Don’t ask about it, done by PO. Works and never had any problems, all GM I believe with Mods.
Stumbling my way through an LS Swap (2 Viewers)
- Thread starter yotadude520
- Start date
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Air Conditioning Install/Setup
- Thread starter
- #122
With it getting hot as hell in AZ I needed to get the A/C going. I overthought the hose situation for a while, but it was actually really simple to make my own lines and get it done. Here are the parts I bought to get it done:
Line Connections:
coldhose.com
coldhose.com
(You may need a different adapter depending on which LS engine you have, this one works for the compressors found on Gen III LS engines)
Condenser:
coldhose.com
Drier:
(With Pressure Transducer + Binary Switch)
bp-automotive.com
The drier above is the exact same as the one sold by Coldhose below at a fraction of the cost. For the first time install it is nice that the BP Automotive one comes with the pressure transducer and the binary switch included.
coldhose.com
Hose Crimper:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MYX3QLG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1
Prior to building your lines your going to want to find a place to mount your A/C drier & condenser. If you’re running the stock rad you can just mount it in the stock location, if not you can mount it on the fender or somewhere along there. I ended up fabbing a little bracket to relocate the stock drier bracket to go off of my battery tray which ended up working really well.
To mount the universal condenser I just copied what @BurntToast did in his thread which is linked below. @cruisermatt is working on some universal mounts as well which look really nice.
Builds - BurntToast's FJ62 Build "Hoss" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/burnttoasts-fj62-build-hoss.1291363/page-20#post-15496169
Now with everything mounted you can start building the lines to connect everything. There are 4 lines for the whole A/C system that are as follows:
I found it easiest to build one line at a time and thread the fittings where they need to go on that particular line. Then get the hose cut and fit on both fittings, mark their orientation with a paint marker, remove then crimp. For a first time crimper they came out pretty well, here’s pictures of all of my connections.
With everything connected the last thing you need to do is get the wiring sorted to get the compressor to kick on. There are a few different ways to do this, keeping with my plans to follow the path of least resistance I just decided to use the FJ60’s factory A/C system to engage the compressor. To do this you’ll need to remove the amplifier and cut out the resistor that requires a RPM signal to get the compressor to engage. Here is the one in question:
Once that is done you’ll need to get the A/C connector for the compressor. The one below is for the Gen III compressor.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/.../a/3734/automotive-suv-2003-chevrolet-tahoe?0
You’re going to buy a male spade connector that will plug into the factory spade connector that went to the old compressor. For the GM Compressors, the green wire is positive and the black is ground. Hook up the wire that plugs into the green wire on the compressor to the factory compressor connector using that male spade connector. Run the other wire to the fender to ground it.
If you've bought a BP Automotive harness it already has provisions for the A/C pressure transducer, so you'll just hook it up and then have your tuner enable it so that the engine idles up on it's own when it senses pressure from that sensor. I haven't hooked up my binary switch yet, but all I would have to do is hook a wire from the original compressor connector to one terminal and then have the output going straight to the compressor plug. This will give you a high pressure cutoff switch. I'll post pictures once I get that installed.
With the A/C system completed that basically wraps up my LS swap on my 60. It has been an incredibly fun process and I have put over 7k miles on it since I finished the swap as a daily driver and it hasn't given me an ounce of trouble. It is singlehandedly the best mod I have ever done to any vehicle I've owned.
Final pic of the engine bay with everything connected and installed.
Line Connections:
Universal R-134a Hose Kit
Universal R134a hose kit to run hoses for the entire system. The fittings are beadlock (US Made) with R-134a charging ports, this is a complete kit to change all the hoses on an Oring a/c system or to create new hoses for an aftermarket system. The hose kit includes the following: 6 Feet of # 6...
Denso 10S17F 10S20F 10SE18F Suction and Discharge Compressor Adapters for Sealing Washer Compressor
GM Nippondenso (Denso) 10S17F & 10S20F & 10SE18F (Sealing Washer) compressor adapters used to convert a stock compressor to aftermarket hoses. The adapters are standard #8 discharge and #10 suction fittings. The discharge fitting has standard 3/4"-16 and the suction fitting has 7/8"-14 threads...
