Vintageair A/C Installation
HI all,
As I am sure you have seen before many people are fitting the Vintage Air systems to their H series vehicles. Like everyone else I have weighed up the pro’s and con’s of an original unit versus the new Vintage Air units.
For me it came down to the following:
Vintage Air.
• Newer technology
• Compact unit
• Less Engine Bay clutter
• Similar cost to the original units refurbed
• I never had faith in the original units anyway
• If installed correctly should be hidden with no visible signs that an aftermarket unit is installed.
What do you need?
Vintage Air Compac GENII Heat Cool and Defrost 68000-VUZ-A 832.59 Sanden Compressor S8030 325.44 Vintage Air Horizontal Slide Panel 49110-SHQ 143.11 Vintage Air Extended Length Hose Kit with Dryer 547000 286.14 Condenser 14 x 24 with Brackets Firewall Blanking Plate Optional Aircon /Alternator Bracket Adaptor Aircon / Alternator Bracket – the original one $150 10" Thermo Fan $60x2
OTHER
As you are pulling your entire dash out.
o Lots of patience
o Swear Jar
o Consider fixing anything else whilst your dash is out?
o Tidy up wiring
o Fix clock
o I had my gauges calibrated
o Insulate Firewall – not so much as to reduce noise but to give the evaporator shielding from the heat
PLANNING
There are several ways to fit this unit and to run the hoses.
o Mount it behind the Glove Box ( You will lose some of the Glovebox )
o Mount it above the transmission hump and with correct positioning of hoses you should save the entire glovebox.
o Use a firewall blanking plate
o Keep the original Heater box (inside Engine Bay) and run hoses to that for some originality
o Which controller are you going to use and how are you going to position it.
o Are you going to keep the forced air ducts? - it’s optional but I am going to remove them as they take up a lot of real-estate and if I have air I wont need them ??
I am going to use the horizontal controller and mount it in place of the original ( behind the facia)
I am going to mount the unit in the centre above the transmission hump and run all my hoses through the firewall at the point near where the plenum tube runs and through the guards.
TIMING
This is a reasonable project so roughly
˝ a day to remove entire dash/ dash pad etc
2 hours to fit and align Compressor
A weekend to fit Evaporator and position correctly. This includes making brackets, running drain pipe etc.
˝ a day to have an A/C tech pull all the hoses through.
˝ a day to run new ductwork and refit some of the dash ( I didn’t fit it all back until it was completely operational and tested).
Another 2-3 hours with the A/C Tech to fit off the engine bay and gas it up
STEP ONE:
I started with the engine bay first and the major piece is fitting the AC compressor as alignment is critical. The A/C belt can run too close to the alternator so a couple of washer spacers are required.
Mount the condenser, I used the four original holes (near the radiator support holes) and placed bolts for the condenser.
At this point mount the thermo fan / fans – 1 is probably enough
Now is a good time to cut your heater hoses and loop them back so that they are out of the way and you can start removing the heater box.
Alternator.jpg
STEP TWO.
Remove everything !!!!
This is a good time to:
o Re-route any wiring that’s in the way or been butchered over the past 40 + Years
o Clean off 40+ years of dust
o Remove broken glass from countless new windscreens
o Find old coins
o Insulate the firewall
You will notice that I left the console in place. It is a pain to work on whilst its there but you need it to ascertain the correct positioning of the unit as it sits very close to it when complete. I suggest you leave it in during the fitment stage at least
Sound.jpg
Remove.jpg
STEP THREE:
Slide the unit into place, it will rest above the hump on its own. There are two mounting points on the front of the unit and one at the back. It is difficult to get it to sit horizontal as the plenum chamber is too close to the outlet points but you can get it close.
From here you can start to think about how you are going to position brackets etc. I bought some of the flexible “make your own bracket “material from Bunnings to get the right size, bends etc and then formed the final brackets.
Whilst scratching your head and thinking about the brackets I used the time to seal up my heater box as I am not running my hoses through the firewall
Heater-Unit.jpg
Have a good look at the wiring and if possible move anything that will get in the way. Also take into account the wiring loom that comes with the VA unit.
There are two relays that need to sit in there somewhere and the length of cable supplied it a bit short from the relays to the control unit.
Also consider that the horizontal control unit has a capillary wire that needs to run to the top of the evaporator
ALSO be sure to run your drain pipe from the bottom of the unit and drill a ˝: hole in the tunnel to pass the drain through, mine is just on the drivers side on the downwards side of the hump.
Make sure all your wiring runs above the Steering column (including the capillary wire).
STEP FOUR
The supplied Windscreen Ducts are too small to cover the long H series vent holes. As you can see I have taken the old Y shaped duct and cut it down to adapt the new ducts into the old.
(Wrap these in tape after screwing them together.)
One side of these will mount in their original position ( the two long screws that hold the original speaker in place.) the other ends will firmly site in place against the plenum chamber and secured with duct tape.
Defrost.jpg
Defrost-2.jpg
STEP FIVE
The Horizontal Controller is tricky.
It can fit in the original position without too much work.
For a neat fit, I trimmed out the old controller housing and fitted them together so that it sits nicely behind the facia ( others have mounted it in front of the facia)
I have had some original style sticker made up - let me know if you are interested in these?
controller-2.png
Control-Unit-cut-down.jpg
Controller-3.jpg
Controller-4.jpg
STEP SIX:
DUCT WORK ( do this after the A?C tech has fitted the hoses inside the cabin !!!
This is relatively self explanatory although take into consideration that there are two outlets for the windscreen but only three outlets for the face/dash vents. I put a Y shaped join at the passengers side and split one into two vents.
STEP 7.
At this point you can now put some of the dash back together.
DashPad
o Lower and upper dash frames.
o Now you can mount the controller, connect the wire and run the capillary tube to the top of the unit.
CABLING:
Need a supply from the switched side of the Fuse panel to the Evaporator control wires
Need to run a feed from the evaporator to the Compressor via the trinary switch ( I am routing this with the hoses ( through the Inner and outer guards).
I also ran an earth to the battery and two spares ( just in case I need them)
Hose-Firewall.jpg
Hoses-Finished.jpg
Stickers.jpg
finish1.jpg
Heater-Finished.jpg
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Originally Posted by Kiwivan
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