Anyone swap HVAC unit from donor?

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robcuda

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Anyone swap the HVAC unit from the donor vehicle?

I have a 97 Van complete donor that I was hoping to use but the heater box looks huge! Any suggestions on a HVAC unit that has worked for you?

I was looking at the Dodge Neon unit which seems pretty small.

I'm keeping the magnum serpentine and AC unit and trying to adapt to a non AC 64 Cuda and mount HVAC unit under dash (willing to sacrifice glove box)

Any thoughts are appreciated!!!
 
Have you looked at Classic Auto Air or Vintage Air to see if they have something that will fit? Sounds like all you need is the inside stuff.
 
Yes, looked at those products. Looking for a junkyard hvac unit that fits.
Have you looked at Classic Auto Air or Vintage Air to see if they have something that will fit? Sounds like all you need is the inside stuff.
 
I'd look for a late A body unit.

Shouldn't be too terribly difficult.
 
Yes, looked at those products. Looking for a junkyard hvac unit that fits.
I just put a donor car AC in my 1970 Duster.
I made a templet off the donor firewall to cut the new holes.
The heater hose outlets are the same .
The fan motor opening had to be made larger.
More mounting studs were required & a condensate drain.
And of course the AC freon fitting holes.
Lots of fun under the dash. The area I hate the most.
 
Thanks for info! In your case, what donor vehicle did you use? What controllers? Thanks
I just put a donor car AC in my 1970 Duster.
I made a templet off the donor firewall to cut the new holes.
The heater hose outlets are the same .
The fan motor opening had to be made larger.
More mounting studs were required & a condensate drain.
And of course the AC freon fitting holes.
Lots of fun under the dash. The area I hate the most.
 
I bought a 99 Intrepid with a bad motor. The box is a good size and should fit nicely. I plan to use the entire system including the head unit.
 
I bought a 99 Intrepid with a bad motor. The box is a good size and should fit nicely. I plan to use the entire system including the head unit.
That's a great tip, I just now started doing searches for a used Intrepid unit. Looks pretty small, which is great!
 
Was a member here, can’t remember his name for sure. Something like Badass71

He did a magnum swap into his 71 Dart and used the complete heater/AC system out of a dodge ram truck, which was the doner vehicle. He used the under dash unit, the under hood stuff and the ram heater controls as well.
If you look far enough back in the magnum swap section you should be able to find his thread.
 
Thanks for taking the time to comment! This is exactly what I want to do! I just found his build online, he did an incredible job! I can't find any dimensions of the Ram 1500 heater box online, I'm going to head to the junkyard and see if they have any pulled to check measurements to see if I can tuck into 64 Cuda area. Do you think the Dart and Cuda have similar space behind the dash? In photos it appears the Dart dashboard is a little larger in depth, but could be deceiving.

Was a member here, can’t remember his name for sure. Something like Badass71

He did a magnum swap into his 71 Dart and used the complete heater/AC system out of a dodge ram truck, which was the doner vehicle. He used the under dash unit, the under hood stuff and the ram heater controls as well.
If you look far enough back in the magnum swap section you should be able to find his thread.
 
Thanks for taking the time to comment! This is exactly what I want to do! I just found his build online, he did an incredible job! I can't find any dimensions of the Ram 1500 heater box online, I'm going to head to the junkyard and see if they have any pulled to check measurements to see if I can tuck into 64 Cuda area. Do you think the Dart and Cuda have similar space behind the dash? In photos it appears the Dart dashboard is a little larger in depth, but could be deceiving.

I don't have any experience with the early a-bodys. All my stuff has been 68 and newer. But just from pictures I've seen of early Cuda interiors, it does look like you probably have less room than the later A's
 
Anyone swap the HVAC unit from the donor vehicle?

I have a 97 Van complete donor that I was hoping to use but the heater box looks huge! Any suggestions on a HVAC unit that has worked for you?

I was looking at the Dodge Neon unit which seems pretty small.

I'm keeping the magnum serpentine and AC unit and trying to adapt to a non AC 64 Cuda and mount HVAC unit under dash (willing to sacrifice glove box)

Any thoughts are appreciated!!!
Did you ever find a suitable donor? Thinking about doing something like this in my 67 valiant whenever I start that project.
 
I decided to go with vintage air. Bought the mini hvac unit and installed a generic condenser off ebay that fit my radiator. I liked the idea of the vintage air electronic servo switches so I can mount the controller anywhere. I have not finished the plumbing to the magnum compressor.
 
I dug an AC box out from under the dash of a '98 Ram to do this. I like the idea of using the entire system (as much as possible) as it is engineered to work together.

