Buildin' An Ice Box
One of the last major mods we made to the Brown Bomber before we really hit the superheated roads of the southwest was to install an A/C system. From the outset, we made a firm decision not to drive through middle-America in August with no A/C. We're hardcore, but we aren't stupid. Our trip was going to take us through the 115-degree heat of Arizona and the 90-percent humidity of Louisiana, and merely driving faster with the windows down wasn't going to cut it. Luckily for us, Vintage Air is in the business of building heating and cooling systems for just about anything under the sun, including Mike's '73 Chevy C10, which will save us a ton of time tracking down factory stuff.
The Brown Bomber originally came with air conditioning, but it was missing most of the pieces of the factory system. Rather than hunt down parts that may or may not work from a wrecking yard, we went with Vintage Air's Sure Fit System, which ditches that giant compressor/evaporator from the engine compartment and places the new parts behind the dashboard in the cab. Each Sure Fit kit contains a firewall cover panel to seal off the opening left from the removal of the OEM housing and provides refrigerant line and heater hose routing. In addition to pumping ice-cold air into the cab, the Sure Fit System also provides floor heat and a dehumidified defroster. A/C can make or break a trip, and if your truck is in need of a cooler cabin, check our Vintage Air for a full line of air conditioning products.
The heart of the Sure-Fit...
The heart of the Sure-Fit System is the evaporator and blower motor. This one is designed to mount behind the dash rather than inside the engine compartment.
Also included is the condenser,...
Also included is the condenser, which cools the refrigerant, the drier...
...which removes moisture,...
...which removes moisture, refrigerant lines with one end already crimped on...
...and new A/C controls. Included...
...and new A/C controls. Included but not shown are new filler panels, which will take care of the holes left in the firewall and kick panel after we removed the stock system, ducting and adapters, and an assortment of hard lines for plumbing the condenser and drier.
Since most of the underhood...
Since most of the underhood A/C parts were already missing, we got started by removing the guts of the dash. The only parts left of the old A/C system were the controls and we tossed those in the round file along with the rest of the garbage found in the old ductwork. A bit of spring cleaning was in order once the parts were removed.
The supplied condenser mounting...
The supplied condenser mounting brackets were installed and then the drier was bolted directly to the brackets.
We then mocked up the condenser...
We then mocked up the condenser and drier plumbing, making sure to use the supplied O-rings at the end of each fitting.
The condenser was then set...
The condenser was then set inside of the core support. It will be bolted to the core support and sandwiched between it and the Flex-a-Lite aluminum radiator.
Moving inside of the cab,...
Moving inside of the cab, we prepped the interior to receive the new evaporator. The passenger side kick panel needed to have the factory vent system removed and blocked off with the Vintage Air filler panel.
After attaching the control...
After attaching the control cables to the evaporator body, we slid it up under the passenger side of the dashboard...
...and self-tapping sheetmetal...
...and self-tapping sheetmetal screws were used to secure...
...the evaporator mounting...
...the evaporator mounting brackets to the firewall of the truck.