Air Conditioning

[ledphoot]

I installed vintage air in the Cuda, it was an original A/C car..

[Cratos]

check your bulkhead connector sometime the connectors push out when plugging the new harness in.

[FSHTAIL]

Vintage Air in mine.....works awesome!

Cheers!
Mickm

That looks killer, did those finned hose clamps come with it?
If not, where did you get it?

It's super clean and classy..

[71383bee]

Classic Auto Air in Tampa seems to be the only choice for rebuilds.
My recent experience has been that, like a lot of companies nowadays they are not who they were five years ago. They seem to be struggling with turnaround, quality, etc.
I'm sure hanging on to decent staff has impacted them as well.

That's the info I am looking for on this thread.  My stock AC on the 73 works when its charged but leaks like a sieve and is in need of a full rehab.  I want to stay stock but am hesitant to send it any where unless I know they can do the work.   

[B5fourspeed]

Did you connect the black/white wire that feeds the power to the switch and fan motor?The wire connects to other black/white wire that comes from the fuse block.My switch and fan didn't work until I notice on the wiring diagram that there was a separate connection.It was after I installed my new dash harness.The connection is located in the middle of the steering column support bracket.

[71383bee]

Did you connect the black/white wire that feeds the power to the switch and fan motor?The wire connects to other black/white wire that comes from the fuse block.My switch and fan didn't work until I notice on the wiring diagram that there was a separate connection.It was after I installed my new dash harness.The connection is located in the middle of the steering column support bracket.

One thing to add here is at least for me on the 73 the system will not activate unless it is charged.  I redid the wiring on mine and after it not being used for a year or so I tried to use it but was surprised how it would not even engage.  Checked power and it all worked.  I decided to just try and charge it and got a can of refrigerant and hooked it up.  After about half a bottle the whole thing kicked on and dropped the idle a bunch...it was very noticeable!  Just something to consider. 

[Aloha Randy]

Got factory air working on mine, converted to 134A. Back in the day as kids we took of the AC to get a couple more horses and a cooler looking engine. Now we are older and wiser and a cool driver is more important. Plus your vehicle value is higher.

[Cratos]

I'm in FL so yes i kept the air but upgraded it.it is a factory air car.

[chargerdon]

my 74 Challenger was a factory air car, but had been left uninstalled for years.   Car sat unused for 9.   So being certain that the factory air would need to have the compressor rebuilt, new evaporator, and hoses, and having no idea what the heater/air box condition was i decided to replace all.   PS...sold all of the original system for $250 to someone that wanted....original. 

I bought and installed the custom package from Vintage air.   It was a complete system for around $1350 and included a new heater box as well. 

Pro's... 
*  Well constructed package that fit well and good customer support.
*  Electronic controls that included an electric water control switch !!  no more sticking cables.
*  Fairly powerful system that cools very well.
*  New heater core so dont have to worry about the old leaking. 

Cons
* Do not like the way the drive belts have to be for Vfintage Air factory setup.   Because the Sanden compressor is longer than a factory compressor, their bracket moves it to the left to clear the water neck.  Because of this you get a setup that uses only 1 belt to drive the Fan, compressor, and alternator...not a dual like a Chrysler factory system.   With this setup you only get about 1/8 of a rotation on the fan pulley.   Surprisingly, Yes, it does work, but i sure do worry about the fan "slipping" and causing overheating conditions.   I saw in the pictures that one of us created another bracket so that they could drive the system without this problem using two belts and an idler!!    That does not come with the Vintage Air system.  Vintage Air says to use a 1/2 wide drive belt, which works well on their compressor but is too wide for the factory alternator, fan, and crank pulleys.   Had to search for a belt that was a little less to work with the factory pulleys and not too narrow for the pully on the compressor.   Ended up with a belt from Autozone that worked..   I keep a spare in my trunk !!

* No "fresh air".   This is the biggest mistake on the Vintage Air system that replaces the interior heater/evaporator box.  The factory system had a setting for fresh air only without the compressor turned on.   It utilized an air intake from the cowl that ran thru the system..   i.e. the dash vents can be fresh air.   The Vintage air system loses the outside fresh air feature and is in essence only a "max air" recirculate interior air setup.   

When you set the control to the "cold" setting with fan turned on it activates the compressor and completely shuts off the water flow to the heater.   Great in hot temperatures.   In the winter and the slide set to hot, it fully opens the water valve to let the hot water circulate fully.   Inside the heater/evaporator box there are baffles that can direct the "refresh" air to completely over the heater unit, or completely over the evaporator and half way in between for variable temperature.   When you install the system it comes with a cover plate to block the outside air !!  But in cool weather say 50-70 outside temps there is no way to get fresh outside air in!!   At low driving speeds simply open your windows...but if your driving on an interstate at 70 MPH in 60 degree temperatures that can be very annoying and if you roll up the windows your kinda forced to run the compressor to stay cool inside.       

To me this is a serious "flaw" in the Vintage Air system.    Otherwise it is great, works well, fairly easy to install, and has a great fan and air flow to both the floor, windscreen or in dash outlets.   Have not had any trouble with it at all. 

