Classic Auto Air's factory A/C replacement system. Hey it works!

[b5blue]

  I just found Classic makes an A/C replacement kit for my 70's stock A/C system. Anyone used it yet? It saves all the hassle of blocking old A/C holes and adapts to all factory A/C vents. It also replaces the entire controller with a slick electronic unit. Don't know how I missed this as I've been drooling for A/C for several years, I gotta call them after work today.
 This link is to an install PDF:
 http://www.classicautoair.com/manuals/fakits/1-2066FA%20INSTALL%20INSTRUCTIONS.pdf

[will]

I have it in my 68. Be careful drilling that hole for the condensate drain. It doesn't really line up right with the template they give you. I did it over the summer, nice cold air. I never hooked up the lights for the controller yet, so i don't know what color they are. They give you the dash vent, you're gonna need a paint pen to chrome it, if that's what you want. The side vents are a little tricky, sometimes the hose pops off, zip-ties are your friend. I like it. Some people like to complain because the original system was so cold, but you'll be comfortable with this setup.

[green69rt]

  I just found Classic makes an A/C replacement kit for my 70's stock A/C system. Anyone used it yet? It saves all the hassle of blocking old A/C holes and adapts to all factory A/C vents. It also replaces the entire controller with a slick electronic unit. Don't know how I missed this as I've been drooling for A/C for several years, I gotta call them after work today.
  This link is to an install PDF:
  http://www.classicautoair.com/manuals/fakits/1-2066FA%20INSTALL%20INSTRUCTIONS.pdf

You going to share the install with us?? 

[garner7555]

Vintage also makes a kit for a car that was an original A/C car.  I am going to buy one for my car but can't decide between Classic or Vintage.       

If you buy one please let us know about fitment and your satisfaction.

Here is a link to my post about the 2 kits.   
http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,121709.0.html

[b5blue]

Yes I'll share and yes I was reading that topic also. I assumed "for cars with factory A/C" was a rebuild kit and that's not what I was looking for, I wanted everything new. After looking at the PDF in the link that's the ticket for me, I don't care about original looks. With Classic less than 20 miles from my home it's no contest for me, any troubles and I can just go there. 

[b5blue]

Well crap...the system is made in TX. so after taxes and shipping = 1793.42.  (Includes extra pulley for crank, mine has only 2.) A week to 10 day lead time with 3 days transit. You have to be there to sign for delivery. I gotta see how things go with the Sidewinder head swap.

[crj1968]

 

[Derwud]

So I have just read the instructions for both systems and here are some quick comparisons.

Both seal off Fresh air 
Classic does not have Defrost
Vintage routes the lines through the fender.

As for the Pulley system.

http://www.forbbodiesonly.com/moparforum/threads/serpentine-belts-on-a-bb-mopar.106926/

[b5blue]

  Fresh air blocked only on pass side. I have defrost, it can mix A/C and heat to dry out the defrost air. (Requirement for a Florida car!) Single groove pulley mounts on crank to run compressor and uses an idler pulley for tension. Key feature for me is adapts to feed stock dash vents. 

[rebby]

I have pictures of my Vintage Air system in my GL build thread. I've been very happy with the setup so far. Great system!

[will]

Classic has defrost, that statement is wrong. I have it in my car, you can have air from the dash, heat, or defrost.

[Derwud]

  Fresh air blocked only on pass side. I have defrost, it can mix A/C and heat to dry out the defrost air. (Requirement for a Florida car!) Single groove pulley mounts on crank to run compressor and uses an idler pulley for tension. Key feature for me is adapts to feed stock dash vents. 

Sorry, missed the defroster on Classic system.

I am going to see if the Drivers side vent will fit in the passenger side with the Vintage system.

I also got the CVF pulley system as well..

[rebby]

  Fresh air blocked only on pass side. I have defrost, it can mix A/C and heat to dry out the defrost air. (Requirement for a Florida car!) Single groove pulley mounts on crank to run compressor and uses an idler pulley for tension. Key feature for me is adapts to feed stock dash vents. 

Sorry, missed the defroster on Classic system.

I am going to see if the Drivers side vent will fit in the passenger side with the Vintage system.

I also got the CVF pulley system as well..

See my build thread for pics of that area. It's pretty tight up there. I'm not sure if it would fit or not but I doubt it. I do have a few spare driver's side vents and I've been intending on trying it.

[b5blue]

Got the box installed under the dash went to install the cover plates under the hood and it's made all wrong. Cover will not fit pipes....?

