AC question

[57ringo]

HI, I'm new to the forum but have restored many cars in the 80's & 90's but not lately. I bought a 1969 Charger SE 383/Auto A/C car as it turns out to have been 17 years ago and started to restore it and I'm hopefully going to make time this winter to work on it again since I'm not getting any younger. I painted it and put new interior in it and was going to build a 550" Hemi that I've got in the machine shop but the car got put on the back burner all these years. I've been reading about Classic Auto Air units and Vintage Air units & Classic Industries for replacing the stock A/C and some like one verses the other. My question is since all the threads I've read have been a few years old, has there been any improvements made recently that make one better than the other or either better than they had been? Do they still not have an outside air intake? Does the fan put out as much air as the stock box? Who rebuilds the stock AC boxes now and how much do they charge? Any other info?

Thanks,
Pat

[lukedukem]

Looks like a dirty Mary crazy Larry themed car, we need more pics. I don't have ac in mine. But here is a recent thread on one vendor, from March of this year

http://www.dodgecharger.com/forum/index.php/topic,122769.0/all.html

Luke

[Mike DC]

  
The general consensus is that the old factory AC stuff under the dash is better than the aftermarket stuff.  The aftermarket stuff is mainly popular because it's made to retrofit into cars that weren't designed for it.  The aftermarket dash boxes generally can't move as much air as the factory stuff.    

AFAIK no aftermarket AC dash box has a provision for bringing in outside air. They can only recirculate the existing cabin air (so if you want any outside air coming into the cabin then you have to use the factory's plain open/close dash vents).  It's a design compromise because the aftermarket AC dash boxes are not specific to every make/model/year of car.


As for the underhood stuff, the aftermarket has some legit advantage over the factory AC parts.  The compressors are lighter weight and draw less power, etc.  

[Bronzedodge]

I'll second what Mike DC said.   The stock Heater/A/C evaporator is superior to anything aftermarket.  While it is complex and somewhat intense to restore, nothing performs as well.  Retrofitting a Sanden-type compressor along with R-134a refrigerant is the best solution unless you want the restored look of the RV-2.

BTW - I'm a commercial/industrial HVAC tech, FWIW.   

[57ringo]

Thanks for the info on the heater boxes. Way back when I was working on the car, I took the heater/ac box apart and did get a new seal kit for it. I still have it on the shelf all apart.

[cdr]

I rebuilt the factory ac/heater box,replace the heater core & internal heater valve,flushed the original evap core, put a bolt in r 134a condenser & installed a new style compressor, it will freeze you out!! works great.

[Dino]

I have a similar setup in mine: repro stock condenser, new dryer, thermostatic switch, Sanden compressor, barrier hoses, new evaporator, original a/c box and controls. Ice cold in that car!