I was thinking the other nite as I was cleaning my heater box why not leave the heater core out and put a a/c core in the place of it.I mean I never hardly drive the car in the winter and always drive in the summer, is this a possibly or have I lost it for sure this time, just seems like a cheap a/c way to go in a 68,what,ya think.

did anyone think this was possible????//

I guess you could always leave your heater box off and get accelerated ac.

Seriously, you should get a 68 Assembly Manual and see the differences between a car with ac and one with heat only. There's a big difference. And the heater core is not what makes the two different.

[ 02-07-2005, 12:41 PM: Message edited by: stope4 ]

if you want cool air, you might look into vintage air.

Yeah, I know vintage makes a great system but, 1000.00 dollars is alot of money when you have twins starting college next year. I was just wondering had anyone else ever gave this a thought of putting a evaporator core in the place of the heater core since the cars are seldom drove in the winter.Plus you wouldn,t have alot of box under the dash or out under the hood.

How much of the underhood stuff do you have? Your looking at 100 bucks for a compressor, 250 for a condenser, another 250 for the evaporator, 50 for the dryer, probably 60 for the thermal expansion valve and another 50 for the pressure control valve if you can find one and last but not least probably 200 to 300 for the hoses and fittings (which will need to be custom made for your proposed setup). After spending all that your going to end up with a cobbled together system that might work, might not and you won't have any heat.

How much less is that than 1000 for a complete, well engineered system? Either install the complete original style system including all the parts, or buy a vintage air type system, because your not going to be happy with the results of the build it yourself version.

OR.. There is always another way to do these things.. I previously removed the entire A/C & Heat system out of an early 90's Toyota pick up truck. The entire set-up cost me $75 bucks. The suitcase is small enough to fit up under your dash-if you take the glove box cardboard liner out. The cable controls look like they could be made to work with the Camaro controls. The wiring for the unit, relays and such, are actually attached to the suitcase! It does not look like it would be that difficult to figure it out and put it in place. This would allow a MUCH cheaper alternative than vintage air, and allow the use of R-134A. I thinks it's possible to use a late model compressor as long as you retain the dryer, in-line valving and condenser from the donor vehicle.

This is my plan for the summer. I am very confident that I will be able to make this thing work! I will have to get custom hoses, but that is fine by me! It will give me the opportunity to hide them up under the fenders and enter the firewall in such a way that it won't be obvious.

One thing I have noticed is that I won't have the option of bringing fresh air in from outside the car with the system unless I am willing to cut a hole into the cowling under the dash/windshield.. Not going to do that. If I need fresh air, I will crack the window. Also I can now put a filter on the unit that will clean the air as it passes through it just like the newer cars have..

We as hot rodders are so used to borrowing parts from other cars, how is the A/C & heating system any different? If late model brakes, engines, transmissions, ABS, Air-Bags, can be adapted to 1st gen cars-A/C systems can too! I say we all start researching other donor cars until we find a system that is easiest to accomplish with good results.

My daily driver is a '93 Nissan pick up. I must tell you that in the heat of the Summer (100* + here in Houston) my A/C blows so cold that I have to turn it down.. I guess I will be checking out the Nissan alternatives here in the future to see if it is more viable than the Toyota route.. Either way, I will NOT buy VA, or go back with an outdated, old-school factory A/C system. I will have modern components that can still be purchased from most parts houses, and best of all, I will have COLD A/C!