I have a 1984 F 150 I have had it since it was new and I have never had A/C in it and it does not have the dealer air box under the hood it only has the High Output heater core. Now my question can I add A/C by just changing the box A/C Evaporator Housing under the hood or do I need to change the box under my dash as well. I did manage to find one for the evaporator under the hood the one under the dash has been impossible to find at this stage or is there a aftermarket A/C system that I can add???

 

The under hood & under dash are parts A & B with the fire wall in between them.
You have A & B for heat only like you have and A & B for heat / AC that you are looking for.

Now also know the factory AC trucks and non AC trucks have different firewalls.
AC has 3 large holes and non AC has 2 and they don't quite line up. Some say you can cut the 3rd hole and a few smaller ones and need to block off others and no I have not done it this way.

There was also a dealer installed AC unit but don't know a lot about them. Think they had an under dash unit for AC.

I don't know if you can get an aftermarket under dash unit with out heat and use your heat box with the AC unit but may want to look into that.
Most aftermarket units I have see have AC with heat and if you went that way you would need to rip out everything you have now.

You did not say what motor you have but if a 300 six good luck finding compressor brackets, took me a long time. I still need compressor and hoses.

Oh I added AC to my non AC truck by replacing the firewall with an AC one. Yep cut 1 out and replace with the other but it looks factory stock.
Dave - - - -

 

I swapped cabs for an AC equipped can, Way toooooo much work trying to stuff in the dash the controller, valves duct work, flaps, vacuum lines, panel vent openings and the list goes on and on for just "in the cab" parts.....
By the way a non AC radiator core support will not work with a AC system installed. You need a new core support that will support Radiator and AC condenser.....

 

I forgot about the dash with vents and the radiator core support opening as I used everything from my parts truck that had AC.
That is where the firewall part I grafted on came from.

I still say he should check with the aftermarket AC people to see if they make an under dash AC only add on unit like they did back in the days.
He would then need to run the 2 AC hoses thru the firewall and a drain in the floor, some power to the blower that is built into the unit and be done inside.
Mount the compressor to the motor and fit a condenser in front of the radiator, plumb the hoses with dryer, power to compressor some odds & ends and he should have cool AC.
Only thing I would worry about is the size of the condenser to do its job because of the small core support opening.
Dave ----

 

Very True Dave.
So much easier to "swap cabs" and pillage all beackets, braces, controllers ect from under the hood. (and it looks good to when done correctly)

 

Thanks all For the replies I think I am going to lean towards trying to find a aftermarket heater A/C I will just pull everything out from under my dash when the time comes. My body on my truck is in to good of shape to swap cabs or change the firewall out. I think it would be easier to plug my existing heater hole and recut to accommodate a new combination unit. I have lots of room for the condenser in front of my rad so that won’t be a problem. I was looking on eBay and I did see some pump brackets for my 302. Either way it’s going to be a lot of work. Cheers

 

There are universal kits but thing to keep in mind is those universal kits tend not to fit too good. You might be able to try vintage air, I recommend them as their units are a bit more balanced in installation compared to other companies that over complicate them.

Mine has dealer air but if I ever ran into a problem with the dealer unit more than the drain valve breaking off on one side and me patching it back together to get by, I am thinking of getting a vintage air unit and just plating in the firewall welding all holes up and using bulk fittings to run the ac and heater lines through the firewall. Only thing if I do that I will have to source a entire plastic dash shell to get one with factory air

One thing to remember if the core support is or isn't different I don't know I have a dealer air truck, the core support wasn't changed out but the condenser mounts hanging off the front side of the core support. I in theory could go with a larger condenser to help my cooling ability and I thought of it. But then it will interfer with my mounting of my transmission cooler on the driverside infront of the radiator.

But you should be able to mount a condenser on a non air truck just make sure you keep the size in mind of the condenser for fitment.

 

If he gets a modern R134a style condenser even with a smaller size it would still out perform over the old school tube and fin style. That's what my dealer unit is the condenser is the old curved tube and fin style and I planned on swapping it out one day to a more modern R134a condenser to get a bit more efficiency out of my AC unit.

 

http://www.vintageair.com/builder-se...at1=Under Dash
Scroll down the page as this is Vintage Air under dash units.
At first looking at their site I was looking for a unit made just for our trucks but only went to think 78 or so.
Give them a call as I am sure they don't list everything on line they sell.
Dave ----

 

I deal with vintageair at work, if its not on their website all they will tell you is they can sell you a universal kit that you have to make work.

Personally if I had to go universal I would go with the 671400-VUZ kit. Its heat/cool/defrost and I would just pull the heater box off the firewall plate it in put a couple heater bulkhead fittings and then run ac bulkhead fittings where my dealer unit hoses come out on the doghouse on the driverside. This will come with converters to convert your old cable slide controls to electronic but might not work considering this only has two sliders on these trucks where their units are setup for 3 sliders to convert for blower speed, temp, and blend.

 

Thanks for the feed all the feed back it's great info. I was checking out the Vintage air on line but most of them only build units for direct fit units up to 1979. I think you are right that would be the best way to go. Thanks again.

 

Their direct fits strangely enough all use the same case. The only thing direct is their adapters to adapt oem vents to fit their smaller hoses and the plate that bolts onto the firewall. Everything else is the same no matter which kit you get.

In reality you can buy their 671400-VUZ builder series kit and that dash unit is the same as the kit for a 70s GM pickup or a 50s Ford pickup.

 

There was a guy posting pics of a universal under-dash AC install on Facebook a little while back, and man that thing was even bigger than I thought it was. It was sticking way out from the dash. He had an auto trans though...I don't think the thing would ever work with a floor shift manual trans.

 

I thought about trying one of the under dash units and the only place I could put it is on the passenger side. I think my wife would be froze up, it would diffidently be the less expensive but not appealing to the eye. I am going to check out the way Rusty mentioned with the Vintage Air.
By the way Rembrant that is a nice looking ride.I have all new window rubbers, vent and slider felts, and carpet to go back in after the last 25 years of nothing on the floor as in 1994 I had it repainted and parts of the cab sandblasted and the sandblasting ruined the original rubber mat. Come on nicer weather so I can get started. Have a Great weekend all.

 

Yep some of those under dash AC units are quite large. I wish someone would make a behind the dash AC only unit. That's all I truly need for my dealer AC truck. My dealer AC mounts behind the dash and has separate controls while the heater is a plain old heat only heater. But if I go vintage air only way to get a behind the dash unit is if you go with one with heat which means you need the one with defroster as well. For some reason they sell a AC/Heat unit with and without defrosters.