Condenser:
Universal Parallel Flow 16x26 Condenser
This is an aluminum parallel flow condenser. There are mounting holes along the top, bottom and on each end. We have a set of universal condenser brackets for purchase to mount this style of condenser P/N CS1000 Overall Condenser size: 16" tall by 27 5/8" wide Core Size: 16" tall by 26" wide...
Drier:
(With Pressure Transducer + Binary Switch)
LS Swap Receiver Drier with GM A/C Pressure Transducer
Complete LS Swap A/C Receiver Drier with GM Pressure Transducer for your LS Swap. Get your A/C working just like a LS equipped vehicle! No more stalling!
bp-automotive.com
The drier above is the exact same as the one sold by Coldhose below at a fraction of the cost. For the first time install it is nice that the BP Automotive one comes with the pressure transducer and the binary switch included.
Generic Receiver Drier #6 Male O-Ring with 7/16" and 10mm Switch Ports
Universal Generic Receiver Drier. Has #6 3/8" Male O-ring Inlet and Outlet fittings. The diameter of the drier is approximately 2.5" and the height is 8". This drier has a 7/16" switch port and a 10mm switch port (for metric switches or transducers).
Hose Crimper:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MYX3QLG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1
Prior to building your lines your going to want to find a place to mount your A/C drier & condenser. If you’re running the stock rad you can just mount it in the stock location, if not you can mount it on the fender or somewhere along there. I ended up fabbing a little bracket to relocate the stock drier bracket to go off of my battery tray which ended up working really well.
To mount the universal condenser I just copied what @BurntToast did in his thread which is linked below. @cruisermatt is working on some universal mounts as well which look really nice.
Builds - BurntToast's FJ62 Build "Hoss" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/burnttoasts-fj62-build-hoss.1291363/page-20#post-15496169
Now with everything mounted you can start building the lines to connect everything. There are 4 lines for the whole A/C system that are as follows:
- From the evaporator to the compressor
- From the evaporator to the drier
- From the drier to the condenser
- From the condenser to the compressor (high side)
I found it easiest to build one line at a time and thread the fittings where they need to go on that particular line. Then get the hose cut and fit on both fittings, mark their orientation with a paint marker, remove then crimp. For a first time crimper they came out pretty well, here’s pictures of all of my connections.
With everything connected the last thing you need to do is get the wiring sorted to get the compressor to kick on. There are a few different ways to do this, keeping with my plans to follow the path of least resistance I just decided to use the FJ60’s factory A/C system to engage the compressor. To do this you’ll need to remove the amplifier and cut out the resistor that requires a RPM signal to get the compressor to engage. Here is the one in question:
Once that is done you’ll need to get the A/C connector for the compressor. The one below is for the Gen III compressor.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/.../a/3734/automotive-suv-2003-chevrolet-tahoe?0
You’re going to buy a male spade connector that will plug into the factory spade connector that went to the old compressor. For the GM Compressors, the green wire is positive and the black is ground. Hook up the wire that plugs into the green wire on the compressor to the factory compressor connector using that male spade connector. Run the other wire to the fender to ground it.
If you've bought a BP Automotive harness it already has provisions for the A/C pressure transducer, so you'll just hook it up and then have your tuner enable it so that the engine idles up on it's own when it senses pressure from that sensor. I haven't hooked up my binary switch yet, but all I would have to do is hook a wire from the original compressor connector to one terminal and then have the output going straight to the compressor plug. This will give you a high pressure cutoff switch. I'll post pictures once I get that installed.
With the A/C system completed that basically wraps up my LS swap on my 60. It has been an incredibly fun process and I have put over 7k miles on it since I finished the swap as a daily driver and it hasn't given me an ounce of trouble. It is singlehandedly the best mod I have ever done to any vehicle I've owned.
Final pic of the engine bay with everything connected and installed.
- Joined
- Jul 22, 2012
- Threads
- 578
- Messages
- 16,283
- Location
- Winter Park, Florida
- Website
- www.cruisermatts.com
Nice work 
Nothing better than ice cold AC in these old trucks, well done
Nice job!
