Samller A/C Heater Box?? swap??

[dougfather]

There's been a lot of discsussion about removing the A/C and Heater boxes for more room under the hood. Some say keep, others say remove. But my my question, is there a way to "relocate" or go with a smaller A/C unit for the g-body (say, from a Chevette or J-Body)?

I've also seen JC Whitney had some generic aftermarket units.

(see here: http://www.jcwhitney.com/autoparts/Brow ... 89/c-10101)

Has anyone had any experience with these?

 

[joe_padavano]

Vintage Air sells very small A/C-only and combined heat-defrost-A/C units that will fit completely up behind the dash pad. Nothing on the firewall and nothing hanging down under the dash either. These were originally designed for street rods and are thus very compact, but many muscle car builders are using them to clean up the firewall. You can connect them to the existing dash outlets if you want.

 

[dougfather]

Thanx for the advice. I checked thire website and they have all kind of options to install. Have you or anyone else have any pics of the install? I figure that a 20+ year old A/C system will need a compressor, condensor, accumulator, etc etc for it to work with a R-134a system. I'm doing a V6 to V8 swap and everything is out right now. I like to look into several options before I spend $$$ to simply replace old parts.

 

[clean8485]

If you'd like to see some pics of an aftermarket A/C install, you can check these out.
http://www.classicresto.com/mambo/content/view/96/43/
Or you can do a Google search using the words 1986 Pontiac Grand Prix 2+2, then link to the site at Classic Restoration Enterprises, and look at their buildup on the GP 2+2 that they have.

 

[dougfather]

They are doing a rather interesting swap on that 2+2. I checked out some of their other projects and they seem to love those Vintage Air units. Considering all the parts I would need to buy to get the old system to work (which, BTW was designed aroung R12), I probably won't have much more into buying a complete brand new system designed for R134a.

The only thing is I would try to see if I could keep the firewall "flat" instead of bumping out the block off plate. I would sacrifce the glove box, since I will probably build a console from scratch using plywood or partical board

 

[dougfather]

Does anyone have any experience with the following aftermarket A/C products? I am debating which way to go.

http://www.air-tique.com/

http://www.oldairproducts.com/shop/

http://www.vintageair.com/

Thanks

 

[Tony_SS]

Check out the units they sell at Summit. I think one is small enough to place on the inside of the a/c delete panel.