Here is the story. My truck was originally equipped with ac, however, that is long gone. I use my compressor for onboard air, and where the lines come out of the heater box both ducttaped over. I have no condensor or evaporator. So with that in mind, suppose I wanted to revive the ac on the old beast, if I scrounged up the parts to put the system back together, would it be worth it? Did the AC in those old trucks really do much? I was considering, buying an entire system off of a wrecked newer model truck, and retrofitting to my truck, Does anyone have any ideas or experience. Thanks.

 

i lied I do have a evaporator, no drier though...

 

One problem I can see is if the system you pull from a donor has been compromised in any way, there could be contaminants in the lines or in the compressor which could damage the compressor.

The rubber lines may need to be replaced...

I believe the old systems ran R12 which will need to retrofitted to something newer like R134a... I need to do this retrofit on my Fury but I need to find out first what kind of condition my old R12 system in - It blew cool the last time I checked but I think my rubber lines are deteriorating...

 

My 1973 Ford F250 had the equipment, but did not blow cold air. I took an online course to become certified in auto A/C systems, which helped me to understand the system and also provided me a certificate in order to purchase R-12 refrigerant. My truck had all the pieces intact and the controls are in the center of the dash, (OEM). It can be very expensive to have someone do this for you. As to your question, after I tested my system with a vacuum (So I wouldn't have to find out about a leak after putting in the R-12 freon), replaced the long gone R-12 refrigerant to specifications, my air conditioning will get very cold. The air comes through the center and passenger vents faster than my driver side vent and will often get my passengers to ask me to turn it down. When I am by myself, it cools the cab and will make me adjust it after a short time. I am in Southern California and in the heat, it works great. Temperature of truck goes up just a bit, and I watch it more closely in stop and go traffic, but even with hills it works great. I went with the original R-12 because some said that the new R-134a does not cool as well. I can't speak to that, but the original R-12 freon works great! The R-12 can be found, but is a bit pricey at $10-15 per can. Good luck. I will try to post a picture of the interior controls so you know what kind of a system I have.

 

Nice Interior! So if you where starting from scratch would you go with the old system or retrofit one from a newer vehicle?

 

I am doing the same thing.

all original except the pump.

If your evap has been collecting moisture open for a long time, it is junk.
Most all the after market places have all parts except the evaporator. NPD has the evaporators.




Auto a/c systems are big enough to cool an entire house. People want cold right now so they are over sized for the amount of square feet they cool.

 

Thanks! I am partial to staying original, I didn't have to buy any parts (So I don't know how expensive they might be), and it blows very cold...I would suggest going with original. Blows colder than some newer cars I have owned or been in. The money threshold is where I would have the rub if the missing parts are terribly expensive. Money aside, definitely go original! Good luck!

 

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What kind of radio is that? I like it!

 

It is a "Custom Autosound" stereo with cassette and a rear plug-in for IPOD type devices. Fits perfectly without having to adapt anything. I have my IPOD sitting in the ashtray and the IPOD plug from the radio routed behind the radio so you can't see either. Looks a lot like a regular old radio that most people would overlook, but has plenty of power and nice features.

 

same here mine is a 74 F250 Crew Custom an does not have A/C I am going to change out the dash to one that has factory A/C an install everything myself. I am just going to double check on all the parts I need to do this.

 

I love a/c projects! If I may offer some observations/questions, here goes. Were the lines going to and from the evap. cut and taped over near the firewall, or was the evap. removed? If it was not removed(not sure why anyone would do that anyway, maybe if it was blocking the heater core and it needed replacing ...I dunno), then the job gets a lot easier. The condensor and drier can be generic and relatively inexpensive, unless you have access to cheap salvage parts that bolt up. Are you restoring the truck or just want cold? You will want a clean, new drier, not a salvage unit. How are your on-board air fittings plumbed to the compressor? I assume it's a York? You'll want new hoses as well, you'll need to determine if the hose ends are flare fittings or O-ring(was o-ring used that far back? I'm not sure). I wouldn't worry about the condition of the evap., I've built quite a few systems using salvage evaps and never had one leak, other than at a connection, and that's fixable. I would think that if you are handy, you could put the system together for a few hundred $$ or less. Leak testing it and charging it, if you don't have a vacuum pump and a set of gauges, is gonna cost ya. Hope this helps ...
Edit- the reason I asked if the evap was removed is that in the factory systems, generally the a/c ducting is tied into the heating system, duplicating the complex system of flaps and doors and actuators to make it work right can be a royal p.i.t.a.
Pat D.

 

robertbenita

Sent you a personal message....

 

The evaporAtor is still in the truck. One hangup though is that I am definately on favor of keeping my on board air, so Id have to come up with a way to mount a second air compressor. If I did mount a second aircompressor seems to me like I would want another smaller compressor does anyone have any input or see any problems? What would be good compressor to use?

 

By the way I am not restoring the truck it has few factorry parts and is heavily modified inside and out

 

Most of the aftermarket air folks switch to a sanden style compressor, you can get 'em on ebay from China for cheap, I'm using one on a '67 Rambler and it works fine so far. As far as brackets, the easy thought would be to mount it where either the power steering pump goes(assuming you don't have/want power steering), or find brackets for an emissions air pump on a later year truck and adapt them to whatever compressor you decide on. Beyond that, I think your going to be into full on fabrication.
Pat D.