Some Vintage Air advice needed

[OldTimer]

Going to order a VA system for my '69 Camaro BBC and I have a few questions. My car never had A/C so I'm starting from scratch. Hope that I can get some pre-order advice here from those of you who have done somewhat similar installs. Here we go:

1. For aesthetic reasons, I'd like to mount the compressor on the passenger side, and move the alternator over to the driver's side... somewhat similar to the '67 - '68 setup. I'm not looking to spend $2500 on a March serpentine setup, so where do I find simple, basic, nice-looking chrome or billet mounts for the compressor and alternator? Is it as easy as ordering a '68 kit?

2. I've seen a few guys who have re-routed their firewall hoses for heaters and A/C up into the fenderwell and then back out near the radiator support. Are these full custom hoses or are they available ready made? Or should I make my own with one of those ez fit kits?

3. What's the advice on the control panel? Manual adaption or a micro switch panel? Do these panels look like they belong and are they illuminated?

4. I want this to look "right" so I'm thinking I can replace the dash pad with an A/C center vent piece. Is this all I'll need or are there anther parts that come into play that aren't included in the VA kits?

5. If I have to... I will replace the long water pump with a short one to accommodate my desire to put the alternator and compressor where I want them. Just wondering if one brand or model is better than another as far as fit and flow. Same goes for the power steering pump. I'm upgrading the original PS box to a '96 JGC which will give me better steering response, but probably will need a modded pump to output a little more pressure per what I've read.

6. Lastly, does it make any difference where I order/buy from? Because of my desire to flip-flop the alternator and compressor, should I deal with a distributor or direct wth VA?

Im in the northeast, so my car is basically stored for most of the winter, only goes out for a recirculation run LOL when the weather and roads are salt/snow free. So the wife is the driving force behind the A/C install but I admit it'd be nice on those hot & humid NE days when the open-windows A/C just won't cut it. My 454 has gobs of torque and power so I'm not worried about taxing the engine LOL or the extra gas the A/C would draw.

Any and all advice would be greatly appreciated.-Mike

[ccmc]

I'm running a sure fit VA system in my 1969 Camaro and I have the compressor on the passenger side with the hoses under the fender.

Call VA when ordering. If I remember right, I had to get a different hard line from VA. The hoses come uncrimped. Whoever you take it to for charging the system should be able to cut and crimp the hoses to the correct length.

Order a replacement center vent from the companies that sell interior parts. The one that comes with the VA kit is not worth attempting to use. Doesn't look right and is flimsy.

The controls will connect to your slider controls. But you can also use the VA controls but you will have to fab a mount.

I'm running an LS1 so I can't help with the brackets.

Rick

[OldTimer]

Thanks for the reply Rick. Even though it's an LS I'd like to see some pix of your hose setup, and the dash vent as well as the control panel if you have them. When you said buy the OER center vent, you also mean I should buy the dash as well right? Just want to be sure lol, hey maybe somebody could retrofit a dash vent into a DIY hole lol!

Control wise I just want it to work and look nice. Don't really care if it's 100% authentic.

[ccmc]

Remind me to get some pictures of the hoses for you.

Yes, buy the ac dash pad. And buy an oer center vent. VA provides one in the 69 kit but it's cheap. they also provide a standard controller that will use your non ac heat and air sliders. You just specify you want the 69 kit for non ac car and that you want a 68 hardline set for the passenger side compressor mounting.

Rick

[ccmc]

So apparently I was confused. My heater hoses run under the fenders not the ac lines.

[OldTimer]

Rick... Thanks for trying to help. The more I dig into swapping sides (Alternator & compressor) the more complicated it gets. Some suggest I would have to change the water pump to a short one, change the fan, and change the fan shroud. Would also have to get some decent looking mount brackets because the VA black metal mounts just seem like overkill with large flat plates. Of course I could get them powder coated in silver metallic LOL.

A few guys have suggested looking into custom hard lines or braided SS lines from Gotta Show. Others have suggested I do some stealthy routing of the hoses. I know on 60's-era Mustangs the compressor mounts on the DS and the hoses run back towards the firewall. I recall seeing one or two guys who ran them over to the fenderwell on a mustang and snaked it back that way to keep the engine looking a little cleaner.

Here's a clean example of a '69 Camaro but its a small block:

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/06/engineAC-1.jpg

Here's a BBC '69 with a PS compressor mount but I can't tell if he has a long or short water pump.

https://static1.pt-content.com/images/pt/2017/06/69camarorestomodbbcvintageaire85conversi-1.jpg

[MuscleRodz]

Vintage air has brackets to relocate compressor to passenger side and move alt to driver. In order to hide the hoses you would need to order with custom hose set and have some type of pass thru in the kick panel. You would also need to get a full block off plate since your relocating the lines. If the car is a factory non air car and want to use a factory air center duct you will need to specify that as well. Lots of variables when ordering a kit. We sell alot of them so if you decide not to go direct I would be happy to help.

[p51mus]

Spend the money and buy a good serpentine set-up. Their set-up will save you time and a lot less trouble. Mounting the compressor way outside the heads looks like crap, belt problems, etc. I have a big block with their set-up, works great looks even better. Sometimes it just makes since to bite the bullet and spend the money to do it right. You wont regret it.