[garner7555]

Wow,  That doesn't look very encouraging.  As expensive as these kits are I was expecting a better fit.   

[b5blue]

  I'll make my own plate, the pipes didn't line up with the holes at all. At least I have a concept to follow and a piece of crap to template with. I'm not bending any pipes to force fit.  (Let's see if anything else is wrong.  )
  While not mentioned anywhere it dawned on me today the hood latch top plate blocks condenser install. I'll keep messing with this but only point out odd aspects or problems to keep all this short.    It's getting hot down here...90's this week! 

[b5blue]

  Got the plate made and installed condenser/compressor and A/C lines. Still have heat hose and controller stuff/ducts to do. Compressor adapter kit was confusing and lines seem off a bit from ideal. (?)

[cdr]

lookin great Neal!!!  nothin like COLD AC,    

[garner7555]

Looking good.     I ordered a vintage kit yesterday, I had a 10% off code for Summit and they only sell vintage.    I will let you know what I think of it this fall.  

[b5blue]

Pretty sure they are overall similar. I'm adding electric fans as my Flex-fan will not work. Looking forward to your review. 

[will]

I think you have the compressor on there wrong. I'm working right now, I'll see if I can take some shots tomorrow. the compressor is supposed to be level, those bolt holes have to be level, not in the diamond configuration you have. That way you can have the hoses appear to be in the right position. You're going to lose the temp sensor, that is exactly where the bottom of the compressor ends up.

[b5blue]

  There's a big steel plate that bolts to the 440. (See the black in the side pic.) It can only mount one way and it has holes for the compressor that clock it at 45*. The hose set will only fit to the compressor at that position. I kept mocking up and test fitting over and over to get to what you see.   
  The 440 compressor mount set is universal to 383/440 non A/C car/truck. It was a pain sorting out directions as they allow for different things. That's why these pics were posted...they are the pics I wish I had from the start to show how it applies to a B/RB in a B Body. 
  Thanks for checking will, let me know if I need to call CAA. 

[will]

here is my setup

[b5blue]

Thanks will, mine can't do that. Everything clears and fits okay? My main bracket can't mount any other way. My temp sender is clear of everything fine? 

[will]

My temp sensor won't work because I can't put the wire on. It is directly under the compressor. I have more pictures, but I had to come to work. I'll see if I can get more uploaded tomorrow. I can e-mail them to you if that's easier. I have mine on a 383, so I can't see there being much of a difference. I also took pictures of my firewall plates. I don't know why you couldn't make them fit. I dry fitted everything, then I painted the plates and put them back on.
There are spacers and stuff that may allow you to mount it the way I have. I agree, the instructions are non existent to mount the compressor. I have a spacer and bolt through a boss on the water pump to get the comp sitting lower. It's sharing duties with the power steering pump. If your standing in the front of the car, my sight glass is clocked 90*, towards the thermostat housing. That way the hoses look like they're supposed to fit. I have one of the compressor ears mounted to the large plate which holds the idler pulley. I have catchers mitts for hands, so it's a cursive exercise to get the !@#$%^&*bolts right. PM me your e-mail address, I'll take more pictures and send them to you.

[b5blue]

  The firewall big egg shaped plate would have had the pipes binding on the pipe holes when mounted over both firewall holes it covers. I was not going to tweak the pipes to cover both firewall holes.
  My compressor mounting kit adapts for a NON A/C engine and if positioned like yours the rear brackets would not install. We must have different compressor mounting set ups. CCA and I talked several times about exactly what water pump housing and pulleys with how many grooves on each.
  When asked why the PDF I linked to here said nothing about compressor mounting CCA (Steve) said compressor mounting varies to each application and it's current setup. (While when new my car was an A/C from factory, it had a 318 not 440 and all I knew was my 440 was of 69 vintage with unknown pulleys/brackets, add to that a bracket set from AR Engineering for a Denso 120amp Alt..)   

[will]

I have the alternator bracket and 120 amp alt from ar engineering also. My car is a factory a/c, 383 2bbl plain jane. I'm upgrading as I go. 440 very soon. I have an after market, unknown aluminum water pump housing. trw p/s pump. Maybe the housing gives me an extra boss, or the trw pump allows me to mount the a/c compressor closer to the engine. Have you checked hood clearance? Good luck, you'll be happy when the air is cool, cruising down the road with the windows closed.

