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

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rmchrgr

rmchrgr

Skate And Destroy
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OK gang, I think I've run in to an issue, just trying confirm the parameters here and see what my options are. Hope I don't come across as too ignorant here and not really thinking it through...

Recently, my climate control went kaput. This prompted me to remove everything from the dash bezel to try and diagnose the problem. Once I had all that stuff out and found the problem (A/C switch is toast), I decided I wanted to remove all the A/C stuff since I have this cool non-A/C radio delete panel, plus I was going to do it anyway for weight savings.

So I started looking for a non-A/C heater box so I could keep the heat in the car and the defrost for those cold mornings. I've recently learned from one Mr. Eberg that my original A/C car has a specific firewall configuration which will not allow a non-A/C heater box to fit! Aaarrrgghh!

Soooo, what can I do here? I'm thinking I have a few options, none of which are real great for my ultimate goal which is to save weight but have heat and defrost. I can obviously 1) remove the heater box entirely and just go without all the climate control stuff or 2) leave the A/C heater box in and just let it be.

I guess my questions is - can you modify an A/C heater box to remove all the unnecessary stuff, like the blend door for the A/C and all the ducting and still have it function correctly?

And two, what happens to the wiring harness when you remove this stuff? is it a stand alone part of the underdash harness than can be disconnected by itself or is it grouped into the larger harness? If I could get a heater only control would it work? Was difficult to trace back to it's origin, it's tucked way underneath everything.

My steering column will be coming out soon for a rebuild so looks like this is the time to take care of all this stuff.

I'd like to hear what some of you guys have done to remove weight and retain your heat in a 'factory'- style set up with an A/C only firewall. Am I asking too much? I'm not a big fan of stripped interiors.

Thanks for any input,

- Greg
 
Anyone have any ideas? Am I confused? Am I opening up a big can o' worms?
 
HEY! Your going to need a pulley for the water pump since the Alt. belt will rub on the water pump. Look at (SP!) Buchillon advertised in the mags for pulleys. I'm at this exact point myself.

After that, I'm not to sure, but I have read elsewhere that the fire walls are different.
 
Someone would have to show me this big difference in the firewalls for a/c and non a/c on the same year model. I know the fan hole changed at some point but that was different year models. Non a/c from the same year model should work.
 
I know on my 69 Dart the hole was all that was diffirent,larger for AC. You could just make a plate out of aluminum that would bolt to the inside of your firewall with a hole cut in the center to accept the smaller fan motor. You will have to drill new holes as well.
 
I'm with ya on that RedFish. I don't see how, but....................

Homecloned, our very own MOD John did it on his Cuda I think, didn't he?
 
rumblefish360 said:
HEY! Your going to need a pulley for the water pump since the Alt. belt will rub on the water pump. Look at (SP!) Buchillon advertised in the mags for pulleys. I'm at this exact point myself.

After that, I'm not to sure, but I have read elsewhere that the fire walls are different.
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Rumble, I have the Bouchillon kit sitting on my bench as I write. Managed to plan ahead for once!

I failed to ask Eberg exactly what the difference is in the firewall (should have!) configuration but he seemed pretty sure about it. I usually take his word on things like that, he knows his stuff.

Homecloned, your explanation sounds fairly reasonable. That would be an easy solution.

I'm sort of leaning on ditching the whole system though, heater core and all. I doubt I'll be driving the car in real cold weather much anyway. The defrost is what I'm mostly concerned with losing but that would be irrelevant without the heater core.

There's a guy on Moparts that sells machiined blower motor block off plates for relatively cheap. Thought about one of those but it's not the factory look I'm after. If someone has a factory blower motor delete plate they don't want, I'm interested!

Descisions descisions...
 
rumblefish360 said:
What did the kit run ya?
Click to expand...

I went whole hog and got the alternator bracket and correct spacers so as to not have to monkey with washers and what not. These are all single groove.

Alternator bracket/spacer kit - $30.50
Crank pulley (black) - $48.45
WP pulley (black) - $56.83
Alt. pulley - $24.40
Shipping - $16
Total - $176.25

I probably could have pieced it together on Ebay and message boards but I'm lazy, I like everything in one package. Just a fool and his money I guess. I have everything I need now though and it's all brand new. No guessing or stalling trying to find this or that part. Bouchillon was helpful too.

