Hey guys, here is a little update to questions I constantly see about AC units and choices.
Back in September, after one of the hottest damned summers I can remember, I decided to get AC.
I looked at the Cool Cruisers unit, and the Vintage Air unit. Both were about the same price and both have extensive write ups on how to install them. Some where along the line i got to Old Air's website, and started looking around, the Hurricane unit looked to be nice and have similair dimensions, but after searching here on Mud, and not finding any installs, and only more questions, I decided to go with the Vintage Air unit, mostly because everyone says that the Cool Cruisers unit, only cools the passengers knees.
So I ordered the unit, and got inside of a week, the dealer I delt with is a member here on mud, and was extremely helpful! It could not have been easier.
I got all of the under hood stuff done; new bracket, compressor, condesor, drier, and hoses.
Then I mocked up the evaporator which had the all the vents in it....
I cannot tell how much I hated how this looked!!!
I even left it in for a few days to see if it would grow on me....it did not.
A few days later, I read a thread on here, https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/516170-vintage-air-buyer-beware.html , and that just lowered my spirits and expectations.
So what to do? I left all the under hood stuff there and put back in the stock heater box, as fall and winter were on their way. Over Christmas I was talking with my Brother and my Dad, telling them about how I really had nowhere to go on the project. During that conversation I was saying how I just wanted something that was very stock looking and similair in size. My Brother reminded me that I had already sent him a couple of emails with links, to Old Air, in those emails, I had already measured out the stock heater box location, and the measurements were pretty darned close to stock....
February rolls around and I call Old Air, they were incredibly polite and helpful, I told them of my situation, and the salesman, Clint I think, suggested that I just get one of their "Inside Packages", as I already had everything else.... sounds pretty good.
I drove up to Old Air, as they are just down the road. In the showroom, they had all their units there, and looking good. I was talking to Clint, and I said, I was concerned because I had no way to be sure if this would fit or look good... He said, no problem, we have a mock unit, the Hurricane Air blower and evaporator casing with none of the innards. OK, we walked out to the cruiser and held it up as well as we could, I still had the stock heater box in place.
It looked good, damned good, to my eyes anyway.
I bought the unit, the 2000 series- for smooth firewall installations, and picked it up a week later.
Custom Aftermarket A/C Systems & Replacement Parts for Hot Rod, Classic, & Vintage Cars/Trucks - Universal HURRICANE Systems - Cable Operated
This weekend I finally got to it.
I did not want to drill into the Firewall, so I used a bracket, just some 16 gauge 2 inch flat straping. The Hurricane Air unit, has 3 holes in the back to mount it, 2 holes on the top, and one on the bottom. These holes are off center to the passenger side.
The brackets the unit comes with are flimsy and useless.
This was the most difficult part, I mounted the strapping to the 2 top holes, I had to use a 1/8 inch spacer dues to the design of the unit, or else it would not have sat flat against the firewall. With these spacers I only had enough room to slide in my box end wrench, to tighten the strapping and the unit to the firewall. I only used to two top holes, and it is held on tight.
In hindsight- I would just drill through the firewall.
Like so many of us, I run my stereo in my center console, this left a huge gapping hole, where the stock radio should be. I waited for along time for an original cover to show up, but never found one I liked, or thought was priced fairly. So I was thinking I would go to the junkyard and see if there were any vents that I could stuff in there. That all changed as I was taking the stock heater box out, I noticed that the vent on it was just screwed in, so I took it off, and held it up, wow, pretty close.. The width was perfect, but it was a little tall.... but not enough so that is looked bad or out of place.. to my eyes anyway...
The vent tubes all went in with ease. I had some 1 1/4 black crush tube lying around, so I used this to go to my side defrost vents. I just spliced it into the the defrost tube, and sealed everything up with back duct tape.
The switches were hands down the easiest part. The switches they provide you with are the same size and shape as our pre-existing holes for the "Fresh Pull" knob, so the have that flat portion on the bottom. The fan switch and the thermostat switch are both "Rotary Style", Booo!! I could not find a 3 speed fan switch that was "Pull style"....Since the new fan switch was in the exast same place as the old fan switch, I just used the same switched power source, by adding a spade connector and plugging it in.
The fan Blows like a champ!! Much more power than my stock fan-- to be fair, my stock heater needed to have all the foam replaced..
But here is the really great part, the windsheild defrost and the side defrost vents blow with an incredible amount of force!!! The two vents I have on the side blow very well and the middle vent blows very well too. I was concerned that since the middle vent is set, and cannot have the direction of airflow adjusted, it would be irritating or useless, boy was I wrong. It is perfectly aimed at my chest/shoulder/face.
Tommorow I am taking it to an AC shop to have the system vaccumed dry and then charged up, AC lines cut and cripmed to length, etc.
As the look of the unit goes, I think it looks amazing!! It is pretty close to stock size, and I have no issues with the shifters, I am running the stock 4spd and transfer case, so the H55f, may be a differnt story.
I cant think of anything else, I will report back, once the actual AC is set up and rolling.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Now time for some pics....