[crj1968]

A guy I know is putting the same setup in his Cuda and like yours the firewall plate deal wasn't even close to fitting.   

[b5blue]

A guy I know is putting the same setup in his Cuda and like yours the firewall plate deal wasn't even close to fitting.   

I used the steel one as a template after hacking it up. Cardboard cut to fit the pipe holes under it and marked gave a template for a 9"X12" sheet of 1/8" aluminum bought off ebay.
 

[b5blue]

I have the alternator bracket and 120 amp alt from ar engineering also. My car is a factory a/c, 383 2bbl plain jane. I'm upgrading as I go. 440 very soon. I have an after market, unknown aluminum water pump housing. trw p/s pump. Maybe the housing gives me an extra boss, or the trw pump allows me to mount the a/c compressor closer to the engine. Have you checked hood clearance? Good luck, you'll be happy when the air is cool, cruising down the road with the windows closed.

Now I know what you have. I picked up my unit @ CCA's Tampa store. At first he handed me a plate like you have and when I looked things over it didn't look right. After telling him he ran back in the store and came out with the box of adapter stuff. Lots more goodies including the belt and idler pulley setup. (There was a mixup between TX. and FL.) So I got free shipping and I think that kit I got was over 100.00 extra they didn't charge me for. Real nice guys and only about 25 miles from my house so I've got backup if needed. In the pics it looks high but everything clears, it's all below the stock type air cleaner and the hood closes fine.
  My dual fan for the radiator should be here Thursday so I may be back in the saddle this weekend only needing the system charged. I want to road test everything prior to charging the system. 

[b5blue]

  Well things ground to a halt after finding my flex fan would not work with the compressor in the way. The first electric fan set would not clear as it came with a shroud, that had just the edge of one motor ending right where the compressor's belt runs. A week after that I've installed a high volume single 17 inch and been integrating wiring for it with A/C and the rest of my car. (So zero progress on the A/C install.  ) 

[b5blue]

I have it in my 68. Be careful drilling that hole for the condensate drain. It doesn't really line up right with the template they give you. I did it over the summer, nice cold air. I never hooked up the lights for the controller yet, so i don't know what color they are. They give you the dash vent, you're gonna need a paint pen to chrome it, if that's what you want. The side vents are a little tricky, sometimes the hose pops off, zip-ties are your friend. I like it. Some people like to complain because the original system was so cold, but you'll be comfortable with this setup.

I checked the controller lights and one bulb is missing so I'm skipping that hook up. (I don't think it's needed anyway.) I'm integrating a low speed electric radiator Fan run trigger onto the red supply to A/C relay wire. It will turn on through the Fan low speed relay. I'm kinda wishing a true electrical schematic was included with the instructions.
  I called to clarify heater directions, hot coolant flows from the engine into the A/C heater core then out to controller and back into the engine. So for a B/RB engine the rearmost heater hose nipple is out (to the lower heater tube) and the front nipple is return. (upper tube with control in line.) My drain hole is off just a tad but not an issue.

[lukedukem]

are you gonna install a cut off valve inline with the coolant for the heater core. I've seen some guys do that to keep the hot engine coolant out of the box to maximize the a/c cooling capabilities. you'd have to open it back up when it gets cold, but they say its worth it. i will dry to dig up a pic of a 68 that has it.

found the pic, the owner of this 68 said it worked, he would valve it in during the summer.  here gets into those triple digits at times.

Luke

[b5blue]

Hi Luke! "For now no" I'd thought about it but one thing I was sure I wanted was good defrost action. This system will blend heat and cool to give dry air defrost, something I know I need in Fl. from experience. I had a heat only defrost rigged up with aftermarket parts and the car turned into a steam bath! I'll get it all up and running to test out this summer.    My connectors should be here in time to test the cooling fan this weekend without the A/C charged. If that's a go it's on to A/C running in short order.

[b5blue]

  Under hood is near completed. I have installed a mini fuse block that feeds control relays for the engine electric cooling fan and the A/C system to keep those loads out of the bulkhead/dash wiring. My poor engine bay is getting as crowded as a modern cars is. 

[garner7555]

Looking good!  It's getting hot enough to need it here in Alabama, and I'm sure its even worse in Florida.          

[b5blue]

  Thanks..."Heat Index 99*" this week.  Add mosquitoes and no-see-ums trying to eat you alive and you see I'm having big fun. 

