Anybody see this odd A/C dash vent system before?

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66340SEDAN

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Seen this A/C lower dash system in a 73-76 Duster in a salvage yard...it looks like it’s made for this car, it has the contours for the dash and steering column, controls are also in it. It’s not in the best of shape but thought about grabbing it since I’ve never seen another one before...even has a little Chrysler emblem on it, could be a dealer install or factory install? It’s heavy on the end hanging down, must have an the parts or blower in there along with the controls. On the left side there is a vent on the end but it’s broken off but there yet. I seen a picture of a 71-74 B-Body with one like this and it fit the same way but I didn’t know it was a factory one. Any thoughts? Thanks

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I have one that came with my 72 Valiant, was wondering the same about where it came from.

It’s different than the others I’m used to seeing, must be somewhat rare since you don’t really see them, they look pretty good I think. Do you have a picture of yours?
 
Those replaced the 70 71 knee-knocker Style... I like them more
 
I would grab it. That would be useful for someone installing a new retrofit AC system and will keep it looking somewhat original.
 
Longest retrofit "knee-knocker" I've seen. My 1969 Dart slant had factory AC. As I recall, it had a similar bolt-on under-dash vent assembly, but the blower was inside the climate box. Mine was also purtier with chrome vents. Later, they moved the AC vents into the dash. The C-body factory AC had in-dash vents going back to at least 1965, plus some even had rear-AC units.
 
I could be wrong, but I think AirTemp made those for dealer installed A/C.
 
I could be wrong, but I think AirTemp made those for dealer installed A/C.
I think you are right. Thru the 1960's, AC was still a fairly rare and expensive option but it quickly came down in cost so there was a big market in retrofitting AC to somewhat-new cars. I recall AirTemp was a Chrysler branded retrofit and perhaps only available thru dealers. In addition, others like Western Auto, Sears, and K-mart offered AC retrofits, which were probably clumsier and cheaper. My 1965 Newport had one with a York compressor (used by Ford and M-B) and my 1965 Dart had one with a Tecumseh compressor (York-ish but cast-iron).

In both, they drilled ugly holes in the firewall above the pedals and ran hoses straight from the knee-knocker box to the compressor inlet and filter outlet, using worm-screw hose clamps. Not elegant but it worked, and if it leaked a little Freon nobody cared since 10c/can and kids used those cans to power BB machine-guns (not kidding). Not sure if the dealer-installed kits were much more elegant. My Dart (273) had a special 1-groove cast-aluminum crank pulley which bolted inside the stamped-steel 2-groove factory crank pulley, which suggests a high-volume of kits to design and fab those. In all, the compressor had a single thick (0.5"W) V-belt which ran on the outer-most pulley groove.
 
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