I had purchased the engine compartment retrofit kit from Classic in 2010 but have just installed it. Installation went well on my 1974 with 360 engine and is cooling good in Alabama. My car was originally an A/C car but components had been removed by a previous owner. Only item still there was the evaporator in the dash which I removed, flushed, and pressure tested. Kit cost then was $759 plus I also had to purchase a pressure switch and its wiring connector which goes on the receiver/drier (they were missing). Classic kit includes compressor, condenser, hoses, brackets, expansion valve, thermostat, hardware, various hose fittings (straight, 45, 90), compressor drive belt, and pulley which bolts in front of other crankshaft pulleys. Hoses have fittings crimped on one end and you cut and have them crimped on the other end by a local shop. Enclosed are some pictures of the installation for those wanting to do this. Condenser support brackets were adjusted to fit the existing radiator support bolts. It is not necessary to drain radiator to do this work; there is a small loss of water when the water pump bolts are removed and replaced with the longer ones on the compressor support bracket. One variation from the mounting instructions is I used a very long bolt on the top of the water pump to mount the driver rear compressor support bracket. Anyone with questions or need better pictures can contact me at [email protected].
Dart Sport Classic Auto Air A/C retrofit
- Thread starter Warren
- Start date
-
Sedanman
67-9 Valiant specialist
So how do you like it and does it work well? Is the pressure switch up by the cowl or on the drier? Can you post a pic? So everything inside the car is original equip?
System working good so far. The 2nd picture shows the drier with the pressure switch screwed on the top. Everyhting inside the car was still there including controls and evaporator drain tube on firewall; I did have to locate the blue wire (per wiring diagram) to the pressure switch which had been cut and taped up near the firewall near that retrofit coil.
One other minor item is some of the supplied spacers on the brackets were too thick and I had to grind them down a little; this can vary per car.
One other minor item is some of the supplied spacers on the brackets were too thick and I had to grind them down a little; this can vary per car.
Well an update. Compressor was not coming on so hooked up pressure gauges and suction pressure very low. Injected a can of R134a with the fluorescent dye to try to find leaks with a black light. Nothing shows up in the new parts so check the evaporator drain which looks oily. Disconnect the drain from the box under the dash and the dye glows under a black light. 
So I remove the evaporator box and the dye is glowing everywhere on all the soldered tube 90 degree fittings on one end. The bottom of the box was also glowing and was oily. So I guess my air pressure test in a water tub a few years ago was not a good method. Have ordered a new evaporator on Ebay for $250.
On my 1974 Plymouth Satellite, I only got 10 years of service on its evaporator before it started leaking.
So I remove the evaporator box and the dye is glowing everywhere on all the soldered tube 90 degree fittings on one end. The bottom of the box was also glowing and was oily. So I guess my air pressure test in a water tub a few years ago was not a good method. Have ordered a new evaporator on Ebay for $250. On my 1974 Plymouth Satellite, I only got 10 years of service on its evaporator before it started leaking.
Sedanman
67-9 Valiant specialist
ouch!
Sedanman
67-9 Valiant specialist
Ya know,I saw an 80's cordoba at the junk yard that had very similar bracketry with an older saden compressor. I'm wondering if I can retro fit it to my 67 a/c car
-
