60 series A/C in a 55...

[dieselcruiserhead]

I have 80 series A/C system lying around. Looks like it might work but the whole unit is HUGE and would require a lot of room under the dash in addition to a lot of fabbing..

Has anyone other than DD put a 60 series or other creative junk yard AC into a 55? If so, pics? I am basically right about to attempt I think 60 series AC into the 55.. Will probably have to modify the firewall to do it..

I was thinking/really wanted to do Vintage Air.. Too $$ for my tastes, right now, at least unfortunately!

 

[Pygmalion]

I have an A/C out of an early 80's 2WD Mini Toyota pickup that I'm going to modify to fit in my piggie, but I haven't actually gotten to the installation yet.

Mine must be smaller than your unit, though, because mine doesn't even come close to the firewall, but is about 2" away at it's closest dimension (the blower on the rear).

I agree on the $$$ though... I got lucky enough to pick the whole system up for about $110. I figure that after getting some custom hard lines fabbed (from between the A/C unit and firewall), and getting the system charged up, I'll have probably about $300 to $400 in it, which is a lot better than over $1K just for the system.

Wish I could help you more. I did notice that the heater pull-knob and the fresh air vent knob on the passenger side will have to be relocated, and I'll have to fab up a custom duct from between the stock heater blower and the heater, but overall I think it should be doable.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Interesting.. I forget the guy's name (sorry man!) the guy who bought Kurt's sweet 55 and redid it.. You were saying you have a mini truck for parts, correct? For some reason I thought I might want to be snotty and that hte 60 series control box was 'old school' or something like that.. When, frankly it works, and works great.. I think the mini truck controllers are similar too, sort of 80's toyota slide controllers cable actuated.. Might be the ticket.. i am redoing my dash anyway so... Can you maybe post a pic of the mini truck control box? Cheers, A

 

[nat]

I am doing an AC conversion too. I know Vintage air is expensive, but they have that one unit that is 12x12x9 that fits too perfectly under the dash without obstructing leg room. What sort of firewall mods do you have to do to make the 60 series unit work?

 

[scottryana]

I mentioned this in the last A/C thread, but I thought it is worth mentioning again. Vintage air has a system called the Mark IV it is an al metal unit that is 13.5"x15"x5.75" It looks period correct and should last almost as long as your pig

http://www.vintageair.com/cat2006/23.pdf

Ryan

 

[Pygmalion]

Here's a pic of the whole setup, but you can get an idea of what the internal controller looks like.

The mounting brackets are perfectly spaced to attach to the underside of the pig dash, though the one on the driver's side will take over the area occupied by the heater pull switch ("Pull Warm").

I think I can add a piece onto the A/C bracket that will hold the heater switch, so I'm not too worried.

Also, the bracket on the passenger side takes over the space occupied by the fresh air vent pull knob, so that will have to be relocated too. You can see that the stock hard lines were going through the firewall at roughly the same point as the FJ55 stock heater blower box, so those will be refabbed to move to the left, where there's an empty spot in the firewall.

I'm also going to have to add spacers to the radiator so that the condensor connections can be made, but I have plenty of room with my SBC.

Then it's just fabbing a bracket for the compressor and hooking everything up.

The unit I got is pretty dirty on the outside, but the innards look almost brand new. Everything is shiny and clean. I hooked it up to my battery, and the blower works, though it only has two of it's four speeds... something I'll need to look into.

I'm also considering going with a hydrocarbon-based refrigerant instead of R134a, but I'll have to wait and see. Most of the reports I've seen of hydrocarbon refrigerants are overwhelmingly positive, though you can never have a professional shop service the A/C again.

Anyway, I'm rambling...

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I am doing an AC conversion too. I know Vintage air is expensive, but they have that one unit that is 12x12x9 that fits too perfectly under the dash without obstructing leg room. What sort of firewall mods do you have to do to make the 60 series unit work?

I'm planning firewall mods mostly because I won't be reusing a majority of the holes & stuff on the firewall.. So I figured I would cut it out and if possible use the 60 series stuff with a firewall sort of 'designed' around it if possible so it is bolt on nice and easy.. But Dearborn got his in a stock 55 dash so I don't think it needs too much to work...

RE the mini truck stuff, interesting, sort of like a stock 55 AC unit. . I like the idea of that but I'm thinking a whole blower motor / heater core / AC core unit like the 60 series stuff with that 80's / 60 series slider control style, and make a hole in the dash to use it...?

RE Vintage Air very cool as well.. They definitely have all sorts of neat models.. I was thinking maybe something like this in a perfect world with unlimited budget... I definitely want to make sure the heater (and if possible the AC system) really do a hell of a job heating and cooling The series series stuff works great or even better than great if I remember correctly...!

