Dave Mak

Starting my first of two threads. I purchased a 72 convertible in August and finally getting my hands dirty by doing two projects at once, install a Vintage Air system and redo the interior. I figured I’d have most the interior out anyways, so now is as good a time as any. I’ll post my interior project on a separate thread.

I took the hood off today before taking pictures. Haven’t really started on anything else on the Air side of the project. Something interesting I did discover was that the car at one point did have air and the prior owner took it out. You can see under to hood where they patched the holes for the A/C lines. Hopefully those holes line up with where Vintage wants them. Knocking the patches out would likely be easier than cutting new holes. Who knows the reason why they took the air our? I’ll be posting pictures along the way and will likely be asking a few questions of those who have done this in the past. This is my second ‘72, so I’ve been to this rodeo on a different horse. However, I’ve never installed air.



You can see where they patched the holes for the A/C lines.

Again, you can see the holes where they patched the A/C lines

Not the A/C spot on the dial

Hood safely tucked away

Roger Dodger

Subscribed.

Dazaa Rafae Aman

If i'm not mistaken, AC cars didn't have the vent open ***** on the centre console and the heater control is for a non ac car, maybe the factory made the holes by mistake and plugged them or someone swapped the console out for a non ac one?

Dave Mak

The first thing I did was punch out the patches in the hose holes. They seem close to what VA in advising so I will just leave those be until I run the hoses and see if I have to make bigger holes. Step on of mounting the brackets to the condenser was easy enough. When I went to put it in the car, it does not line up with the OEO holes that the directions say it will. The brackets is supposed to go to the outside holes. They will go to the inside holes, but it will be crooked and there are no holes on the bottom as indicated in the directions. I’m wondering if I have the wrong condenser or brackets. I have called and emailed VA and have not heard back yet. Fortunately I was going to call it quits in about an hour anyway.

Hole punched out

Other hole punched out. Yes, that’s painters tape, don’t want to risk any scratches.

Brackets installed on condenser.

The directions say this is supposed to line up with the outside holes.

This one too

See..LOL

I suppose there is a small hole in the neighborhood.

It measures 24 inches wide if anyone else has one to compare.

vettz73

The instructions from Vintage Air that you posted indicate the bracket is for a 68

vettz73

Here's the instructions for 69-72

carriljc

For that matter, if you cannot get the replacement brackets--- when I went to install the largest condenser I could squish into my 68 (to upsize from the one that came from Hot Rod A/C), I made my own brackets. I had an old toolbox and I just cut and welded up some pieces and made it all fit..... as well, if not better, than the brackets that came with my kit.... actually better because I was able to set the condenser back a skosh and now the hood no longer "kisses" it when I open it.

BUT I'm guessing you'll be able to get the correct ones....but if you don't, it's not a big deal. You can see my home-made upper bracket here.... I actually went all the way across the top so it is actually quite secure. I don't have a picture of the bottom supports but they're even simpler.

Dave Mak

Great catch on the instructions being for a 1968 Vette, Vintage Air did call me back and noticed they sent me the wrong kit and said they would overnight the correct brackets and hoses. Frustrating when someone makes a mistake, we all do, but good companies correct it quickly. It appears VA is doing that. Thank you for your catch!!

Dave Mak

See attached photos. They are two of the mounting brackets for my vintage air system I am installing on my 72 Corvette. I believe the center hole on the half circle brack is supposed to line up with the unthreaded hole on the longer water pump bracket and the slotted part of the half circle bracket is supposed to line up with the upper threaded hole on the water pump bracket?

As you can see from the pictures, that is not the case. After staring at the directions and flipping the brackets around, I give up, another call/email to vintage air.🙄

Dave Mak

Vintage Air emailed me back. They sent the wrong brackets to mount the compressor. They are 0-2 on mounting brackets. They said they would overnight the correct ones. I did not receive them. So much for working on the A/C install this weekend. 😡🤬😡

bobbarry

That does not look like an original A/C car; those controls at least are for a non-A/C car, with "Air" there being for "fresh air", not "Air Conditioning".

