Do the after market airconditiners work well once installed?

 

Yes, but they are only as good as your insulation. Older cars and trucks were not sealed or insulated as well from the factory as they are now. I added a Vintage Air system to a 29 Ford I had a few years ago but had to do some extraordinary sealing (more than what it came from the factory with)around the doors and floor to keep the cold air in. Also, be sure your firewall is well insulated and you have no air leaks through the vents, windows, floor or firewall. Every ounce of heat that gets into the passenger compartment is an enemy of A/C...

Vern

 

The Vintage Air unit I put in my 53 F100 works every bit as good as my late model F150. It is their Gen II unit, with their condensor. I did insulate the cab top and bottom and adjusted doors to seal well. The Southern Rods unit in my street rod does not perform as well. I am replacing the condensor with a new Vintage air one right now. We will see if that makes a difference. Joe

 

I purchased a unit from Southern Rods, I was not impressed with the unit or their service at all.

 

I have vintage air units in my 55's..works great..

 

I have used Vintage Air twice, a 34 Ford and the 56F100 I sold a few months ago. Both worked good but you have nearly $1000 involved for the installation. I'm building another 56BW but have been sidetracked building a 49Ch++y pickup on an S10 chassis for a daily driver. I just purchased a Hypercool unit from Rainbow Products in NC for the daily driver but have not installed it yet. The complete setup was under $600. Some others on this site have purchased units from Rainbow also. They sell VA and others so you might check out their prices. So far they have been good to deal with.

 

Delzell, Vern is dead on. ANY leak will make your system much less effective.
I redid my insulation. I put the self adhesive sheet from midfifty in the headliner and double sided foil in the remainder. I had the 5% visibility tint put on my back glass in my 55'. All of the above have done good things for my AC in my 55'. I will tell you this though an underdash AC unit will outcool a in dash model. Hey if you have anymore questions fire away. Mike Brown at Rainbow Products is a good man to work with. There are other good places as well.
http://www.ackits.com/
http://www.rainbowproductsonline.com/
http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/index.php

Good AC is one of my pet peeves living in middle TN. Best of luck

 

I used Hot Rod Air because they were a little cheaper than Vintage. Now I wish I would have used Vintage gen II instead. Jag