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
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif

Without AC
https://static1.pt-content.com/images/noimg.gif


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] (http://img113.exs.cx/my.php?loc=img113&image=airmounted31ho.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).

[Martin71RS]

so that was a pic of the inside of RSR???
when is the page going to be updated?? waiting for updates a loooooong time now....looks great sofar.

[502454]

Martin,
That is a good question, my web guy (my Nephew) is in Italy with very slow web access. To be honest due to other commitments I have made very slow progress on RSR, more to follow.
Tom

[David Pozzi]

I got our unit installed, didn't do the underhood part yet as we are installing a new engine. I'll save the underhood install for a winter project.

1. had to space the compac unit away from the firewall about 1.5".
2. used the bulkhead connector with four in line vertical as far to the right looking inside as I could get but still have room for a crowfoot wrench, probably 1.5" from the right hand panel the kick panel bolts to.

3. all the wires had to be extended to reach the stock control panel location.

4 my control unit has a 4' long bulb which reached just fine, but not much extra. I installed it AFTER the unit was in, and finding the little hole was tough, I hope I got it shoved all the way in!

5 I used the stock defroster vent but cut them short and hot glued the VA defroster outlets to them. I think the stock def vents are shaped better and should work better but needed the VA defroster outlets to provide something to plug the hoses into.

6. I have a center dash air outlet, and cut the stock duct that connects to the back of it to a length of about 1.5", then hot glued a shop vac suction nozzle to it! this worked perfectly! :)

7. The outer outlets needed reducing, so I cut about 3" off of them and, you gessed it, hot glued ABS drain pipe to them for hose connections. This stuff was 2.5" but a little small. I think a better choice would have been to get 2.5" glue on ABS drain pipe couplers (sleeves) and glue them in. I put four gobs of hot glue on the pipe OD to act like a hose barb, the hose wanted to slip off after install since I stretched it out for best air flow, so I wrapped a little tie wire around the hose on just those two outlets, and that worked great.

8, I ran the heater hoses through the fender over the wheelwell, installed the heater flow valve close to the firewall connector with a short hose, then on to the engine.

9, I made a small aluminum duct extension for the drivers side heater flow, otherwise it would have cooked the passenger before the driver got warm, and I will probably be the passenger.

10, I really wanted to hook up some kind of outside air flow since the car will be driven some time before we get the air going.
I hooked a choke cable up to the RH air door in the kick panel, it had a vaccum actuator attached to it. The cable opens the door and I cut away the factory air cover and trimmed the VA fan cover to allow the air to flow to the fan. This should give the VA a pretty good shot at sucking up outside air. The heater and air hoses get in the way a bit but not too bad.

9. the bulkhead fittings must be tightened before it is installed they don't tighten them much at all as delivered. The aluminum clamps will bend very easily right in the center, use washers to help spread the load or make steel U clamps. Use silicone sealer on the bulkhead, it will help hold it in place and fill any gaps.

I am very pleased with the controls and how they work, the air output is great! This was my first experience with an air system so there was a lot to learn and lots of wires to connect but the instructions covered almost everything.

[David Pozzi]

Since I wrote all that stuff above, I realized I had most of a web page written, SO - i put one together with pics.
http://www.pozziracing.com/vintage_air_installation.htm

[Martin71RS]

Thanks for the info and pics David! it will make my installation a bit easier I think....

Martin