I don't know if that will change how the rest of the kit fits, as I thought they made different kits for non-A/C cars than for A/C cars.

Dave Mak

Sorry the project got put on the back burner waiting for the correct parts from Vintage air and 10 days at Mecum. I got the condenser in along with the evaporator and the compressor. After getting the condenser installed, I discovered when attaching the evaporator that I did it upside down. Big connection on top and small on the bottom is the way it should go. I wish it said that in the directions. Also, the directions indicate that I should use the OEM bolts to secure it. Either my car did not have them originally or someone took them off. In any event, a quick trip to the hardware store solved that problem.

I also started taking apart the dash, I’ll post those on my other thread about interior restoration. Nothing at this point is specific to the VA install.

Installed upside down... gerrr

Installed correctly. I did have to bend the tubes slightly to get them to fit.


The holes that were in the car when I bought it worked just fine. Recall they were patched and I just knocked the patches out.

btwick

Hi, Just finished the Vintage Air install on my 71 convertible. This thread below from @mysixtynine was extremely helpful and I had to do many of the elements that Mike captured in his posts. These included changing the passenger dash support bar (including cutting and welding the mount), get a separate plastic duct for driver side vent, and finally, repositioning and wiper relay in the center console and cutting the support bars to clear the Vintage Air controls which have the plastic pieces that extend forward.

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...t-routing.html

BTW... Called VA a couple of times in the process, and they were honest in that they fit the system for a coupe, and the birdcage support bars with the convert means there is a bit of fabrication and fitting.

The rest is pretty straightforward.

Cheers,
Brian

Dave Mak

Got the rest of the interior out for this simultaneous project. See that thread here https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1602909825. Other than the center control unit, the heater box was the main part that had to come out of the interior. The bolts that mount the heater box and the heater core are under the hood. Several of them are easier to reach through the side vent.


Yes, time to clean up before moving on.

carriljc

Way to keep at it. When I did a/c on my 68 I removed all that dusty jute insulating material and replaced it with some of that aluminized insulating stuff. Something to consider while you're at it.

cheapta

I found the VA SureFit system I'm putting in my 76 is...not quite sure. The paper templates for hanging the evaporator assy. under the dash put holes nowhere near where I needed them to be, I wound up using the evap. case as a template. I hope the rest of your install goes OK.

Dave Mak

Sorry it has been a while since I’ve updated this project. I have pretty much everything done under the hood. Plumbing is done (with the exception of two hose clamps) hardly any of the wiring is done.

While I was at it, I did a DuPont restoration on the engine (I painted it). I also painted the expansion tank. Kinda makes the alternator and master cylinder look crappy. LOL. I also replace most of the hoses. Some off the instructions that I did were using a split hose around the holes for the coolant lines coming through from the condenser. It look much better than the white plastic strips included in the kit. I also ran the belts differently. Inside goes crank-compressor-water pump. The outside goes crank-water pump-alternator-power steering. I also found taking out the side vent behind the front wheel was very helpful. They didn’t say it in the instructions, but the cutting of the larger hole in the firewall for the A/C unit was much easier to do from inside the car.







That’s the plastic thing that came with the kit next to the split tubing I used

Painted expansion tank








Tank prior to painting



Just test fitting the cover. Much easier on the garage floor




Ya, kinda ugly. Just give me a few weeks.

leigh1322

Ok looks like a no ac car to me.

Inside the car above the two cable operated vents you should also have two small round ones. I think they need to be plugged. They do not exist on real AC cars. Not sure about the holes in front. Maybe someone put an AC car nose on it, or the factory slipped up and did it.
You should be able to keep the cable operated vents operable.

Factoid

Dave, if you ordered the kit for a factory air car, I fear you will run into difficulty when you move to the vents and control panel. You have a non-ac car and you need the extra parts that come with the VA kit for a non-ac car.

Dave Mak

Thanx for the feedback. I believe was originally a nonA/C car. Although it had the holes up front for the coolant lines. I assume these are the caps you are referring to? I just used sealant to “glue” them in place.

Passenger side

Driver side