[RacerX]

my 74 Challenger was a factory air car,

* No "fresh air".   This is the biggest mistake on the Vintage Air system that replaces the interior heater/evaporator box.  The factory system had a setting for fresh air only without the compressor turned on.   It utilized an air intake from the cowl that ran thru the system..   i.e. the dash vents can be fresh air.   The Vintage air system loses the outside fresh air feature and is in essence only a "max air" recirculate interior air setup.   

To me this is a serious "flaw" in the Vintage Air system.    Otherwise it is great, works well, fairly easy to install, and has a great fan and air flow to both the floor, windscreen or in dash outlets.   Have not had any trouble with it at all.

Interesting...   I had not thought of this until you mentioned it.    I will be putting a Vintage Air system in my
71 cuda and it was not a factory a/c car.    Because the firewall is swiss cheese and needs replacement I had
considered using the A/C firewall for the replacement.   

I am glad I didn't!   

With the non-A/C firewall I will still have the cable controlled air vent on the driver's side of the car to let
fresh air in.   It won't go through the A/C system of course, but on those days where you don't need the
system and want to keep the windows up that will be a good option to have available!

My car is not factory A/C but I will be using a factory A/C dash and vents so that the system "appears" stock.

[Scooter]

Prior owner installed Vintage Air setup in my 74 in 2010, P/N: 974073-EDU. It has a double pulley.

GL

[Challenger in NC]

my 74 Challenger was a factory air car, but had been left uninstalled for years.   Car sat unused for 9.   So being certain that the factory air would need to have the compressor rebuilt, new evaporator, and hoses, and having no idea what the heater/air box condition was i decided to replace all.   PS...sold all of the original system for $250 to someone that wanted....original. 

I bought and installed the custom package from Vintage air.   It was a complete system for around $1350 and included a new heater box as well. 

Pro's... 
*  Well constructed package that fit well and good customer support.
*  Electronic controls that included an electric water control switch !!  no more sticking cables.
*  Fairly powerful system that cools very well.
*  New heater core so dont have to worry about the old leaking. 

Cons
* Do not like the way the drive belts have to be for Vfintage Air factory setup.   Because the Sanden compressor is longer than a factory compressor, their bracket moves it to the left to clear the water neck.  Because of this you get a setup that uses only 1 belt to drive the Fan, compressor, and alternator...not a dual like a Chrysler factory system.   With this setup you only get about 1/8 of a rotation on the fan pulley.   Surprisingly, Yes, it does work, but i sure do worry about the fan "slipping" and causing overheating conditions.   I saw in the pictures that one of us created another bracket so that they could drive the system without this problem using two belts and an idler!!    That does not come with the Vintage Air system.  Vintage Air says to use a 1/2 wide drive belt, which works well on their compressor but is too wide for the factory alternator, fan, and crank pulleys.   Had to search for a belt that was a little less to work with the factory pulleys and not too narrow for the pully on the compressor.   Ended up with a belt from Autozone that worked..   I keep a spare in my trunk !!

* No "fresh air".   This is the biggest mistake on the Vintage Air system that replaces the interior heater/evaporator box.  The factory system had a setting for fresh air only without the compressor turned on.   It utilized an air intake from the cowl that ran thru the system..   i.e. the dash vents can be fresh air.   The Vintage air system loses the outside fresh air feature and is in essence only a "max air" recirculate interior air setup.   

When you set the control to the "cold" setting with fan turned on it activates the compressor and completely shuts off the water flow to the heater.   Great in hot temperatures.   In the winter and the slide set to hot, it fully opens the water valve to let the hot water circulate fully.   Inside the heater/evaporator box there are baffles that can direct the "refresh" air to completely over the heater unit, or completely over the evaporator and half way in between for variable temperature.   When you install the system it comes with a cover plate to block the outside air !!  But in cool weather say 50-70 outside temps there is no way to get fresh outside air in!!   At low driving speeds simply open your windows...but if your driving on an interstate at 70 MPH in 60 degree temperatures that can be very annoying and if you roll up the windows your kinda forced to run the compressor to stay cool inside.       

To me this is a serious "flaw" in the Vintage Air system.    Otherwise it is great, works well, fairly easy to install, and has a great fan and air flow to both the floor, windscreen or in dash outlets.   Have not had any trouble with it at all.

@chargerdon
Don,
do you know what the make/model# is for the belt you referenced?

[chargerdon]

Yes, I have an Autozone Duralast part number 15560.   its 56.4 inch long, and .44 top width V-belt.   

I found that most of the belts around this length have a .41 top width.   They would sit too low on the compressor pulley and bottom out.   The .44 top width sits down in the compressor pulley but doesn't bottom, while sitting high on the Challengers alternator, fan, and crank pulleys.   Its a compromise, but never understood why Vintage Air package has the wide of a pulley on the compressor, when Chryslers stock pulleys call for .40 or less.   I.e..  Oreillys velts are listed as 7/16 which is .4375...  but...in their specs they show top width as 10mm which is .3937   So...i went with Autozone which shows their belts as .41 or .44 wide.   PS...i found that as the belts wear they don become less wide as the sides are worn away...right now the 15560 on mine measures with my digital gauge at .425 so might be time to put on a new one.   This belt is only $10.99 at autozone.