Inliners International Forums General Discussion Electrical Installing my new A/C System

Well, I've been a busy person lately. Since I'm planning on attending the GoodGuys Hotrod Nationals at Indy next weekend, I've got to get this done.

I am trying to finish my installation of a Vintage Air Heat/AC/Defrost system in my '40. It looked simple enough but how many times have you all said that!

I've hung the Defroster vents under the dash, mounted the Sanden Compressor, routed the heater hoses. I found out that my water pump pulley needed replacing as it was only a one groove pulley. I replaced it with a stock GM 2 groove pulley. It lines up very nicely with the compressor now. Oh ya, I had to remove the radiator to get the pulley off. Just too tight. What a pain.

I also found out that Vintage Air sent a horizontal condenser instead of a verticle one. I had to swap that out. I need to fabricate brackets to mount the condenser and elec fan to the front of the radiator.

I routed the heater hoses along the top of the frame rail to the firewall then through the bottom of the kick panel and up and over to the evaporator. This way I did not have to drill any holes in my smooth firewall for any bulkhead connectors.

The compressor bracket really made this swap very slick. It is strong and secure and clears all the spark plug wires. I bought it off the Stovebolt website many years ago. It was a custom unit made up by an Inliner in southern Calif. I powdercoated it silver and it looks and fits perfect!

I already had a "Bitchin" dashboard and purchased a lower valence panel and installed the other A/C vents, Streamlined Billet control panel and an opening for my Stereo/CD player.
More photos to follow!

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

That's alot of work under time pressure.Why do we always wait?Hope you got your seats out to do this or hired a monkey to get up under the dash. Sound,cool,Ride cool,Look cool!

Drew,

How true are those words! We always wait until the last minute. Why is that? I gues we are all procastinators.
Anyone planning on attending the GoodGuys Show at Indy this year? If so, email me and we'll find a place to hook up or park. I have a large pop-up canopy to sit and relax under!

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

Simple, there are more projects than there are minutes. When you were young if you didn't get your first project done on time every project will done at the last minute or later.

I am installing A/C on my 40 Chevy Coupe as well. You are a step or two ahead of me. So far I have installed the condenser and compressor. I have a GMC engine. I made the compressor bracket which looks like the one you have and I attached the condenser to the radiator frame using homemade brackets. Currently I plan to mount the cooling unit under the dash and figure out the hose layout. I bought a Souther Air unit. I want to make sure that the front end is easily removable with minimum interference from the A/C hose lines. Did you run both the heat and A/c lines through the kick pannel? How did you direct the lines from the condenser back to the compressorand dryer? Did you cut hole in the sheet metal?

Francis,

Yes, I ran the heater/AC hoses and returns along the bottom of the frame, cut a hole at the bottom of the kick panel and up and over. The hoses followed a natural smooth curve so there is no kinking. The condenser to compressor hoses fit tightly between the opening at the top right radiator core support. There is a 1 inch by 3 inch opening. It is tight but a natural opening and no rubbing. I hung the evaporator by drilling 2 small 1/4" holes at the top of the firewall where the horizontal crease is. I put 2 round top carriage bolts through and painted the tops black so they are almost invisible. I fab'd a lower strap that bolts to the bottom of the dash so it is solid. There are plenty of inserts on the Vintage Air Evaporator to attach brackets for securing the unit. The dryer was placed low and on the inner fender well.
The tricky part was making up a "T" for my manifold heat. You had to make sure that the water pump flow was going in the correct direction. I have a driver's side plug on my water pump so I routed the manifold heat from there and left the return as it was.
I'll be getting some new photos up soon. Good luck with your install. Let me know how you like the Southern Air unit. I almost purchased that model but I really liked the oval streamlined control panel on the Vintage Air System.

RapRap
1940 ChoppedChevyCoupe

I noticed a couple of you have installed A/C in '40 chevs. I dis as well and one thing I did that I have not seen, is to use the radio grill (got rid of the original buzz box) as 1/2 of my vents. I was trying to look as original as possible so dumped half the air out the bottom of the A/C unit and routed two ducts to right behind the grill....works great, just a suggestion.