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

sorry forgot link, PDF...
http://www.vintageair.com/cat2006/19.pdf

 

[dd113]

Sxorry I cant get pics posted. We pulled the whole thing out to do the interior. The 62 heater box fits under the ctr dash with no real fab work. The AC box will sit to the right of it but you need to be creative as to how you hang it. We built a mount up under the dash to mimic the OEM 62 mount. Big issue is the blower from the 62 is too ucking big to fit. We used the 55 exterior blower and a doglegged custom vent tube that goes into the 62 AC box. All controls are from the original, non AC 55 dash with the addition of a AC on/off switch. Look at them long enough then it starts to make sense. You need AC on switch (new in dash), vent which is the old 55 push/pull on dash, heat is old 55 push pull going to htr valve, fan blower speed used old 55 fan position switch. Looking at it there is a bunch of crap under the dash but foot room is about the same except on pass side left front nesr the hump. By not using the 62 blower box you keep foot room on pass side

Short story is that the crap will fit. Get the ctr box then ac box then blower in place. We are using ctr vents from crap around the shop (i think old vintage stuff) and the lower vents are from the 62 box without all the crazy tubeing attatched. We hooked into the existing 55 dash vents for de frost.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

Bummer for me because I need to eliminate the exterior 55 blower to have a second battery fit there under the hood

Anyway, thanks Dave.. If you do get a chance, I would like to see a pic at some point...

 

[dd113]

Bummer for me because I need to eliminate the exterior 55 blower to have a second battery fit there under the hood

Anyway, thanks Dave.. If you do get a chance, I would like to see a pic at some point...

We are building a dbl batt trey to fit 2 orbitals in the stock location so we can still run the OEM blower

 

[cruiser_guy]

I'm also considering going with a hydrocarbon-based refrigerant instead of R134a, but I'll have to wait and see. Most of the reports I've seen of hydrocarbon refrigerants are overwhelmingly positive, though you can never have a professional shop service the A/C again.

Personally, I'd stay away from hydrocarbons as a refrigerant. Can you say boom?!?!? Just think what it might be like with a minor head on or other accident that breaks a line around a hot engine or even a spark as something electrical lets go?

They work well as refrigerants but they are not commonly used for good reason.

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

We are building a dbl batt trey to fit 2 orbitals in the stock location so we can still run the OEM blower

Which would be nice but I have this huge, long-ass brake master because of the hydrobooster.. If I can maybe fit on that side I make take that route.. thanks Dave.. A

 

[cruiser_guy]

Which would be nice but I have this huge, long-ass brake master because of the hydrobooster.. If I can maybe fit on that side I make take that route.. thanks Dave.. A

Would a pic of the engine bay of the 3B powered FJ55 with dual batteries and the stock blower as well as A/C be of use here?

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

sure

 

[Pygmalion]

Personally, I'd stay away from hydrocarbons as a refrigerant. Can you say boom?!?!? Just think what it might be like with a minor head on or other accident that breaks a line around a hot engine or even a spark as something electrical lets go?

They work well as refrigerants but they are not commonly used for good reason.

All refrigerants will go 'boom' when mixed with oil.

I'd personally be more worried about the flash-flammability of all the gasoline under the hood (and all over the road) than a few ounces of refrigerant in my cooling system... but that's just me.

I do thank you for your concern, though from what I've read about HC-based refrigerants there is only a slight extra risk involved, but the performance, compared to R134a, is magnitudes better in old systems.

 

[cruiser_guy]

the performance, compared to R134a, is magnitudes better in old systems.

I run exclusively diesel so that's not an explosive hazard. Is there concern with parkade use (some ban propane powered vehicles) if you run hydrocarbon refrigerants.
If the performance of the H134a in my '82 BJ60 was much better I'd need a parka, and that's in the tropics!! It has a little tougher time when it's really hot like in Arizona in the heat of summer and it's 115 F ambient. I'll be using R134a in the FJ55 and the FJ45LV as well.

 

[Pygmalion]

You're cheating with diesel...

My area of California is in the northern central valley where 115F days are fairly common in the summertime. We have a three to four week spread in July and August where if the temperature is below 100F, then that's a cool day.

I don't believe there are any restrictions on HC refrigerants in California, but I'll do some more digging. Since Cali is making a big push for Detroit to accelerate their alternative energy car development, I doubt there'd be a ban on natural gas powered vehicles (or refrigerated ones).

My main concern is that my system came out of a small vehicle and is going to be used to cool a large one... I want the largest temperature differential possible without freezing up the unit. Both of my current vehicles are R134a conversions and I haven't been too happy with the results versus the old R12.

The other bonus of HC refrigerants is that your average backyard mechanic can handle them. R134a is not available to the general public without proper licensing and evac equipment.

This is of course all information that I've gleaned from researching it on the internet. I have no personal experience with HC refrigerants. Just wanted to make sure everybody knows that (don't want to sound like a false authority).

 

[dieselcruiserhead]

I have been doing some research on this too.. I have been on both sides of the fence for both sides of the argument but it is true, the propane coolant works really really well... There is a guy who sells some pre-made cans with leak tester built in, pretty easy to use.. There is good chance I may run it myself...

 

[cruiser_guy]

Here's a picture of the engine bay of the '75 turbo 3B powered FJ55. Do any of you folks know where to get rubber firewall grommets or plugs?