Nostalgic A/C How Well Does it Cool

[JJWA40]

Vintage Air has the Surefit IV and it has some great tech but you must cut the bottom out of the glovebox to install it. I just acquired a 1982 in original condition and cannot bring myself to cut on it.

Only other game in town that i see is Nostalgic’s version which requires no cutting. It uses a slim line evaporator.

I’m in Houston so it gets super hot and humid. Just hoping someone has experience with Nostalgic A/C in hot climate.

Thanks

 

[c2dfj45]

I have Nostalgic AC units in 2 of my trucks...they're great. One is in a 45 pickup so that's not very hard to cool down. It does a great job. Just put one in an 45LV....have not had to put it on yet.....still windows down driving. That one will probably struggle to cool that cabin....big truck. Install is really nice and the people at Nostalgic are great. Check out my 45LV build thread(in my signature) and you can see how I did that one....they made it special without any control knobs on it so I could mount them in existing holes in the dash. Looks really cool and they take up very little passenger space.

We had a FJ43 in the shop last week with a Vintage air and it took up a TON of passenger area space. That really bugs me on those units.

Have you looked at Old Air? Currently fitting one of their systems in a customers FJ40. Really nice unit(looks cool because it goes where the heater was) and some really cool options with regards to controlling it. Easier to call them vs. trying to figure out their website offerings...it's a little confusing. I think it's probably going to be the best out of all of them.

If I had a complaint about the Nostalgic Air units....they get a little buzzy on the higher speeds. You really need to make substantial brackets to keep them tightly mounted.

Consider lining your floors and firewall with Lizard Skin's sound deadner followed by their ceramic insulation. That stuff is amazing. And make sure that firewall is really sealed up along with your shifters and trans tunnel. You don't want any of that hot engine compartment air sneaking in the cab.

 

[c2dfj45]

I'm in Tampa by the way. Same weather.....or maybe we're a touch cooler?? I hear it's REALLY hot and humid in Houston.

 

[JJWA40]

I have Nostalgic AC units in 2 of my trucks...they're great. One is in a 45 pickup so that's not very hard to cool down. It does a great job. Just put one in an 45LV....have not had to put it on yet.....still windows down driving. That one will probably struggle to cool that cabin....big truck. Install is really nice and the people at Nostalgic are great. Check out my 45LV build thread(in my signature) and you can see how I did that one....they made it special without any control knobs on it so I could mount them in existing holes in the dash. Looks really cool and they take up very little passenger space.

We had a FJ43 in the shop last week with a Vintage air and it took up a TON of passenger area space. That really bugs me on those units.

Have you looked at Old Air? Currently fitting one of their systems in a customers FJ40. Really nice unit(looks cool because it goes where the heater was) and some really cool options with regards to controlling it. Easier to call them vs. trying to figure out their website offerings...it's a little confusing. I think it's probably going to be the best out of all of them.

If I had a complaint about the Nostalgic Air units....they get a little buzzy on the higher speeds. You really need to make substantial brackets to keep them tightly mounted.

Consider lining your floors and firewall with Lizard Skin's sound deadner followed by their ceramic insulation. That stuff is amazing. And make sure that firewall is really sealed up along with your shifters and trans tunnel. You don't want any of that hot engine compartment air sneaking in the cab.

Thanks

 

[c2dfj45]

No prob. Wish I could help you with a Nostalgic in a 40. I think anything is going to struggle to cool the cab of a 40 in your area or mine to be honest.

 

[Well Sorted]

Have you looked at Old Air? Currently fitting one of their systems in a customers FJ40. Really nice unit(looks cool because it goes where the heater was) and some really cool options with regards to controlling it. Easier to call them vs. trying to figure out their website offerings...it's a little confusing. I think it's probably going to be the best out of all of them.

Dragging this back up... looking at AC options for a customer truck I'm working on. Any additional thoughts on the Old Air Hurricane unit by now? I don't like the look of the Vintage Air unit hanging under the dash and neither does the customer. Looking for something more subtle that I can put vents in the dash for.

 

[White Stripe]

Dragging this back up... looking at AC options for a customer truck I'm working on. Any additional thoughts on the Old Air Hurricane unit by now? I don't like the look of the Vintage Air unit hanging under the dash and neither does the customer. Looking for something more subtle that I can put vents in the dash for.

You can install vents with the vintage air unit in the dash rather than have them all bulked under the dash, it is a option that they offer.

 

[c2dfj45]

Dragging this back up... looking at AC options for a customer truck I'm working on. Any additional thoughts on the Old Air Hurricane unit by now? I don't like the look of the Vintage Air unit hanging under the dash and neither does the customer. Looking for something more subtle that I can put vents in the dash for.

We had to shelve the customer's project for a while so we never got to get the AC in. I found a really cool pic of how someone used the standard vents that they systems come with and mounted them in the bottom cushion of the dashboard. Looked really really cool. That's the way we will do our customer's most likely...