I built a Chevota fj60 30+ yrs ago. I remember thinking how well the sbc fit and how easy it was to do, almost like Toyota built Cruisers to be upgraded.
I built a Chevota fj60 30+ yrs ago. I remember thinking how well the sbc fit and how easy it was to do, almost like Toyota built Cruisers to be upgraded.
Last edited:
Mike Shull
Let’s go…
Nice write up. I am planning to work on mine over the weekend and I may reference this when I work on the hoses.With it getting hot as hell in AZ I needed to get the A/C going. I overthought the hose situation for a while, but it was actually really simple to make my own lines and get it done. Here are the parts I bought to get it done:
Line Connections:
Universal R-134a Hose Kit
Universal R134a hose kit to run hoses for the entire system. The fittings are beadlock (US Made) with R-134a charging ports, this is a complete kit to change all the hoses on an Oring a/c system or to create new hoses for an aftermarket system. The hose kit includes the following: 6 Feet of # 6...
(You may need a different adapter depending on which LS engine you have, this one works for the compressors found on Gen III LS engines)Denso 10S17F 10S20F 10SE18F Suction and Discharge Compressor Adapters for Sealing Washer Compressor
GM Nippondenso (Denso) 10S17F & 10S20F & 10SE18F (Sealing Washer) compressor adapters used to convert a stock compressor to aftermarket hoses. The adapters are standard #8 discharge and #10 suction fittings. The discharge fitting has standard 3/4"-16 and the suction fitting has 7/8"-14 threads...
Condenser:
Universal Parallel Flow 16x26 Condenser
This is an aluminum parallel flow condenser. There are mounting holes along the top, bottom and on each end. We have a set of universal condenser brackets for purchase to mount this style of condenser P/N CS1000 Overall Condenser size: 16" tall by 27 5/8" wide Core Size: 16" tall by 26" wide...
Drier:
(With Pressure Transducer + Binary Switch)
LS Swap Receiver Drier with GM A/C Pressure Transducer
Complete LS Swap A/C Receiver Drier with GM Pressure Transducer for your LS Swap. Get your A/C working just like a LS equipped vehicle! No more stalling!
The drier above is the exact same as the one sold by Coldhose below at a fraction of the cost. For the first time install it is nice that the BP Automotive one comes with the pressure transducer and the binary switch included.
Generic Receiver Drier #6 Male O-Ring with 7/16" and 10mm Switch Ports
Universal Generic Receiver Drier. Has #6 3/8" Male O-ring Inlet and Outlet fittings. The diameter of the drier is approximately 2.5" and the height is 8". This drier has a 7/16" switch port and a 10mm switch port (for metric switches or transducers).
Hose Crimper:
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MYX3QLG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1
Prior to building your lines your going to want to find a place to mount your A/C drier & condenser. If you’re running the stock rad you can just mount it in the stock location, if not you can mount it on the fender or somewhere along there. I ended up fabbing a little bracket to relocate the stock drier bracket to go off of my battery tray which ended up working really well.
View attachment 3922967
To mount the universal condenser I just copied what @BurntToast did in his thread which is linked below. @cruisermatt is working on some universal mounts as well which look really nice.
Builds - BurntToast's FJ62 Build "Hoss" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/burnttoasts-fj62-build-hoss.1291363/page-20#post-15496169
Now with everything mounted you can start building the lines to connect everything. There are 4 lines for the whole A/C system that are as follows:
- From the evaporator to the compressor
- From the evaporator to the drier
- From the drier to the condenser
- From the condenser to the compressor (high side)
I found it easiest to build one line at a time and thread the fittings where they need to go on that particular line. Then get the hose cut and fit on both fittings, mark their orientation with a paint marker, remove then crimp. For a first time crimper they came out pretty well, here’s pictures of all of my connections.
