I'm planning on ac install..my first,a kit...for my 1951 f-1 anyone tried this? I would interested in any tips you could pass on. thanks

 

Vintage Air and Hot Rod Air are essentially the same. Two guys were running Vintage Air; one dropped out and started his own, called Hot Rod Air. I have a Hot Rod Air unit in my '59 Styleside. The solenoid crapped out on me, so the selector **** (vent, defrost, floor, etc) only functions thru the vents right now, but it's probably not Hot Rod Air's fault. I have a poor wiring job (which is getting re-wired with an EZ Wire wiring kit next month) in my truck PLUS my truck has been shop-to-shop for the last year pretty much, so the A/C unit doesn't get used much.
As far as the install, if you have room and the A/C unit you go with can handle it, it's nice to have the A/C unit in the engine compartment. I'm not crazy about having that big unit attached under the glove box area on the passenger's side, but what can you do?
The install went pretty standard, just watch for bends in hoses that attach to the metal couplers. They can crease fairly easily and cause a freon leak. Bends in hoses should be gradual, not radical. If you locate the A/C unit where mine is, make sure you leave enough room to clear the wiper arms and get to them if necessary (unless yours are up top versus behind the cowl?).
Other than that, pretty straight forward stuff: install the unit, figure out where the vents are going to go, rope in the condenser and lines, get the system charged with freon, and rock and roll...

It's not as painful as people think... but just the same, Good luck!
Daryl

 

I'm in the process of installing an Old Air unit in a '57 Chevy p/u. I looked at all of them, mostly the same, and bought the Old Air unit becuase the compressor warranty was better than the others.

They aren't exactly plug 'n play. Very important is the accuracy of the template supplied by the manufacturer. Most of the assembly line work on old trucks was by hand and measurements do vary. Here's a page with photos detailing my interior unit and heater hose install:

http://www.angelfire.com/realm3/george_d/OldAir.htm

 

I am in the middle of installing my Hot Rod Air unit in my 54 f100. I just completed the compressor and the condensor. My plan is to route the hoses down to the frame and come into the cab on the inner corner. Has anybody elso done it this way? I want to do this so that I don't have to put any holes in my new stainless firewall. I will be starting the main unit installation tonight. So far, everything has bolted up according to the installation instructions. Any advise would be appreciated. John T

 

Hi Purple, I went out and trial-fitted the evaporator unit under the dash last night. The instructions are a little vague for this step, but basically there are three bolts sticking out of the unit, one each on the left, right, and top side. The trick is to find a place where I can mount a bracket from the fire wall to these three tie-in points. It looks like if I hang it right, I can still have a normal-sized glove compartment and still use the manual vent lever. The instructions are very clear on the next step which is hooking up the two A/C lines and the two heater hoses. Maybe I'll have it all done this weekend if the wife doesn't find too many honeydos. John T

 

thanks for insight!!!l lol..john,I ill continue to moderate ..thanks all!