Running VA AC line through blower motor hole

[tonyvol]

Hey guys, I want to run the VA AC lines through the blower motor hole on my 67 Camaro. I want to use my factory heater box cover on the firewall and weld in a metal plate where the blower motor mounts. Then bore holes for the hoses and use rubber grommets to seal it up. I plan on running the heater lines in the factory big block location. I have Screamin' Performance kick panels, so I can't run them through the vent hole in the kick panel. The tape with the black line is the top of the kick panel when installed. Looks like I need to run them above the kick panel and bore holes in the location I'm pointing in the second picture and use grommets to seal. I was wondering if anyone has done this or has a good idea on the best way to make this work. I would like to run the rubber AC line from the VA unit to the compressor, that way I would only have two places for a leak per line. Not sure if you can bend the rubber AC line in a 90* without cause some restriction.

Thanks for any help you can offer,
Tony

[garickman]

If you go to the website restore a muscle car, they have over 5,000 build pics of more than 80 cars. They mainly deal with 2nd gen firebird's but they have a whole bunch of vintage air install pics. Some of the pics show in detail just what you are wanting to do with the gromets on the firewall blower motor location. Here are a couple of links to two of the builds with the vintage air install but if you have a lot of time to search you will find much more. Click the link above the picture where it says view photos on flicker.

http://www.restoreamusclecar.com/restore/view_details?fdid=1041865

http://www.restoreamusclecar.com/restore/view_details?fdid=1041861

[Chevy Kid]

I don't have any pics, but I did exactly what you are asking on my '67. The lines will bend that much. If you used the EZ clip system, it would bend even more. My lines are long, but like you said, only one piece and less likely to leak.

[sjaroslo]

Tony, I think that Vintage Air makes (or made) a hard plastic filler for that blower hole that has the 4 holes already drilled in it. You can see it here (http://www.vintageair.com/7072olds.asp)in their Cutlass kit (lower left of the picture), but I haven't been able to find the individual part number listed any more in their catalog, but it might be worth a phone call to them? Unless you want to go the steel/welded route, of course.

[tonyvol]

Thanks guys. I have one more question. Has anyone used the EZ Clip System? I was wondering if it works good. Looks to be expensive for a one time car project. If someone rents the tools out, it might make it alittle more cost effective. It looks like it would work good for my project.

http://aeroquip.cc/aeroquip-ez-clip.aspx

[Chevy Kid]

My Dad is a VA dealer and has used it a few times. A very nice, hassle free system. This system was designed to retrofit Humvees in the field with A/C. Failure would not be accepted. it runs about double the standard hoses, but looks cleaner once finished.

[KUL FIR CHICK N]

If you break into the cowl that high, just keep in mind that's a wet area. You'll need to take extra care to ensure you don't have leaks into the cabin and that the cuts are properly protected from rust/water pooling. Most folks that do the fender well hose routing run out through the kick panel vent area (we offer a cap w/holes & grommets) but I see why you won't be going that route. I suggest having your hose kit on hand before cutting holes so that you can determine the minimum bend radius before the hose kinks. The EZ clip hose has a much tighter bend radius and most of us here use it on our own installations. Standard hose is perfectly fine but, if you have to work in very tight areas, nothing beats EZ clip for flexibility and ease of install. Vintage Air offers both steel and plastic caps for the blower opening.

Ryan

[KUL FIR CHICK N]

Tim is correct on this. There are probably around 10k pairs of EZ-clip pliers floating around Iraq these days. One can only imagine what they are being re-purposed for.....

[tonyvol]

Tim is correct on this. There are probably around 10k pairs of EZ-clip pliers floating around Iraq these days. One can only imagine what they are being re-purposed for.....

Hey guys, this is the area I would like to run the lines. I have the extended rubber hose kit I got from VA, but not sure if I can bend it a 90* on -10 hose.65949

[KUL FIR CHICK N]

The heater hoses are going to be harder to deal with about kinks than the #10.

[kochevy67]

I did exactly what you are doing on my 67 Chevelle and I have zero problems. I took one look at the Vintage Air cover and threw it in the garbage. I used a DSE cover which in my opinion is 100 times better and it's metal instead of plastic. I drilled the holes in the DSE cover, used the grommets and fished everything through into the cabin. The sad thing is that my 10 year old kid could of designed a better cover than the engineers at VA did on theirs.

[Chevy Kid]

Hey guys, this is the area I would like to run the lines. I have the extended rubber hose kit I got from VA, but not sure if I can bend it a 90* on -10 hose.65949

That's exactly where mine are. Keep in mind this is a double thickness area. You can get it sealed, however.

[tonyvol]

The heater hoses are going to be harder to deal with about kinks than the #10.

I'm going to run the heater hoses in the factory big block location on the 67-69 camaros.

Thanks guys for the help with this. I would hate to drill holes in this area and it not work. Plus, I need to make sure I seal everthing good since this is a wet area.