I've done some mockup stuff, but not much else. There is a pretty big notch to the firewall of the truck and the box follows that so there are a couple of inches between the box and the middle of the firewall in my Duster. And I am nervous about one of the vacuum cans and it's proximity to the gas pedal. I think it will work, plan to forge ahead at a later date regardless. I asked the newest owner of the car @BadAss71 built about the gas pedal area and if he had or could take a picture but never got an answer.

As a comparison, I had a '63 Valiant I was going to swap a later A-Body AC box into and it was looking like the box was going to need some mods around the column/wiper motor/gas pedal area to fit. Don't remember the exact issue, but I remember is was due to the width of the box. Due to that, I doubt the Ram box would fit in an early A-Body without having to cut and rebuild the box some.

The other thing I did was figure out the vacuum cans and work out a system to run them using a later A-Body AC control module. It isn't perfect, I think heat will only work on floor mode and AC on ducts (whatever those will be). But I think defrost is both heat and AC so that's good. I'd have to look back at my notes. The issue was which ports are open depending on the lever location so there was only so much I could do with it. I know I didn't want the round knobs from the ram in my dash, they looked too out of place for me.

I might add that the Ram controls are straight up and down (and curved, I think), but certain Jeep GC's used the same (or similar) AC box and their controls were horizontal. Might be easier to make those work if someone wanted to keep the OEM controls and put them in the general area of the current controls. Just an idea.
 
I dug an AC box out from under the dash of a '98 Ram to do this. I like the idea of using the entire system (as much as possible) as it is engineered to work together.

I've done some mockup stuff, but not much else. There is a pretty big notch to the firewall of the truck and the box follows that so there are a couple of inches between the box and the middle of the firewall in my Duster. And I am nervous about one of the vacuum cans and it's proximity to the gas pedal. I think it will work, plan to forge ahead at a later date regardless. I asked the newest owner of the car @BadAss71 built about the gas pedal area and if he had or could take a picture but never got an answer.

As a comparison, I had a '63 Valiant I was going to swap a later A-Body AC box into and it was looking like the box was going to need some mods around the column/wiper motor/gas pedal area to fit. Don't remember the exact issue, but I remember is was due to the width of the box. Due to that, I doubt the Ram box would fit in an early A-Body without having to cut and rebuild the box some.

The other thing I did was figure out the vacuum cans and work out a system to run them using a later A-Body AC control module. It isn't perfect, I think heat will only work on floor mode and AC on ducts (whatever those will be). But I think defrost is both heat and AC so that's good. I'd have to look back at my notes. The issue was which ports are open depending on the lever location so there was only so much I could do with it. I know I didn't want the round knobs from the ram in my dash, they looked too out of place for me.

I might add that the Ram controls are straight up and down (and curved, I think), but certain Jeep GC's used the same (or similar) AC box and their controls were horizontal. Might be easier to make those work if someone wanted to keep the OEM controls and put them in the general area of the current controls. Just an idea.
I’m sort of thinking along the same lines. The reason I’m interested in using a neon box is because I plan to swap an SRT4 engine into my 67 Valiant, so I may as well use the rest of the A/C system as well.
 
I’m sort of thinking along the same lines. The reason I’m interested in using a neon box is because I plan to swap an SRT4 engine into my 67 Valiant, so I may as well use the rest of the A/C system as well.
Even though I am currently installing a vintage air to a stock magnum I sure do believe there is something nice about having the hvac system stock even if you have to hack the box etc. It's proven to work. I'm just not a good fabricator so I wimped out. But I'm also doing a delete dash so the remote solenoid switches from vintage I plan on hiding in an armrest.
 
The a/c is another part of my 96 Camry that I wish was in my B'cuda. Two cars, nearly 300K miles on both. Never a problem, not even a freon leak.
 
You mean something like this with a Dodge 1500 stock Box/AC unit ..The only problem was the orifice tube for expansion of freon I had one especially made to fit this section the oem was too long

I used the old holes of the radio for the fan and temp control..radio is asthetic now

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I swapped the whole factory ac from a 71 dart into my 69 Cuda non ac car. It turned out great. The compressor & engine front end pulley matching was the worst part.
 
LOL I cannot imagine shoehorning a ram unit "in there." BUT IF YOU DO use late model Dodge stuff, just go ahead and replace both cores.........because they leak. The first junk Dakota I drove for a short time-----AC and heater leak........The white junker I still drive...........heater and AC leak...........The white whale 1/2T I sold...........heater leak...........The white whale 3/4T I sold..........heater leak...........the Cummins I still have..........heater leak

HOW DID I FIX THEM ALL? LOLOL.........Ripped the gasket off the pressure cap!!!! ....and drove them.............
 
Back in the day, I would pressurize the cores with an air compressor & throw them in a bucket of water & look for bubbles. Solder the leaks up & do it again. Worked pretty good for a poor boy….
 
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