My camaro has a new vintage air unit installed but never charged up. I have had the car for around 6 months or so. Not sure how long the unit was in the car before that, probably 2-3 months. Anyways, I figure since I have some time the next few weeks I would bring it to a shop. Is this an expensive job? Hopefully no damage has been caused by not charging it up immediately. I assume this is not a do it yourself type of job.

Vintage Air has a good tech staff who will assist with any questions you may encounter, as I had to resort there when trying to figure-out the wiring on my '69 which was a very-ill install by a prior owner: they had the compressor clutch wired directly to the fanswitch, by-passing the binary safety and such.
why people pull stunts like that is beyond me. anyway, as far as charging the system, yes, I would tell you to take it to a reputable a/c shop, where they will have all the necessary equipment to conduct a proper start-up. as new as this system is, you shouldn't be faced with replacing any hoses (which can be costly) and as long as the compressor wasn't run sans the oil charge, it should be ok... they will (remember, "reputable") know to check for oil charge in the compressor, conduct a vacuum test, add a dye to test for leakage, then charge the system accordingly. I wouldn't doubt it running a couple hundred bucks..
if you don't mind, I'd like a reply or even an e-mail when you get it up and going... I don't care-for the Vintage Air in mine, and I'd be curious to get your input.
thanks

I've got my system in and getting ready to install. What don't you like about it? I don't like the cable controls...

mine exactly.... I don't like the way the controls operate the system, and the blower doesn't put-out squat as far as cooling the interior of the car... heat is so-so, as I don't really drive the car when it gets ALL that cold out, but I do like my A/C to be cold and plentiful in the summer when the car is driven a lot. We all-but removed my unit from the car to get-at the microswitches, and it's almost like the unit is built to operate reverse of what it should-be for a Camaro. I can't find an exact model or serial # on the unit,, so I've inherited a do-it-yourself project, so to speak. Vintage Air Tech has been helpful, but as I'm owner #3,,, good luck Charlie !
I realize that a large part of my problem is the 454 up-front contributing to excess cabin heat, and if I had know before-purchase what I'm learning now, I'd have either searched for a big-block with standard ventilation or a factory-air car.
A buddy down the street has a '72 Chevelle with Vintage Air; similar problems as mine, but his controls are different and operate different from mine.. He has little/no heat,, killer A/C.
I've found a shop in Louisville who said they are willing to explore the unit for me if I should choose to go that route, but for now, I'm satisfying myself to just cruise with the windows down !

have to agree on the cable operation. Really is a pain in the butt. Mine doesn't come close to closing off the defrost output when the defrost is supposedly "off".

I just got done with most of the install this past weekend. Does the blower motor completely turn off on this unit? Right now mine seems to be on a very low setting all the time, with the fan speed selecting 2 (or 3??) additional higher speeds. It's not in front of me right now,,, but I think it was 3 different speeds total.

Also seems to have 1 microswitch that could not possibly ever be switched by the cable movement. There's no engagement location for the lever to be moved. ('69 Non-AC install).

I probably should have provided this link for you guys before I got started, but anyway, here 'tis: http://www.vintageair.com/downloads.asp
had to use it extensively to figure my unit out.
we finally got the blower motor to cycle on/off; it's a very fine adjustment on those microswitches that swap between heat and cool. I have the same issue on the rearmost microswitch: when it's engaged, the defrost door is open, which should be a function on "heat", but it's not, it functions on "cool" (we gave up; I have no "heat" defrost)..... which lead me to ponder if the wrong unit is installed in the car. (we switched the wiring from front microswitch to rear and vice-versa, thinking it was wired incorrectly. yielded a higher fan-speed, but the a/c wouldn't cycle on, so we switched the wiring back as per the schematic)..
looking at my controls from the driver seat: #1 slider switch= fan has hi, med, lo; and chooses either heat or a/c.. #2 slider switch = nothing, as nothing is attached to it.. #3 slider switch = dash vents or defrost; and controls a servo valve which sends the vacuum out to the vacuum water valve in-line of the "hot" side heater hose..(#3 gets it's power for the servo valve from the choice of #1 position; utilizing the servo valve is controlled by #3 slider; and #1 on a/c choice also sends power to the rheostat temp control switch). right or wrong,, this is how we had to do it to get it to work.
in looking at the V.A. schematic for a '68 model, they illustrate all three sliders to have normal O.E. functions: fan control, temp control, and vent or defrost outlets. For some odd reason, they don't do it that way on a '69 non-factory a/c car.......
AND, to get it all to function, I ended-up with my sliders at rest about 1/3rd of the way "down".