With everything connected the last thing you need to do is get the wiring sorted to get the compressor to kick on. There are a few different ways to do this, keeping with my plans to follow the path of least resistance I just decided to use the FJ60’s factory A/C system to engage the compressor. To do this you’ll need to remove the amplifier and cut out the resistor that requires a RPM signal to get the compressor to engage. Here is the one in question:
View attachment 3922970
Once that is done you’ll need to get the A/C connector for the compressor. The one below is for the Gen III compressor.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/.../a/3734/automotive-suv-2003-chevrolet-tahoe?0
You’re going to buy a male spade connector that will plug into the factory spade connector that went to the old compressor. For the GM Compressors, the green wire is positive and the black is ground. Hook up the wire that plugs into the green wire on the compressor to the factory compressor connector using that male spade connector. Run the other wire to the fender to ground it.
If you've bought a BP Automotive harness it already has provisions for the A/C pressure transducer, so you'll just hook it up and then have your tuner enable it so that the engine idles up on it's own when it senses pressure from that sensor. I haven't hooked up my binary switch yet, but all I would have to do is hook a wire from the original compressor connector to one terminal and then have the output going straight to the compressor plug. This will give you a high pressure cutoff switch. I'll post pictures once I get that installed.
With the A/C system completed that basically wraps up my LS swap on my 60. It has been an incredibly fun process and I have put over 7k miles on it since I finished the swap as a daily driver and it hasn't given me an ounce of trouble. It is singlehandedly the best mod I have ever done to any vehicle I've owned.
Final pic of the engine bay with everything connected and installed.
Any pictures of the exhaust? Will be starting my LS swap soon and so far seems like most on here have built their own stainless exhaust but I will probably be going the same route as you and have a local exhaust shop make one for mine.
I am considering doing an engine swap as well. I would want to go new crate engine though. How hard is this realistically? I have never done something like this and I am hesitant to jump right in. Not set on engine yet either but similar to yours. I realize it would involve welding on new engine mounts which I can always get a weld shop to do since I have never welded anything before. Don't get me wrong I am a contractor by trade and have built every part of a house from ground up many times but I haven't dived into motors at all yet. I am handy with tools.
- Thread starter
- #130
Honestly if you're handy with tools and have the ability to stay organized this swap is incredibly doable. I think the hardest part for me was committing to pulling the old engine and cutting the mounts off because there's really no going back after that. Once you get the new engine mounted everything starts to make sense and you can get a good idea of how to route things.
I went back and forth on the crate engine route and decided against it because it was going to cost an arm and a leg to get all the accessories, intake, ECU, etc. My engine had 159k on it when I got it and it hasn’t given me a bit of trouble and I’ve got almost 10k on my swap now, including multiple 1k mile trips to Denver and back. I figure this thing has got probably anther 100k of life in the engine, and at that point I’ll have no problem just swapping in a crate engine since all the infrastructure for the swap is already there.
My best advice would be to take it one step at a time and keep a list going for that particular task. I also tried to stockpile as many parts as I could beforehand to keep downtime to a minimum. It’s going to be time consuming, but you will be left with a finished product that will leave you very proud and with a much more practical 60 series.
Last note – I said it a million times in the thread and I’ll say it again, GET THE BP AUTOMOTIVE HARNESS and reach out to @cruisermatt for his mounts, gauge adapters, transfer case rebuild kit, etc. He was pretty much a one stop shop for most of my LS swap stuff and gave me tons of tech help along the way that was essential to getting it done.
With it getting hot as hell in AZ I needed to get the A/C going. I overthought the hose situation for a while, but it was actually really simple to make my own lines and get it done. Here are the parts I bought to get it done:
Line Connections:
Universal R-134a Hose Kit
Universal R134a hose kit to run hoses for the entire system. The fittings are beadlock (US Made) with R-134a charging ports, this is a complete kit to change all the hoses on an Oring a/c system or to create new hoses for an aftermarket system. The hose kit includes the following: 6 Feet of # 6...
(You may need a different adapter depending on which LS engine you have, this one works for the compressors found on Gen III LS engines)Denso 10S17F 10S20F 10SE18F Suction and Discharge Compressor Adapters for Sealing Washer Compressor
GM Nippondenso (Denso) 10S17F & 10S20F & 10SE18F (Sealing Washer) compressor adapters used to convert a stock compressor to aftermarket hoses. The adapters are standard #8 discharge and #10 suction fittings. The discharge fitting has standard 3/4"-16 and the suction fitting has 7/8"-14 threads...