Just for comparison, the March Performance 'street' set (no underdrive) STARTED at $239 from Mancini. Their performance set is cheaper, that's $195.
 
I probably could have pieced it together on Ebay and message boards but I'm lazy
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Screw lazy, I'm with ya on the whole deal thing, just easier and no lose of sanitiy! Open up the box and be done with it. I wanna call'em up for a W/P pulley that's it. Possible 3 groove deep to replace the single groove on the W/P now so I can deleate the A/C pump.
 
I,m running a single belt to the alt, bypassed the compressor, with no problem,used the outer pulley on the crank and alt, it doesn't hit the pump.
 
As far as the firewall goes, the heater hoses are in a different spot as well as the heater box mounting holes. I would try and find someone within driving distance of you that is parting out or scraping a non A/C A-Body and either get a cardboard template of the firewall or see if you can cut it out. You can use it to get what you need to make yours look correct, you may be able to get the whole box, switches and cables from the same car.
 
Blownfish said:
As far as the firewall goes, the heater hoses are in a different spot as well as the heater box mounting holes. I would try and find someone within driving distance of you that is parting out or scraping a non A/C A-Body and either get a cardboard template of the firewall or see if you can cut it out. You can use it to get what you need to make yours look correct, you may be able to get the whole box, switches and cables from the same car.
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Aaarrggghh, what a pain in the ***. Looks like I might be ditching everything, not just the A/C! I never knew about this little quirk. Is this the same on all A-bodies? Guess I can just get a whole bunch of grommets to fill the holes that are no longer in use. Guess I'm saving more weight than I bargained for.

Hey Blowfish, can you or anyone else confirm if the A/C heater box will still function properly without all the A/C related stuff?
 
rmchrgr said:
Aaarrggghh, what a pain in the ***. Looks like I might be ditching everything, not just the A/C! I never knew about this little quirk. Is this the same on all A-bodies? Guess I can just get a whole bunch of grommets to fill the holes that are no longer in use. Guess I'm saving more weight than I bargained for.

Hey Blowfish, can you or anyone else confirm if the A/C heater box will still function properly without all the A/C related stuff?
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The heater should still work with out the A/C

I would check out a non A/C car before you make any final decisions, if the blower motor lines up, you can just re-drill the mounting holes.

If your car is not already butchered, I would try and just use your box. This way your car can be put back at a later date without hassle.
 
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
 
valiantsurf said:
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
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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?
 
I am curious, are you racing your car? Is that why you are wanting to save weight, by removing the A/C components?

Regarding the blower motor that sticks thru the firewall, is that a cover or the actual motor? If it is only a cover, then maybe you could keep the cover in place (keep factory look) & remove the OEM heater box assembly & seal up the fresh air vent. Then put in the Summit heater assembly or buy an aftermarket A/C, heat & defrost unit. Dehumidified defrost might be useful. They are much smaller evap/heater assys than the OEM units.

Just a few thoughts...

John

John
 
Moparsky said:
I am curious, are you racing your car? Is that why you are wanting to save weight, by removing the A/C components?
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That's the ultimate goal, yeah. But it's going to be a street machine mostly. In my little brain, a lighter car requires less power to motivate. Plus removing the A/C system means less things to go wrong, rattle leak or break and means more room in the engine bay. The A/C TXV is right in the way of the distributor on my car, drives me nuts. Difficult to get to the hold down bolt through all that crap.

Moparsky said:
Regarding the blower motor that sticks thru the firewall, is that a cover or the actual motor?
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On most A body cars, ('67-up) the blower motor sticks through the firewall, unless it's a very rare heater delete car where the hole was covered up by a blank plate. I'd love one of those! Never seen one in person.

Most often there's a trim ring and gasket that retains the motor assy. to the sheet metal. Some guys just leave an empty hole when all the heater stuff comes out. I personally like a more finished, factory-style look if I can facilitate it.
 
If I remember right there is a guy making heater block off plates and selling them on here. They look nice and you can have stuff milled on them.
 
rmchrgr said:
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?
Click to expand...
wellll... was suppose to be my off-road toy only(sold off hardtop) but the daily driver died and at the time my work went from 60+ hrs a week to less then 25 hrs a week. coworker found out about my misfortune and had a mojave heater that she never had installed in her jeep and she gave it to me.
Those were the fun times up in the AZ mountains, that heater probably saved my life!
 
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