A/C vs. Heater Box Decisions…

[Chuck Henderson]

The Car; 1970 Dart with Factory Air and a Slant 6

Looking for options/suggestions/your experiences…

While sorting out an electrical issue I pulled out my non-working Air Conditioning system and heater box. After looking it over, it’s apparent that I have three options regarding heat and air conditioning with my car;

1) Restore the original factory air system including a new/rebuilt compressor, all lines, the under dash vacuum lines and actuators.

2) Remove the A/C system and go ‘heat only’ by replacing the heater box, control head and dash bezel

3) Do #2 above and add an aftermarket air conditioning system later.

My inclination is #1 but it’s going to be a long and involved process as I hunt for parts, get lines fabricated, etc. I live in Columbia, SC and A/C is nice but I can live without it. Furthermore, the factory A/C system is both a power and a potential vacuum drain on the slant six. (I’m assuming future vacuum leaks in the under dash controls)

Have any of you been down this road?

 

[69hemibeep]

Yes I have. I refurbished the factory A/C and two months later if failed and needed to come out again. I opted for a Vintage air Mini that has both A/C and heat which took some adapting but it does a good job. The ducting was the most difficult and I took my old controller and adapted it with the help of JB weld. I have a console so an under dash unit wouldn't work for me.

 

[TrailBeast]

I pulled the entire heat only system and replaced it with a Classic Auto Air unit.

 

[Chuck Henderson]

Thank you Gents;

Can I ask two follow-on questions:

1) Which particular model did you use (since you used different vendors)? And,

2) Any particular challenges with the electrical connections or firewall modifications??

Thanks again,

Chuck

 

[69hemibeep]

Block off all of the firewall holes and start over, and yes some wiring. They make kits for some cars but nothing for a factory A/C A-body car.

 

[volaredon]

Not an a body but I have both an 83 and an 85 Dodge pickups that were both factory non AC and I'm putting them back together with all "factory AC" parts. New (reman) compressor on both, new aftermarket (Murray, 4-seasons,etc brand ) stock type replacement lines and good everything else.

 

[Chuck Henderson]

Not an a body but I have both an 83 and an 85 Dodge pickups that were both factory non AC and I'm putting them back together with all "factory AC" parts. New (reman) compressor on both, new aftermarket (Murray, 4-seasons,etc brand ) stock type replacement lines and good everything else.

What will you use for the ‘box’ under the dash?

 

[Chuck Henderson]

Block off all of the firewall holes and start over, and yes some wiring. They make kits for some cars but nothing for a factory A/C A-body car.

Thanks; did you use the blower motor hole in the firewall for the heat & A/C hose lines or did you plug that hole?

 

[volaredon]

What will you use for the ‘box’ under the dash?

A stock factory AC box out of a similar truck that had ac from the factory with. DMT gasket kit installed.

 

[Mike69cuda]

I put a factory air setup from another car in my non ac 69 Cuda because I didn’t want to spend $2k on aftermarket. The DMT rebuild kits are pretty cheap and work well. It just takes some time and patience to get it all working. I wanted to keep the factory look.