Aftermarket A/C

mercman1953 · Post by **mercman1953** » Mon May 22, 2006 7:46 pm

Hey guys I have a 68 F250 that I have put a Vintage Air A/C system in and I wanted to tell anyone that has wondered if they should rebuilt their factory air or hangdown unit. Guys take my advice and go aftermarket. Especially if you want a cold system. The aftermarket systems that are good ones. You get a system that uses R-134 refrigerant that you don't need a license for and don't have to spend $100 bucks to charge. The one in my truck is an older Vintage Air Compac unit and even though I need cab corners and window and door seals I still get 40deg air out the ducts. I would like to help anyone out there that wants good air for their truck get a hold of me with any questions. I am a street rod builder in the Dallas area and have put in a ton of Vintage Air systems and I love them.

460 crew · Post by **460 crew** » Mon May 22, 2006 8:22 pm

I have the Old air products hurricane setup and I'm happy with the looks and it blows alright, I think my ducting is a little long and might have a few to many turns to the vents. I need to have it properly charged because it just doesn't cut it in the crewcab. I have been pondering the thought of unit mounted in the rear of the cab behind the seat with vents coming out the headliner.

Can 2 units be ran off one Sanden compressor with good results?

spartman · Post by **spartman** » Tue May 23, 2006 9:08 am

Actually from what I have heard all you need to do to the factory systems to work with the 134 is to replace the hoses and put a slightly larger condenser in the unit.

Since 134 doesn't cool quite as well as the r-12 you need to compensate by increasing the size of the condenser.

Just what I have heard from other fourms.

Big D's 69 · Post by **Big D's 69** » Tue May 23, 2006 11:17 am

THat is the only way to go is with aftermarket instead of trying to peace together and it still not blow ice cold.

flyboy2610 · Post by **flyboy2610** » Tue May 23, 2006 4:35 pm

http://www.heco.net/freezone.html

capeclassics · Post by **capeclassics** » Tue May 23, 2006 5:34 pm

The dealer installed unit in my'70 still blows nice and cold ....just lucky I guess.

mercman1953 · Post by **mercman1953** » Tue May 23, 2006 10:45 pm

Hey Spartman. If you remember the early 90's when the factory started to change over to the R-134a refrigderant and everyone complained about them not cooling. Well when you change over yes you can just change the condensor and hoses, but the eveporator under the dash does not have the the right core to work right. A good Aftermarket unit will have a system matched to the r-134a freon. I have worked on a ton of cars with factory r-12 units that have been converted and the owners were not happy at all.

460 crew · Post by **460 crew** » Tue May 23, 2006 11:50 pm

My unit is this one http://www.oldairproducts.com/shop/prod ... ba44b67fe6 You have to enlarge the pic to see it but it is a heat and cool unit with 4 ports for vents and 2 defroster ports on top. I called a coupl days back complaining that it is not sufficient for the crewcab and I'd like to add another rear unit but he insisted that that unit should freeze me out even in the big truck and was really thinking it should work rather than selling me another unit to go behind the rear seat.
He recommended a shop in my town that has installed their kits and wants them to check it out and make sure everything is right and charged correctly then go from there. I just don't wanna pay and arm and a leg for it to be right. Guess thats the price of paradise.

On the subject of using the old with new stuff, on my old 69 that my brother bought from me we bought everything new except for the inside unit and upgraded to the sanden compressor. That thing almost blows ice at you, and has been working good for about 2.5 years.

Joe Kriston · Post by **Joe Kriston** » Wed May 24, 2006 3:23 am

I have an old aftermarket unit that's nearly as old as my truck.....And frankly,it blows---I mean it sucks---what I mean is---I'm not happy with it....The squirrel cage doesn't seem to circulate the air very well,even on high speed...Is there a fix for that,w/o replacing the whole assembly?

mercman1953 · Post by **mercman1953** » Wed May 24, 2006 10:42 pm

Hey 460Crew! First off I wanted to say nice truck! Something you might look at is how did you fill the unit? Did you use scales or the sight glass on the drier. R-134a is real sensitive to charge size. You cannot use the site glass to charge a R-134a system and it work like it should. Also how tight is your cab? Does it have good door rubber and window tracks? The extra glass from the extra doors doesn't help either. You might try tint to help and insulation especially on the firewall.

mercman1953 · Post by **mercman1953** » Wed May 24, 2006 10:43 pm

Joe, You might be able to replace just the fan assembly. Send me a pic of the unit and I might be able to help you find something.

460 crew · Post by **460 crew** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:28 am

Mercman,
Thanks, I have all the windows tinted but the front a shade less than limo, all the doors and windows have all new rubber,along with the wing windows, and they still leak a little but not too bad until about 65mph. The firewall has one of the new insulators from Dennis Carpenters and the floor has a spray in bed liner along with insulation and an insulated carpet kit. Also the headliner and doors have insulation in them. I tried to cover all my bases so this thing would cool off in the summers here. Also I think I'm going to add an aux 10in pusher fan to the front of the condenser to keep it cool when sitting in traffic at idle.

As for the charging of the sysyem my uncle vacumed it out then filled it with his guages but A/C is not his normal job so I'm sure he could be off a bit. I'll have to take it in to that shop, hopefully sooner than later.

Joe Kriston · Post by **Joe Kriston** » Thu May 25, 2006 12:55 am

Mercman,the very last pic in my gallery has a side view of my a/c unit....That's all I have for now...Plus the durn thing's pretty noisy...Thanks...

mercman1953 · Post by **mercman1953** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:27 pm

Hey Joe. First off nice trucks!!! I wish mine looked half as nice. I really don't have a good answer for you yet. You might try getting a hold of Vintage Air and talking to them. They might be able to help you with the parts to fix the fan. You might try looking at the wiring to the unit to see if you are getting a full 12V to it. That might be a problem. If the wiring looks good and you have 12V going to it PM me and I will give you the name of my contact at Vintage Air.

mercman1953 · Post by **mercman1953** » Tue May 30, 2006 10:33 pm

460 crew One thing I thought about is what kind of a condensor do you have? Is it a tube and fin type or a newer style. Look at it. Does it have a long tube running up and down or does it have tubing connecting each row. The long tube runnig down the side is the newer style and will work much better. It was designed for R-134a and works better for us. You have a tough job living in Nevada. kind of like us in Texas. Let me know

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