Back in September, after one of the hottest damned summers I can remember, I decided to get AC.
I looked at the Cool Cruisers unit, and the Vintage Air unit. Both were about the same price and both have extensive write ups on how to install them. Some where along the line i got to Old Air's website, and started looking around, the Hurricane unit looked to be nice and have similair dimensions, but after searching here on Mud, and not finding any installs, and only more questions, I decided to go with the Vintage Air unit, mostly because everyone says that the Cool Cruisers unit, only cools the passengers knees.
So I ordered the unit, and got inside of a week, the dealer I delt with is a member here on mud, and was extremely helpful! It could not have been easier.
I got all of the under hood stuff done; new bracket, compressor, condesor, drier, and hoses.
Then I mocked up the evaporator which had the all the vents in it....
I cannot tell how much I hated how this looked!!!
I even left it in for a few days to see if it would grow on me....it did not.
A few days later, I read a thread on here, https://forum.ih8mud.com/40-55-series-tech/516170-vintage-air-buyer-beware.html , and that just lowered my spirits and expectations.
So what to do? I left all the under hood stuff there and put back in the stock heater box, as fall and winter were on their way. Over Christmas I was talking with my Brother and my Dad, telling them about how I really had nowhere to go on the project. During that conversation I was saying how I just wanted something that was very stock looking and similair in size. My Brother reminded me that I had already sent him a couple of emails with links, to Old Air, in those emails, I had already measured out the stock heater box location, and the measurements were pretty darned close to stock....
February rolls around and I call Old Air, they were incredibly polite and helpful, I told them of my situation, and the salesman, Clint I think, suggested that I just get one of their "Inside Packages", as I already had everything else.... sounds pretty good.
I drove up to Old Air, as they are just down the road. In the showroom, they had all their units there, and looking good. I was talking to Clint, and I said, I was concerned because I had no way to be sure if this would fit or look good... He said, no problem, we have a mock unit, the Hurricane Air blower and evaporator casing with none of the innards. OK, we walked out to the cruiser and held it up as well as we could, I still had the stock heater box in place.
It looked good, damned good, to my eyes anyway.
I bought the unit, the 2000 series- for smooth firewall installations, and picked it up a week later.
Custom Aftermarket A/C Systems & Replacement Parts for Hot Rod, Classic, & Vintage Cars/Trucks - Universal HURRICANE Systems - Cable Operated
This weekend I finally got to it.
I did not want to drill into the Firewall, so I used a bracket, just some 16 gauge 2 inch flat straping. The Hurricane Air unit, has 3 holes in the back to mount it, 2 holes on the top, and one on the bottom. These holes are off center to the passenger side.
The brackets the unit comes with are flimsy and useless.
This was the most difficult part, I mounted the strapping to the 2 top holes, I had to use a 1/8 inch spacer dues to the design of the unit, or else it would not have sat flat against the firewall. With these spacers I only had enough room to slide in my box end wrench, to tighten the strapping and the unit to the firewall. I only used to two top holes, and it is held on tight.
In hindsight- I would just drill through the firewall.
Like so many of us, I run my stereo in my center console, this left a huge gapping hole, where the stock radio should be. I waited for along time for an original cover to show up, but never found one I liked, or thought was priced fairly. So I was thinking I would go to the junkyard and see if there were any vents that I could stuff in there. That all changed as I was taking the stock heater box out, I noticed that the vent on it was just screwed in, so I took it off, and held it up, wow, pretty close.. The width was perfect, but it was a little tall.... but not enough so that is looked bad or out of place.. to my eyes anyway...
The vent tubes all went in with ease. I had some 1 1/4 black crush tube lying around, so I used this to go to my side defrost vents. I just spliced it into the the defrost tube, and sealed everything up with back duct tape.
The switches were hands down the easiest part. The switches they provide you with are the same size and shape as our pre-existing holes for the "Fresh Pull" knob, so the have that flat portion on the bottom. The fan switch and the thermostat switch are both "Rotary Style", Booo!! I could not find a 3 speed fan switch that was "Pull style"....Since the new fan switch was in the exast same place as the old fan switch, I just used the same switched power source, by adding a spade connector and plugging it in.
The fan Blows like a champ!! Much more power than my stock fan-- to be fair, my stock heater needed to have all the foam replaced..
But here is the really great part, the windsheild defrost and the side defrost vents blow with an incredible amount of force!!! The two vents I have on the side blow very well and the middle vent blows very well too. I was concerned that since the middle vent is set, and cannot have the direction of airflow adjusted, it would be irritating or useless, boy was I wrong. It is perfectly aimed at my chest/shoulder/face.
Tommorow I am taking it to an AC shop to have the system vaccumed dry and then charged up, AC lines cut and cripmed to length, etc.
As the look of the unit goes, I think it looks amazing!! It is pretty close to stock size, and I have no issues with the shifters, I am running the stock 4spd and transfer case, so the H55f, may be a differnt story.
I cant think of anything else, I will report back, once the actual AC is set up and rolling.
Feel free to ask any questions.
Now time for some pics....
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