Vintage Air on a 2nd Gen Camaro?

[Piet]

Has anyone used Vintage air on a 2nd Gen Camaro?

My LT does not have air conditioning. I would like to put it in. I am thinking of keeping the non-airconditioning dash because it looks cleaner. I am also looking at replacing the stock controls with the vintage controls...

With AC


Without AC



Advice... comments?

[Martin71RS]

Hi Piet, I just bought a VA kit for my 71RS.

I have an AC car but it will work no prob on a non AC car.
When you buy a VA gen II kit controls are included.
I have the compac.
for installation details see Brian Cope's page:
http://carbuff.homeip.net/

If you want to buy it I can highly recommend
www.autoairandaudio.com
speak to Todd and tell him Martin from the Netherlands sent you...

Good service and they sell at a very good price too.

regards,
Martin

[Piet]

Does the evaporator and blower unit fit under the dash? or does it go in front of the firewall (the stock location)?

[Martin71RS]

Piet, it will fit under the dash....just.
http://carbuff.homeip.net/ac.html

http://carbuff.homeip.net/dash_install.html

this will tell you all you need to know.....
and if you read this Brian, page is of great help to me too!

[Piet]

THANK YOU THANK YOU

This is EXACTLY what I needed to see... thx

[Pro-touring towncar]

How had is it to install with the motor still in the car???
I am hoping not to have to pull the motor for a rebuild too soon. No thanks to Walmart almost had to. But it is my wife daily driver and don't want to have it down too long. Luckily we have three cars but my 16 year old gripes about not driving to school.

Tim

[Martin71RS]

Tim,
I haven't installed it yet, but it al depends on how far you want to take it... If you take out the existing heating (maybe airco) stuff and screw on a cover plate (shouldn't be too hard) only thing left is to install evaporator under the dash and route 4 hoses to the engine compartment.
If you want a smooth firewall it is more work and welding will be involved. Maybe then the engine will be in the way......

hope this helps....
Martin

[David Pozzi]

Martin, thanks for the info. I'm ordering a VA system for my wife's 73 Camaro. In an email, VA recomended the "super" for some reason. It's four inches longer and a little over an inch thicker which looks even worse for radio and glove box clearance, plus I don't need the fourth hose, nothing to run it to.

Have you run your air unit yet?
David

[Martin71RS]

David, since my daughter was born 4 months ago I don't appear to be able to find spare time to work on the car.... I am buying parts for it all the time now.....so a big pile of parts waiting....

so no, not running it yet...actually haven't driven the Camaro in months.....I was driving it daily before....I just need to get started.....

If I look at Brian's install I wouldn't use the super...no way it will fit in my opinion....even the compac is a tight fit going from his pics.

Martin

[carbuff]

Hi guys,

Just noticed this thread. Glad the pictures were helpful...

I can only say this about the install and choice of units. The problem spot for me was the height between the top of the floor tunnel and the bottom of the cowl where the windshield wipers are. There just isn't much height available there when you get close to the firewall. It's possible that one of the other units would be shorter in that area and fit up closer to the firewall than the compact unit does. I just don't know.

I had to mount the compact unit about 2" - 2.5" away from the firewall. As I pushed it closer to the firewall, it had to go further to the right. I used the 2x2 mount on the firewall instead of the 1x4 vertical mount. The 1x4 would allow the unit to move a little further to the right, but I have to tell you. It's a MAJOR PITA to install and remove the hoses with it where I had it. With even less space, it would be worse...

Here are a couple of suggestion when you are making your 4 hoses to connect from the bulkhead to the ports on the condensor. First, use an extra 90 degree elbow in each hose. Trying to bend them to make the 90 degree turn is hard to do with such a short hose (none of mine were longer than 16" I think).

Also, measure very carefully, and give yourself a little extra hose on each. Maybe an extra inch. Otherwise, guaranteed that you'll need it later!

If possible, test the hoses for leaks somehow before you put everything together. Taking it back apart isn't fun either (guess how I know?).

