Keep the AC or loose it?

[six-tee-nine]

I'm getting more and more confused about the fact if I should keep my factory air setup.
The reason for this is that if ask myself will it be doable to recondition the original setup when missing lots of parts.
I still hav the original ac heater box and controls, but i'm missing alost every piece under the hood and when its still there, its hacked up from the previous engine removal.
Altoug I spent over $200 on an excellent ac center dash piece and an mint set of louvres for it, i'm thinking about it to search for a non ac firewall and replace the panel.
Then i can always put a aftermarket ac setup under my dash later. If I keep my original firewall dureing the bodywork progress, then there will be no return possible later.....

So I'm looking for imput from guys who restored their cars and kept their factory air system and restored it with original parts.

[Rolling_Thunder]

If you're not hell bent on factory appearance - why not just call up Classic Auto air and get one of their retrofit kits ?  It gives you all the things you need underhood and hooks up to your existing A/C box behind the dash.

Factory parts are expensive...      very expensive

[six-tee-nine]

is that an option?

dunno really? so i can keep my firewal and ac box and go from there with whatever i want Nos Or aftermarket.... interesting route will look into it.....

[roger440]

My car was the same. Fitted with A/C new, but all the engine compartment stuff had been removed before i got it. I eventually got everything i needed from someone who was doing a six pack clone. I havn't fitted it yet though . Still got assemble the rest of the car!

But i am trying to keep as close to stock as possible.

[MichaelRW]

I originally went all stock with my A/C setup but the dang original rebuilt compressor leaked. So I replaced everything from the firewall forward with the setup from Classic Auto Air and kept all the original hoses and compressor so it could go back to stock in the future. Here's what it looks like:

[Blown70]

I plan to use CAA... too.. MichaelRW   

[MichaelRW]

The A/C was installed 4 years ago and still blows cold air. No problems at all. The only negative is the rather weak stock fan blower motor.

[Chatt69chgr]

Rebuild your stock heater box yourself.  Lots of info on here with pictures of how to do it.  The ac dual heater core has been repoped and I think I saw it on YO for under $200.  The ac evaporator in the box is not repoped but they rarely go bad.  You can have that piece tested for leaks.  There are places that will make a duplicate of it but they charge a lot.  The complete gasket kit for rebuilding the underdash box is available from Detroit Muscle Technologies.  Hardest part to find is rebuilt heater control valve in firewall.  A fellow in CA rebuilds them.  You can do a search and find his address on here.  Charges about $100.  The stuff under the hood using the Sanden compressor is available from either Classic Auto Air or from Bouchillon I think.  You need all new---Sanden compressor and brackets for it, hoses, drier, condenser.  None of the old stuff can be reused.  Your new ac system will be running R134A.  Get CAA to send you the instructions for installing their underhood stuff so you can see what is involved.
Or, you can just order the whole CAA setup for both under the dash and under the hood. 

[six-tee-nine]

Thanks for the imput guys..

I will keep my original firewall and my ac/heater core for sure if I can. Rebuilding it is not the issue.... Still got my heater control valve. So I'll can move forward with everything and get the needed parts later on.
And since I lost my #'s matching 440 and will be converting from auto to 4 gear i'm not the ultimate stock apperance guy....however i'll try to use as much original parts as possible as long if they work properly.

[Q-ship]

Anybody who wants to sell their stock A/C setup (or parts) please let me know. I live in the Southwest and am interested in everything except the stock RV-2 compressor.

We here in the Southwest need A/C, and I build high performance A/C systems from the stock components and custom built parts, so let me know what you have, and price.

Thanks,

Q-ship@hotmail.com

[Charger440RDN]

We here in the Southwest need A/C,

I guess when you live in Arizona, New Mexico, southern California or Florida the AC is not an option but a necessity due to the extreme heat.

I went to orlando, Florida last summer for vacation and it stayed over 100 degrees every day, you HAVE to have AC in your car down there.

