x
- Thread starter Lil'John
- Start date
This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.
your vintage OEM a/c unit looks like this: Its a standalone unit, with its own fan. Tends to cool the passengers legs, but I dig the styling. Later FJ55 A/C looks like the lower pic. It actually takes the place of the heater duct.
Top unit has a squirrel cage motor on the back, with a fan on either side, so it only sucks inside air, which is fine I guess, but not the best of both worlds. It is similar in design to the FJ40 OEM unit, but bigger evap and better fan motor. Front face has the controls. the few people that I have seen with working versions of this setup complain of poor output. Of the few units I have bought in the past, all have been horribly cloged with dust/hair/dirt from years of use. I cleaned the above pictured unit out and it flows pretty damn well. With good door seals, weather stripping etc, I imagine it would cool the truck nicely.
For both setups the units come with there own wiring that attaches to the fuse block. both have a relay and temp/idle speed adjustment unit.
the later unit would require finding a later heater, since its a triangle shaped attachment to the later heater. the louvre pictured would take the place of the dash part that hangs down and holds the t-case shifter(vacuum style) as well as the lighter. I think evan, wiht the lexus v8 in his FJ55 did this conversion. the control for off/on and temp is integrated into the louvre(in my pic its and aussie RH drive louvre since the evaporator pictured didnt have one when I bought it.) You have to have the fan on for the a/c to turn on.
For both setups the units come with there own wiring that attaches to the fuse block. both have a relay and temp/idle speed adjustment unit.
the later unit would require finding a later heater, since its a triangle shaped attachment to the later heater. the louvre pictured would take the place of the dash part that hangs down and holds the t-case shifter(vacuum style) as well as the lighter. I think evan, wiht the lexus v8 in his FJ55 did this conversion. the control for off/on and temp is integrated into the louvre(in my pic its and aussie RH drive louvre since the evaporator pictured didnt have one when I bought it.) You have to have the fan on for the a/c to turn on.
The factory A/C replaces the plastic duct from the fan to the heater as well as the louver in front of the heater and plugs into the factory harness. You should have no problems with a gas engine swap. I had issues but my engine is a turbo-diesel. Looks real good in my opinion and it does an adequate job of cooling the truck (I'm in Central America and it felt cold today with the A/C on and the fan on full). My truck also has all but the front passenger windows and windsheild tinted quite dark for security which will also help keep the temps down. You might see some pictures in my POTM thread with the A/C installed. My only complaint is that the air only has the center outlets and not more outlets like newer cars but that's likely because it was a relatively uncommon option. If you need installed pics let me know and I can take some if there are none in my POTM thread.
I forgot to include the fact that the top pic of mine is the style from 7/'70-about 9/'73, and the lower pic style covers about 9/'73-end of production
The louvers is all you see of the A/C controls. The heater/vent controls don't change at all. Due to my truck having a diesel and the fact that the OEM controls don't work with a diesel the A/C guy had to change the thermostat to a dial from the OEM thumbwheel. The thumbwheel/dial is an "On/Off" as well as a thermostat all in one.
I imagine it would involve some work, but it is doable. from what I recall evan saying, it was a matter of fitting the evap. case in, which wasnt to big a deal? then you have to change over to the later heater. Not too much trouble. I guess the biggest deal would be removing the sheetmetal below the lower dash pad for room for the louvre/dial.
Like cruiserguy said, there isnt much to wiring them. if you have a gasser, its pretty simple. I can walk you through the setup/wiring. aside from the two wires that go to the fuse block, you will need to connect a wire to the neg side of the coil??? IIRC, and the ground wire from the fan blower motor(stock later FJ55's have the provision, but yours wont, but a simple splice would do)
I have the OEM FJ55 A/c toyota manual, so its a big help. doesnt cover the early style in my first pic but does cover the later style that cruiserguy and I posted pics of.
P.S. finding the systems arent that hard, especially since you are really only after underdash stuff. The expansion valves are not availible anymore, but with a touch of trimming a non visible part of the tubing cover under the evap case, and a piece of 3/8" copper tube and a flare, you can easily use the readily available from kragen p/n 38608
Last edited:
That's what got my A/C guy screwed up. On diesels there is NO coil. The A/C amplifier (brain) needs the coil signal to prove the engine is running.
It's looking for a pulsed signal. A hot in run or ground in run would have been an easy fix on mine with the diesel. The pulsed signal is a little more difficult to acheive if you don't have a coil.
You need to get rid of everything below the wood strip in the second picture to use an A/C setup similar to mine. I'll be through Sacramento on about June 9 or 10 is you want to meet and chat.
Sorry, but I won't be driving the '55 this year though.
Last edited:
As brett stated i put the factory ac in my 2uz 55 , (1) 40 year old ac is not what i thought it would be (2) ac amplifier was easy to trick . i dont have a coil on mine either . (3) i converted mine to r134 ,as that what was the compressor was set up for , and is cheeper to find . (4) the fire wall was simple to modify using a caardboard template off the new evap coil box .
I think it works ok given the parts are not designed to work together , running around it is plenty cold and i have to turn it down , mostley fwy driving . At a prolonged stop there is to much air space in a 55 to have only the center vents keep it cool . and the heat from the motor overcomes the condenser capacity . likeley only a problem for me as i have the 2uz and it runs a cluch fan , and i dont have the space to install a electric fan .
I have removed the expansion valve and recalibrated it many times , played with the charge level , and lateley have been exploring how to step up the voltage to the blower fan , the dc fan has the capability to run much higher thn 12 volts , and the stepped up fan speed would correct most of my issues . but stepping up 12 volts to 19 or 20 volts isent cheep . and i am still looking for a alternative .
i at one time had all of my build pics up on birfield.com but since it went down i havent found a good spot to stor them for viewing even if i could have morgan send therm to me . I still have most of them on a back up disc some where
FJ55-100
I think it works ok given the parts are not designed to work together , running around it is plenty cold and i have to turn it down , mostley fwy driving . At a prolonged stop there is to much air space in a 55 to have only the center vents keep it cool . and the heat from the motor overcomes the condenser capacity . likeley only a problem for me as i have the 2uz and it runs a cluch fan , and i dont have the space to install a electric fan .
I have removed the expansion valve and recalibrated it many times , played with the charge level , and lateley have been exploring how to step up the voltage to the blower fan , the dc fan has the capability to run much higher thn 12 volts , and the stepped up fan speed would correct most of my issues . but stepping up 12 volts to 19 or 20 volts isent cheep . and i am still looking for a alternative .
i at one time had all of my build pics up on birfield.com but since it went down i havent found a good spot to stor them for viewing even if i could have morgan send therm to me . I still have most of them on a back up disc some where
FJ55-100