design a console that I can run a duct through to the rear using one of the four outlets on the GenII. Right now that project is a long way off.
As far as the electrical, they may be able to advise you on that also. AC will pull a lot of amps. As long as you don't drive at night you may be able to pull it off. Joking.

Thanks for the info. I did talk to a Vintage Air rep and he told me the best unit would be Gen IV Magnum. After some researching on the web I see that this is recommended for larger vehicles like sedans and wagons. I think it is similar to the Gen II but larger. I read through the Vintage Air literature and it seems to me they are focused more on small hot rods. I am still waiting on a price.

Since I own a panel and planning A/C maybe late summer I'd be interested in what kind of price they come up with if you do not mind sharing that info. Thanks.

Haven't heard back but when I get a price, I will share with you.

Trod,I know a guy that has a 1948 Chevy Suburban that he put air conditioning in.He used the one that has the switches that come through the speaker grille.He told me at a car show,that it just keeps it barely cool and he has one piece side windows that don't open.I think some type of rear air conditioning unit is needed.
Let us know what you come up with.


Tim

i am going to watch this topic because my green monster 49 burb will get ac in the future

There is a guy I've talked to at several shows that has a later Suburban rear unit mounted in his AD burb.

Twice as many hoses, twice as many possible leaks, twice as many moving parts..............

And your point is?


The rear unit is an evaporator that works off the same compressor as the front one. Same amount of moving parts. Thousands of '70s and newer Suburbans have driven millions of miles with these units. I imagine very few of them leaked. My '78 and my 79 didn't.

No point really. If you're gonna do cool, you might as well do heat. That's a four hose pack with wiring to run the rear fan. Might as well go modern and do seperate controls for the rear stuff. The possibilities are endless. Just a matter of how much work you want to do.

My wife's '99 Suburban had rear air but the heater never worked so well. Her '09 Traverse has rear air with seperate controls. Funny thing is, put the kids in her car and you can't get the rear A/C on fast enough. Put them in my '98 Crew Cab, with slow to cool, no rear air and they don't complain at all about the heat. Eventually it gets cool.

Nothing yet back from the Vintage Air guy. Although I have seen prices for the Gen IV evaporator alone around $699. With that said I spoke with Don today from Cold Master. Nice guy and was pretty helpful. And yes he too suggested front and back evaporators, but with his prices I could buy two for less then one vintage air unit. He suggested the 22K BTU for the back and a smaller unit up front. He suggested a 200cc Denso compressor (10S20F). Now does anyone know where to buy a v-groove pulley instead of serpentine belt? He also told me that I should use a condenser and accumulator off of a mid 90s suburban because the system is cheap and easy to find. I dont want a parallel flow condenser because they are very delicate and the fins bend easily. Check out his site. Any comments?

http://www.coldmasterinc.com/estore/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=2