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

I can tell you this the '69 big block B body A/ C main suct & discharge hoses are made of unobtanium.  They were a 1 year only set.

I recently got a wild hair to put my factory 440 A/c set up back as well...for LOOKS only.   Not really planning on getting it to work just yet.

I was trying to piece together the set, exhausting my usual parts sources.   Turns out Tony Dagostino recently parted out an A/C set up form a 383 powered 69 Coronet.    I bought the setup he had (main suction & discharge lines off compressor, hard liquid line from drier, small line from drier to evaporator, W/P pulley, crank puller, idler pulley set up with cast iron spacer, alt brackets for A/C car, drier & brackets)
I did not take the compressor off him (the front bracket is the same 383-440 BUT the 3 rear brackets (2 tube shaped ones & small lower bracket are DIFFERENT for a 440 engine) nor the condenser (will buy new).  $686 shipped to the door
Won a 70 440 compressor off ebay (brackets are the same part #'s 69-70) $120 shipped to the door
Well over my original "estimate" of parts spending already....condenser is about $150 then while im at it I might as well get the Quanta "original style" belts...$30 each x 4

Pictured below is my pile of junk!


Classic Auto Air wants $300+ just to "restore" the 2 main hoses...new rubber with non-stock white lettering and non-stock type crimps, but they replate the steel sections with clear zinc (or what ever coating was orig on there)....not happening in my budget right now.

Spent about 1/2 hour the other day on the wire wheel & cleaned up one of the lines a bit.....will paint the steel sections with Eastwoods Clear Zinc & black gloss where necessary....rough up the hoses to get a "fresh" surface & lather up with Armor-All and she'll look good as new

My advice....DO NOT GET RID OF YOUR ORIGINAL STUFF!!!

[Rolling_Thunder]

Awww come on Chris - Don't tease us - where are the pics of them cleaned up ?        Glad someone talked you into putting the A/C on your car ?   

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

Yeah, thanks Alex!   I'll be sending you the bill

[six-tee-nine]

Well then there will be the difference between you and me on that matter, If I put the AC setup in the car then I want it to work. However imo hoses are hoses.....
I just want to use as much stock parts as I can.
But I already saw some things I like on the CAA site.....
http://www.classicautoair.com/MOPAR_OEM_Parts_Engine.html

This for example in combination with a quality rebuilt of the heater core might get me started well.

[bull]

Whatever you decide I'd at least keep the factory A/C parts and store them.

[autodynamics]

a/c is a must.....if your car came with it make it work again...dont be like some of these dopes that remove it for no reason other than going fast...you can always go fast with a/c i have some original a/c parts left over from my build if you need something shoot me a email

[Corellian Corvette]

Check my posts for some under hood pictures.

I was in the same position as you are - had all the under-dash stuff, none of the under hood stuff.

My local radiator shop owner is a mopar guy and knows AC systems.

I did what others are suggesting - I had CAA rebuild my underhood box. Reason I paid them to do it was to make sure everything was pressure tested and vaccum tested before it went under the dash. I was able to talk directly to the guy who worked on the box and he certainly seemed knowledgeable. 

Then you get their underhood adapter kit. Comes with all the fittings/hoses/etc. you need to plug directly into the stock A/C firewall. If you call the guys, they know what you need.

The ONLY change I made from their kit, was to buy from CAA the factory hard lines, which I had the shop adapt by changing out some ends to work with the universal kit. Reason I did that is some of the larger hoses were cumbersome to route over the top of the radiator core support, and the hard lines are cleaner with a more "factory" look.

Don't even bother with the factory stuff. First, as stated, it's impossible to find. Second, per my AC guy, the factory parts are much less efficient and use almost 3x the amount of coolant to fill all the lines. More fittings + more coolant = more chances for leaks + more expensive to charge the system.

