Turning an A/C Swinger into a non A/C Swinger

you mentioned removing a/c partly to help with weight (i think you did anyhow) I would recomend dumping the whole set-up and plating -pluging all the holes exept the 2 heater lines and using a mojave or summit aftermarket setup http://www.summitracing.com/parts/SUM-991102/ you can get this and defrost kit for under 200 bucks. hides up under the dash like no other is lighter than the factory fan motor and heater core. kept me warm in a full open Samurai in 15 deg weather

That's kind of cool actually (no pun intended)! Thanks for the idea.

Looks like there is a provision for a defroster too. Relatively cheap as well. Good stuff!

I wonder if there is a way to adapt it to a factory style heater control slider so it would look 'correct'.

BTW, what the heck are you doing driving around in an open Samuari when it's 15 degrees?