[b5blue]

  Wiring installed, CPU calibrated and door operation checked out. Duct work installed, after looking at how duct attaches to adapters I found coating the adapters with a thick coat of Liquid Tape then sliding on the duct tube and tie wrapping bonds the two nicely when dry after a day of sitting. It appears the duct fits well on the box outlets so that end is just slid over the mounting ports. As the wires are fed through existing holes in the firewall, hole plugs or caps are provided to fill all remaining openings. You pick what ones work best and cut the plastic plugs for the wires.  
 I sealed the plugs centers with "SUGRU" a rubber that handles like Play Dough but drys hard to seal around the wires that run through the plugs. I also used "Mag Daddy" fasteners to hold the wiring where I wanted it after install. Mag Daddy's have a very strong magnet on the base and assorted clips available for holding wires and other stuff. This let me test/move/adjust for wire management to get things out of the way and safe without drilling or using stick on pads for tie wraps. (Both SUGRU and Mag Daddy are highly recommended by me!   )
 Things I found not quite right:
I mentioned the egg shaped cover plate and how I just made my own.
The adapters for defroster came with foam and clips mounted to the outside. They should have that on the inside of the adapter as it fits over the outside of the defroster vent not inside it. (I just moved the clips to catch on the inside and left the foam.)
There are a few typos in the wiring instructions that state wires should be BLUE in the pics. They are not blue, just follow the general diagrams and disregard what it is marked on the page, it can only go together one way. The instructions show the dash controller wrong in the drawing. (Shows dash-floor-defrost.) The slide on the front for "door operation" is correct as marked on the actual control with dash-defrost-floor. Were the drawing correct you could not ever mix dash and defrost, only floor and defrost, that would suck for my use in Florida with hot rainy days!
I was not clear for me reading directions but coolant flow for the heater routing. Coolant flow out of the engine goes directly to the A/C heater core and the servo is mounted to the output of the heater core then back into the engine. So engine out> to heater> from heater> to valve> to engine return. (On a B/RB with factory water pump housing the front most nipple is return.) The instructions are clear about what tube is in and out for the heater core.
 I called and talked to CAA about all of this so it should be addressed eventually.

[b5blue]

  Amazon is amazing. Yesterday I called Advance Auto as weeks ago I was told I could "buy and return" an A/C vacuum pump and gauges like how they rent out other tools. They do NOT do that and do not even have pumps in the stores. Crap now what do I do, I'm off work as I've got cramped up back muscles from contorting myself like a bad pretzel for weeks installing A/C and new fan wiring. Checking prices and reviews I found Amazon had same day delivery on a decent pump and a gauge set so before sun set I had them at my door. (For about 170.00) Checked and tested last night, I'm a go for charging today.
 While covering the issues mentioned in my last post with CAA I asked about charging the system. It calls for 1.5lbs (24oz) of R134 but in studying charging online I found you loose 1oz burping the line on each can. With each can 12oz if I just put 2 cans in I'll have about 22oz so 2oz short of 1.5lbs. (?) I'd bought a digital scale to measure and 3 cans of R134 but they said I should be fine just running 2 full cans into the system. (They said they have a greater problem with shops using the large tank and a scale that end up overcharging the system.)
 Checking air flow to the different vents yesterday I was real happy, the SPAL blower moves tons of air quite well and the door interaction between face and defrost has a good control range to vary or mix degree of air flow.

[b5blue]

 Okay we have A/C!  Low side 23lbs / high side 198lbs outside temp is about 90 with a feel like of 99. Just drove a few miles in my Charger windows up and A/C on. Nice, cool not cold but hey I've no insulation/padding/carpet/door or side panels/pass. or rear seat, not even a trunk divider or drivers side airbox to stop fresh hot air coming in yet still cool inside.
2 12oz cans of R134 filled nicely, took a while as CAA system feeds right before the compressor you must not add liquid, just gas only. Next is more short trip testing over the next week while I start proofing operation and figuring out insulation for under new carpets.   

[garner7555]

Awesome!!  Congratulations      

[b5blue]

A week of daily use and doing well. A/C cool and engine temps center of gauge. (180*)

[AKcharger]

A week of daily use and doing well. A/C cool and engine temps center of gauge. (180*)

[b5blue]

With carpets "mostly" installed now and A/C doing fine the Charger it turning into an actual "car" again! Staring to work on the seats.  (PIA!)

[rcannon440]

Just curious if you happened to check the air temperature coming out of the vents?

[b5blue]

No not yet...too cool now with temp. in the 70's. Sorting out fan set for radiator cooling has been driving me nuts.