Use something on the edge of the condensor plastic where your hoses are likely to touch it to keep the plastic from cutting the hoses... Guess how I know this one too! :(

One more thing. The thermostat bulb (can't remember what it's called) that has to go into the back of the condensor is hard to see. Make sure you push it in the hole before you bolt the unit in place! I didn't, figuring it would be easier to get it in there later. Ha!

Also, the metal tube that connects the bulb to the thermostat is just BARELY long enough to reach to the stock location. I made a plate to mount the controller in the stock dash location, and I had to stretch that tube for all it was worth.

I think the webpage says this, but I used the defrost vents that come in the 69 Camaro SureFit kit. VA will sell those to you separately. I glued them in place which worked pretty well (I didn't do a great job on the glueing).

Overall, the unit does a good job of cooling the car. It's probably on the verge of cooling the car size-wise, but the new owner who lives in Texas seems to be happy with it.

Hope all this helps! Good luck!
Bryan

PS: Having lots of hose fittings to experiment with helps. You can usually find them cheaply at vendors at a swap meet, but NAPA also carries a good selection of them. I picked up straights, 45-degree, and 90-degree fittings for #6, #8, and #10 to mock up the fittings. I used heater hose to mock it up too, then take that to an AC shop to have the hoses made. You need to have the direction in which the fittings need to point marked, 'cause once the hoses are made, you can't usually turn the fittings any more...

[David Pozzi]

Thanks for the tips! my unit is ordered!

[c.schulz]

Check with VA, but they may have an even smaller compact unit??
Chris

[David Pozzi]

They have smaller units, but they probably won't cool well enough. I think the Super unit they were recomending, although larger, has a little angle to the two defroster outlets which might have been a better option...
David

[carbuff]

David,

Which one did you order? Let us know how the fitment works out!

Bryan

[David Pozzi]

Bryan, I ordered the Gen II Compac 6800 series.

[502454]

This is the super cooler II Iinstalled in my 70 Camaro. I found it to fit quite nicly, it is close to the tunnel on the bottom but will work. I will be closing off the opening in the cowel to eliminate air from entering through the vents (recomended by VA).I am installing a 2000 Camaro dash now but this was set up for the stock dash before I changed my mind. I live in CA and it gets hot here so I was not going to take a chance.
Good Luck, Tom
[img=http://img113.exs.cx/img113/2189/airmounted31ho.th.jpg]

[carbuff]

Tom,

Wow! I have to know, how far from the firewall did you mount the box? And are you planning to run a stock console? The stock console tucks up under the dash as I recall, so if you were still planning to use that setup when you installed the unit, did you check that fitment?

While I'm at it, is that you ECU in the upper right of the picture? And what material did you use to soundproof the floor?

Thanx.
Bryan

[502454]

Bryan,
I have not measured but I can just get my hand in there, maybe 2" max. I had the stock dash fitted (no problem) and the console did fit with minor trimming. the soundproof is called Fatmat I got it on Ebay, works great. the new plan is to use the late Camaro dash with a custom console (all the way to the back seat).
Any new projects since you sold the Camaro?
Tom

[carbuff]

Thanx Tom,

I'm surprised it was that close to the firewall. Seems I recall mine was about that far away also. Did you hang the unit, or does it sit on the tunnel? Hard to tell from the pic exactly where all your mounts go.

No new project, yet... I'm hunting for another 2nd gen. Also trying to determine exactly what I want to do with it, which will affect what I purchase. I have seen one that I am considering, but of course he wants a little more $$$ than I think it's worth. That's just part of the fun I suppose...

Bryan

[502454]

I mounted a 1/2" bar from the center dash support to the pass side just above the vent opening, close to the firewall, the brackets come down from there to support the unit. The back of the unit is attached to the center support also. Yes it is suspended and not on the tunnel (about 3/4" up).

If you are like me "the plan" changes almost daily sometimes it gets me in trouble with the estimated completion date(s).