Condenser:
Universal Parallel Flow 16x26 Condenser
This is an aluminum parallel flow condenser. There are mounting holes along the top, bottom and on each end. We have a set of universal condenser brackets for purchase to mount this style of condenser P/N CS1000 Overall Condenser size: 16" tall by 27 5/8" wide Core Size: 16" tall by 26" wide...
Drier:
(With Pressure Transducer + Binary Switch)
LS Swap Receiver Drier with GM A/C Pressure Transducer
Complete LS Swap A/C Receiver Drier with GM Pressure Transducer for your LS Swap. Get your A/C working just like a LS equipped vehicle! No more stalling!
The drier above is the exact same as the one sold by Coldhose below at a fraction of the cost. For the first time install it is nice that the BP Automotive one comes with the pressure transducer and the binary switch included.
Generic Receiver Drier #6 Male O-Ring with 7/16" and 10mm Switch Ports
Universal Generic Receiver Drier. Has #6 3/8" Male O-ring Inlet and Outlet fittings. The diameter of the drier is approximately 2.5" and the height is 8". This drier has a 7/16" switch port and a 10mm switch port (for metric switches or transducers).
Hose Crimper:
Hydraulic AC Hose Crimper 71500 Manual A/C Hose Crimper Kit Air Conditioning Repair Handheld Hydraulic Hose Crimping Tool - Amazon.com - https://www.amazon.com/dp/B09MYX3QLG?ref_=ppx_hzsearch_conn_dt_b_fed_asin_title_1
Prior to building your lines your going to want to find a place to mount your A/C drier & condenser. If you’re running the stock rad you can just mount it in the stock location, if not you can mount it on the fender or somewhere along there. I ended up fabbing a little bracket to relocate the stock drier bracket to go off of my battery tray which ended up working really well.
View attachment 3922967
To mount the universal condenser I just copied what @BurntToast did in his thread which is linked below. @cruisermatt is working on some universal mounts as well which look really nice.
Builds - BurntToast's FJ62 Build "Hoss" - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/burnttoasts-fj62-build-hoss.1291363/page-20#post-15496169
Now with everything mounted you can start building the lines to connect everything. There are 4 lines for the whole A/C system that are as follows:
- From the evaporator to the compressor
- From the evaporator to the drier
- From the drier to the condenser
- From the condenser to the compressor (high side)
I found it easiest to build one line at a time and thread the fittings where they need to go on that particular line. Then get the hose cut and fit on both fittings, mark their orientation with a paint marker, remove then crimp. For a first time crimper they came out pretty well, here’s pictures of all of my connections.
With everything connected the last thing you need to do is get the wiring sorted to get the compressor to kick on. There are a few different ways to do this, keeping with my plans to follow the path of least resistance I just decided to use the FJ60’s factory A/C system to engage the compressor. To do this you’ll need to remove the amplifier and cut out the resistor that requires a RPM signal to get the compressor to engage. Here is the one in question:
View attachment 3922970
Once that is done you’ll need to get the A/C connector for the compressor. The one below is for the Gen III compressor.
https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/.../a/3734/automotive-suv-2003-chevrolet-tahoe?0
You’re going to buy a male spade connector that will plug into the factory spade connector that went to the old compressor. For the GM Compressors, the green wire is positive and the black is ground. Hook up the wire that plugs into the green wire on the compressor to the factory compressor connector using that male spade connector. Run the other wire to the fender to ground it.
If you've bought a BP Automotive harness it already has provisions for the A/C pressure transducer, so you'll just hook it up and then have your tuner enable it so that the engine idles up on it's own when it senses pressure from that sensor. I haven't hooked up my binary switch yet, but all I would have to do is hook a wire from the original compressor connector to one terminal and then have the output going straight to the compressor plug. This will give you a high pressure cutoff switch. I'll post pictures once I get that installed.
With the A/C system completed that basically wraps up my LS swap on my 60. It has been an incredibly fun process and I have put over 7k miles on it since I finished the swap as a daily driver and it hasn't given me an ounce of trouble. It is singlehandedly the best mod I have ever done to any vehicle I've owned.
Final pic of the engine bay with everything connected and installed.
Fantastic info here