Both the guy at my radiator shop AND the guys at CAA say that the combination of the universal underhood system and the original under-dash system is the best possible combination. You get the very efficient compressor/condenser/drier on the engine side with doesn't rob a ton of HP and is lighter then stock, but the cooling comes from having the VERY LARGE vintage Evaporator which dissipates a ton of heat and provides great cooling. I can state first hand that my system blows COLD.

[autodynamics]

i agree... i just finished my a/c up as well. and it blows COLD!!!!! actually 32 degrees is what the probe read...i used a universal underhood kit and adapted it myself using the compressor that came with the motor and adapting a condensor and drier and some lines...ideally the factory evaporator is a great advantage to use since its so large. A/c systems are pretty easy t figure out so i would'nt be afraid of installing one in. do your homework ask questions and install. there is a ton of info from a place called doc's blocks do a search they come right up order directly from them and save a bundle...

[six-tee-nine]

Thanks for the replies guys......

I WILL keep my stock AC firewall and I WILL have a working AC setup again (probably somewhere in 2080 when I finally manage to fully get the care restored)....just kiddin, i'm getting starded real soon now

[roger440]

I can tell you this the '69 big block B body A/ C main suct & discharge hoses are made of unobtanium.  They were a 1 year only set.

I recently got a wild hair to put my factory 440 A/c set up back as well...for LOOKS only.   Not really planning on getting it to work just yet.

I was trying to piece together the set, exhausting my usual parts sources.   Turns out Tony Dagostino recently parted out an A/C set up form a 383 powered 69 Coronet.    I bought the setup he had (main suction & discharge lines off compressor, hard liquid line from drier, small line from drier to evaporator, W/P pulley, crank puller, idler pulley set up with cast iron spacer, alt brackets for A/C car, drier & brackets)
I did not take the compressor off him (the front bracket is the same 383-440 BUT the 3 rear brackets (2 tube shaped ones & small lower bracket are DIFFERENT for a 440 engine) nor the condenser (will buy new).  $686 shipped to the door
Won a 70 440 compressor off ebay (brackets are the same part #'s 69-70) $120 shipped to the door
Well over my original "estimate" of parts spending already....condenser is about $150 then while im at it I might as well get the Quanta "original style" belts...$30 each x 4

Pictured below is my pile of junk!


Classic Auto Air wants $300+ just to "restore" the 2 main hoses...new rubber with non-stock white lettering and non-stock type crimps, but they replate the steel sections with clear zinc (or what ever coating was orig on there)....not happening in my budget right now.

Spent about 1/2 hour the other day on the wire wheel & cleaned up one of the lines a bit.....will paint the steel sections with Eastwoods Clear Zinc & black gloss where necessary....rough up the hoses to get a "fresh" surface & lather up with Armor-All and she'll look good as new

My advice....DO NOT GET RID OF YOUR ORIGINAL STUFF!!!

Do you know what the pipework differences are between 69 and 70? Like most, my AC stuff was missing and i want to put it back, even if it doesn,t work. I managed to score a complete 70 charger set up, but will it look right???

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

The 70 setup is slightly different.....main difference is the fact that the discharge hose & suction line BOTH run on the passenger side of the engine.

In 69 the discharge hose is a 1 piece line that runs from the compressor to the drivers fender, across the rad suport to the condenser.... see pics


70 first, 69 second

[roger440]

Ahh, i see. Thanks.

Ive got 3 compressors so i will have to see if any are 69. But even if i have' i'll have to find a pipe 

[Just 6T9 CHGR]

The compressors will in fact interchange no problem.

Another difference i have found is the actual compressor pulley..... MOST '69's I have seen use the 6 5/8" pulley.   Some late '69's & 70's use a 5 3/8" pulley  (you can visually see the 1+" in diameter difference because the belts do not sit "flush" with the clutch on the larger pulley set up)
Turns out that BOTH of the compressors I got have the smaller set up on them.  For now I will run that one until I can find a cheaper replacement

Let me know if you want to sell one of the larger pulley setups off what you have

5 3/8" first

6 5/8" next