Prep Firewall for Vintage Air

[nicka]

For those that installed Vintage Air, did you fill in the holes on the firewall for the heater hoses, heater motor, and passenger vent. I'm working on a 71 Barracuda original ac car, but I installed the non ac firewall taking advantage of the drivers vent.  I just checked the Vintage kit 574074-EDZ and comes with three block off plates. They look cheezy.  Since the cowl is off, thinking of creating a block off plate on top of the passenger vent.
Any thoughts?

[anlauto]

In my opinion, for a nice clean finished look, I would fill ALL the holes in the firewall you're not using, and just drill the new holes that you need. I agree 1000% that the supplied cover plates look cheesy.

I took mine one step further, by moving the box over and running the AC lines inside the inner fender.

[Filthy Filbert]

Vintage is the one everyone prefers, right?

I'd like to see pictures of installs. 

My car was also originally an AC car, but I went with a non-AC firewall because 1) it's all they had in stock at the time I was shopping for panels, and 2) I have no fender tag, build sheet or the like to verify factory correct, and even if I did--the factory AC was so big, heavy, and clunky looking, that I would hate to install it like original.

[rebelyell]

In my opinion, for a nice clean finished look, I would fill ALL the holes in the firewall you're not using, and just drill the new holes that you need. I agree 1000% that the supplied cover plates look cheesy.

I took mine one step further, by moving the box over and running the AC lines inside the inner fender.

You did what now? How?

For those that installed Vintage Air, did you fill in the holes on the firewall for the heater hoses, heater motor, and passenger vent. I'm working on a 71 Barracuda original ac car, but I installed the non ac firewall taking advantage of the drivers vent.  I just checked the Vintage kit 574074-EDZ and comes with three block off plates. They look cheezy.  Since the cowl is off, thinking of creating a block off plate on top of the passenger vent.
Any thoughts?

If I were replacing sheet metal on mine, I'd fill in everything I didn't need and go from there. But I'm not, so I'm using the plates.

[anlauto]

I took mine one step further, by moving the box over and running the AC lines inside the inner fender.

You did what now? How?

I ran all the AC lines on the wheels side of the inner fender so there's no ugly lines in the engine compartment. With a little imagination you can mount the evaporator box anywhere you want....I just moved it over about 10" or so and modified the mounting brackets.

[nicka]

Fab a blockoff plate for the pass side vent.

[anlauto]

Did they supply a plastic one for that side ?

[chargerdon]

My 74 Chally had factory air originally.   

I made the mistake of painting the engine bay including the firewall before installing the engine, and the new Vintage air system.   I wish i had realized what holes were needed and welded in plates to make it look great before painting.   Since welding would have destroyed the pain job i just put on the Vintage plates...   Ugly

Also, i did not realize there was a firewall difference between the factory and non factory firewalls.   If i had and had realized that vintage air install has you cap off the vent on the passenger side, i would have modified the firewall to put a vent in on the drivers side.  Or modified the passenger side vent system to pipe into the vintage air box.   Has anyone done either?    if so instructions on what to do.

I absolutely hate the fact that there is no outside air coming into the car with the Vintage air system  !!!   Yeah it makes good cold air, but what about when the outside temp is in the high 50's to low 70's where with good ventilation you can drive around with the front windows down and get outside air thru the vents.   

[392 Cuda]

Looks great @anlauto !

How did you get the heater hoses into the cowl?

Did you clamp on hoses inside and put them through the vent cover?

[anlauto]

YES, my heater hoses and water control valve are all in the cowl

[anlauto]

Looks great @anlauto !

How did you get the heater hoses into the cowl?

Did you clamp on hoses inside and put them through the vent cover?

I used two bulkhead connectors and four hose ends

[392 Cuda]

I appreciate the help as always!

I came up with a similar setup after seeing pics of your firewall. I'm running the hose right through the plastic blockoff Vintage Air provided wiht some tight-fitting grommets.

I was a little apprehensive about hose clamps under the dash, but I suppose the core could always crack.

Onto the next little project...