I am thinking about mounting the under dash unit under the bench seat. Am I crazy. it will fit and work. Just want to leave the org. heater in. I bought a aftermarket unit off CL for $350, not a fine Vintage Air unit. Thanks.

 

How are you running your hoses? Through the floor? Interesting concept. What brand do you have?

 

It'll fit easily and hose routing will be a snap. However, unlike a heater that fills the cab with warm air, ac blows cold air directly on you. Look at a modern car. The ac vents are in the dash, blowing at your upper body and face. The trick for you will be getting the cold air to where it will do some good. Without proper venting the cab will get cold eventually but it's not an efficient way to do it.

 

I have moved my fuel tank under the frame behind the rear axle free up some space behind my seats. I was going to design my system so as to put it behind the seat and run ductwork under the seats. I'm a long way from that though.

 

Blowing cold air on your legs isn't real comfortable, and won't be very effective at cooling the parts of the body hit by sunlight. Maybe you could duct it up the center in a console, but ultimately you want to blow it on the upper torso.

 

Interesting concept but like the other guy's have already stated, the cool air needs to be routed by some means to the dash to be effective. Don't give up on the idea and keep us in the loop. heck, I might even learn something,,,which is a good thing.

 

I know I will have to overcome some obstacles but I'm up for the challenge. All this can be overcome by appropriate ductwork. Anyway this project is a ways down the road. I'm just getting started on the body work for the cab. I'm thinking about a broad yet thin insulated duct incorporated in the floor pan and coming forward & up to dash registers. I also have a pair of bucket seats which will probably leave me room for a 6" wide center console for some vents and control panel.

I too am interested in Doods idea. Keep us posted.

 

Excuse me, Its called ducted air. Early Lincolns, Caddy evaporators were
all in the trunk and ducted in the headliner. I remember working on a
Packard that had two under the floor. Trucks vans backhoes on the
roof. Evaporators dont care where they are mounted is all in how air gets
delivered.

 

The fans in add-on A/C units don't usually produce much pressure, only enough to get air thru the coil and the grille on the front of the unit. A unit from an airport bus, or the rear unit from a van with dual A/C, would have more pressure for getting air thru the ductwork.

 

http://i125.photobucket.com/albums/p...ps0976b36d.jpg

Well its going under the seat........84 at the house yesterday so may need it soon.

 

Doods54
Great pictures! Wish I had a lift in my shop

 

It's all in the physics: Hot air rises, cold air sinks. If you provide a high exit for the hot air, or enough air flow the cool air will eventually replace the hot air, but your feet are going to get quite cool. My late model truck with AC has a duct setting that directs the air only to the floor level vents, but I can tell you it's not very comfortable to drive like that for long. IIRC the caddys had their outlets on the rear package tray for the rear mounted AC.

 

This will help.

 

Curious what's become of this idea. I've never had A/C in my truck...just 2x70, which makes it loud and less than ideal.

Reading through the thread, I wonder if (with the gas tank gone) you could incorporate a blower and run ducts up the back of the cab with small registers at the top of the seats. Cool air blowing up to the top of the cab and on your neck would be pretty optimal IMO.

Peace,
Jim

 

That sounds like a great idea. And, if you have a center console, you could run one through it and have it blow from the top of it just under the dash. I may try this...