I'm doing a complete resto on my 1980 F100. It is a non-a/c truck that I want to convert to factory a/c. I have found a great donor dash with the vents, but my question is does my non a/c truck have the appropriate wiring for the factory a/c stuff under the dash? Is it a plug and play situation? Thanks.

 

Some of the wiring is going to be missing. I would get the wiring harness too. The whole duct system is configured differently.

 

No & no. Read https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ped-truck.html

 

So ctubutis... I take it that you are driving around with cold A/C? Nice!

Are there any precautions that should be taken when charging a converted system with R-134? I've got a converted system, and I recently charged it to the R-134 specs, but I was wondering how durable the old compressor is since it was designed for R-12.

 

Thanks for the replies....I was hoping it was going to be more simple. Let me back up, I have a non a/c truck from the factory. I had aftermarket a/c installed 25 years ago which hasn't worked in 15 years. They butchered my dash installing the vents. I have it all completely out along with the the duct work; basically, all that's left is the wiring harness and steering column. I did this to replace the firewall insulation, which they tore up also. So, now I'm at a crossroads of getting a non a/c dash and the original fan motor, or get an a/c dash and its factory components. I'm building a hot rod truck for what it's worth. I'm leaning towards the non a/c dash with what you're telling me. But, a/c sure would be nice.

 

No... My truck doesn't have A/C but I had found one in a JY sometime early last
Summer (it was HOT outside at the time) that had it... I took the primary wiring
harness out of it and was curious about taking the A/C, too, so I asked what all
would be involved. Somebody here (8-lugs?) gave a really good answer, and I
decided at the time that it would be just too much work... I was already involved in
rebuilding the engine and didn't want to get myself involved in "too much at the same
time" so I didn't take any of the A/C stuff. It would have been really cool if I could
have gotten the entire truck as a donor vehicle but I don't have the room to store
such a thing. The thoughts of removing all of those components in a hot, dry, dirt
field with limited tools and no electricity in 98*F weather just didn't appeal to me.

I learned that the additional wiring for factory-installed A/C is really pretty straight
forward and simple and easy to figure out. My non-A/C truck, though, doesn't have
any of the provisions to accommodate the vacuum-operated duct work, much less
any of the other A/C components. It's more work than can be done on a Saturday
afternoon.

Everything I know about A/C I've read about here. Over the past few years, some
obvious A/C experts have posted some really good information in this forum but
digging it out of the archives will be time-consuming....

-chris
colorado, usa