Original Air (Classic Air) Upgrade Worked Out Nicely

[Dantra]

I purchased this little 69, exactly 1 month ago today.. One of the reasons that I bought this one in particular was for the factory air.. The system was pretty complete minus the compressor and hoses. I ordered the Ac upgrade from Original Air ($750) and it came with everything I needed.. New dryer, hoses, compressor, mounts, expansion valve, high air sensor etc. The kit was at the house before I even got the car home haha.

I had to buy the 70-74 Kit, due to my 318 being a 82. One thing to note if you are buying the 70-74 kit for a pre 70 Dart, is that there was a dryer change mid year 70 and you need to specify early 70 when ordering the kit.

I also grabbed a heater/AC box rebuild kit from Detroit Muscle and replaced all of the seals and foam. Tossed a new core in at the same time. Wasn't horrible.. hardest part was getting the box back in. I was able to do this with full interior and no dash removal, in case anyone is curious. I had plenty of time to do all of this because I was rebuilding the top end at the same time and my heads were in the shop for 3 weeks.. only to find out they were cracked. All better now tho.

Found time to charge the system over the weekend. Ended up with 40 degree temps at the vents.. with R134 and at an idle. I was pleased.

 

[DentalDart]

What ac/heater core did you go with?

 

[Dantra]

What ac/heater core did you go with?

The heater core was a Murray 94503.. $75 @ Oreilly Auto Parts. The fit was pretty good but just like all of them, it was a bit off on the tubes. I had to take a die grinder to the retainer plate snd open one hole up just a bit (see pic). Other than that, spot on. I pressure tested my AC core and it was good, so I straightened some fins and popped it back in.

 

[MopaR&D]

Glad I saw this thread, my '72 D200 had A/C from the factory but I gutted the compressor and lines soon after getting the truck running. Colorado summers were bearable without A/C but now that I'm in Georgia that's definitely not the case. I see Original Air has an upgrade kit for '72-'78 D/W Series trucks and $725 is much cheaper than I thought. For some reason I had it in my mind it was gonna cost $2k-3k to get working A/C back into my truck.

My '70 Duster is also a factory A/C car but I'm on the fence about putting a system back into it given how little I drive it these days. Maybe that'll change once I go through the process of doing it on my truck.

 

[Dantra]

Glad I saw this thread, my '72 D200 had A/C from the factory but I gutted the compressor and lines soon after getting the truck running. Colorado summers were bearable without A/C but now that I'm in Georgia that's definitely not the case. I see Original Air has an upgrade kit for '72-'78 D/W Series trucks and $725 is much cheaper than I thought. For some reason I had it in my mind it was gonna cost $2k-3k to get working A/C back into my truck.

My '70 Duster is also a factory A/C car but I'm on the fence about putting a system back into it given how little I drive it these days. Maybe that'll change once I go through the process of doing it on my truck.

Glad that someone found the info useful.

We took the Dart out yesterday for a little shakedown cruise. It's in the mid 80s this week and she turned the air off before when even got a mile down the road and said she was cold... I'd say we're good

 

[YY1]

Thanks for the info.

Did they provide a list of what intake manifolds worked with their sanden mount?

What carb are you running and does it have or act like it needs a idle kick up solenoid?

 

[Dantra]

Thanks for the info.

Did they provide a list of what intake manifolds worked with their sanden mount?

What carb are you running and does it have or act like it needs a idle kick up solenoid?

Sorry for the delayed response. They use Bouchillon bracket kits. Here is a link for 70 and later.. you may need to change to whatever you need.. BPE A/C Compressor Mounting Bracket Kit Small Block - Bouchillon Performance Engineering

I have zero clearance issues, running stock cast iron 4bbl intake with a Edelbrock carb. It does pull the motor down a touch, so when the AC is on, it idles just a tad low. I don't know if there any idle kick solenoids available for Edelelbrocks but I plan to look into it. I'm running a very mild cam, so it would be nice to have a little more idle adjustment.

I will say that the system is impressive when done right. It's been in the 90s recently and I can get it downright cold in this little Dart, quick!