So what am I lacking?

[derekf]

I freely admit that I don't know a lot about a lot of things, but I know even less about AC.

I have a 69 El Camino that had factory AC.

I'm doing an LS swap and trying to use as much of the donor (2000 Camaro) as possible. This included the AC system; I modified the suitcase to fit the Camaro coil. Unfortunately, the compressor just wasn't going to work with the crossmember and I've shifted that to the Holley mount with a Sanden SD7.

I assumed that I needed lines, a drier, and a trinary switch when I was using the Camaro bits. Now it also becomes clear that the Camaro condensor isn't going to work with this big aluminum radiator either.


So questions:

• Can I use a standard 69 condensor with this or should I shop for an aftermarket one that fits the available space?
• Should I break out the spare suitcase and just use a stock 69 coil too, or does that not work with R134/the SD7?
• On the lines, drier, pressure switch, would the shop that made up my AC lines know what I'd need there or do I need to come in and tell them?

[dontlifttoshift]

You want a parallel flow condenser. The stock 69 is not that. Get the biggest one you can fit but for an El Camino nearly any size will work.

Shrug. If they are similar in size and both use O Ring fittings I don't see a meaningful difference.

Shrug again. All that stuff is secondary. What are you doing for an expansion valve? Are you planning on running the accumulator? I don't have right answers for those questions, I don't do "hybrid" retrofits anymore. I replace it all or rebuild it all stock with R12.....no in between.

If you add up the cost of a stock coil, new blower motor, and a heater core, you start getting really close to the cost of a Vintage Air evaporator kit. And that frees up a bunch of space on the firewall and gets you a far more efficient unit.

[derekf]

Thanks Donny.... but there's the two halves of the issue: I don't know any of these answers.

Agreed that an aftermarket system would be easier and probably cheaper in the long run... but
- I've already sunk the costs for the compressor/heater core/69 evap/blower motor (and a lot of the equivalent Camaro stuff that I probably can't use)
- I don't like the looks of the controls for any of the aftermarket systems I've seen.
- most importantly, if I drop that bulk of money on a single purchase, there will be an annoying whining sound coming from the wife that will go on far too long.

I've done additional reading but with no background I may be jumping to the wrong conclusions (so I ask here instead). It reads like the parallel flow condensor and SD7 with the rest being the stock 69 system will provide adequate cooling if I adjust the POA for R134. I don't know how that gets the LS computer happy where it normally plugs into the lines.

Back when you did do hybrid retrofits, did you go down these same sorts of roads?

[TheBandit]

If you are using the Camaro system, here's what I"d suggest:

(1) Get an aftermarket parallel flow condenser. You can buy just the condenser and mounting brackets from Vintage Air or buy any universal parallel flow condenser that fits in your space. It will have a #8 inlet and #6 outlet.
(2) Use a 2000 Camaro accumulator, pressure switch, and orifice tube exactly as they were on the 2000 Camaro system - they need to be mounted right on or as close to the evaporator as possible
(3) Use the SD7 compressor
(4) Wire the compressor clutch/relay, refrigerant pressure switch, and electric fans to the computer exactly as they were on the 2000 Camaro system
(4) Use the 69 original factory compressor wire to drive the AC request to the 2000 Camaro computer

The way this will function is when you move the factory control lever to "max" or below, the 69 original wiring will provide a positive signal to the computer for the AC request. The computer will then take over the control of the clutch relay and the electric fans based on the signal from the 2000 Camaro refrigerant pressure switch. The blower will be controlled by the 69 original wiring and blower resistors.

[TheBandit]

FYI I happen to know the user "69 Ghost" who is local to me has done this exact type of conversion for his Camaro, using an orifice tube setup fitted into his original AC ductwork. I suggest you PM him. If he's not active on this site anymore, you might also try contacting him through ls1tech (he has the same user name).

[TheBandit]

Thanks Donny.... but there's the two halves of the issue: I don't know any of these answers.

Agreed that an aftermarket system would be easier and probably cheaper in the long run... but
- I've already sunk the costs for the compressor/heater core/69 evap/blower motor (and a lot of the equivalent Camaro stuff that I probably can't use)
- I don't like the looks of the controls for any of the aftermarket systems I've seen.
- most importantly, if I drop that bulk of money on a single purchase, there will be an annoying whining sound coming from the wife that will go on far too long.

I've done additional reading but with no background I may be jumping to the wrong conclusions (so I ask here instead). It reads like the parallel flow condensor and SD7 with the rest being the stock 69 system will provide adequate cooling if I adjust the POA for R134. I don't know how that gets the LS computer happy where it normally plugs into the lines.

Above I assumed you wanted to convert the system to run as a clutch cycled orifice system using the 2000 Camaro operation, since you've already retrofitted the evaporator coil into the factory suitcase. If you stay the course, you should setup the system to operate as a clutch cycled, orifice tube system exactly as it operates in the 2000 Camaro as I described above. That arrangement will automatically run the clutch, fans and adjust idle through the computer. The factory 69 controls would still run the blower fan, ducting, and recirculation functions (via the vacuum control valve) while relying on the computer to drive the other functions.

If you want to use a factory TXV+POA arrangement, I can explain how that system functions and outline what needs to be updated to make it work well with r134a. I just read you have a spare suitcase, so you may have the option to make this function like an original factory system if you want to go that oute. I have a factory non-cycling TXV + POA system in my Nova and it works very well.

[dontlifttoshift]

Do what he says, that should work perfectly.

[derekf]

Perfect, a huge thanks to both of you.

I'd started down the road of just putting the Camaro system in, then found that the condensor wouldn't work, and then started second- and third-guessing myself. My suitcase isn't quite right so I started leaning towards using the spare, but it sounds like I'd be better off staying the course.

Thanks again.