Vintage Air system for small block.

[Gene M.]

Re: Vintage Air system for small block.

Jerry,
You will also need a pulley, depending on your set-up. We needed the one that sandwich with the water pump pulley. Best to get a 3/8" wide belt and run it around three pulleys (compressor, water pump, crank). Ours was slipping originally just around the water pump with a modern 7/16" belt. The change fixed that.

Also some narrow spacers to make the compressor pulley line up the belt were needed on the mounting bolt. Other than that the mounting was nice and solid.

[Jerry K.]

Re: Vintage Air system for small block.

Thanks Gene. That will help. What about the heater hose? Do I need that?

[Gene M.]

Re: Vintage Air system for small block.

I think the hoses we had came with the kit, can't say for sure. I didn't open the box. But I can say the hose markings were not NCRS correct. We did at least use all black hoses. I worked on the belts and compressor mounting and alignment with pulleys while my friend was handling all the hoses and fittings.

[Jerry K.]

Re: Vintage Air system for small block.

Do you remember how long the whole install took? What was the most difficult area? Working in tight spots under the dash seems tough, was it?

[Gene M.]

Re: Vintage Air system for small block.

Do you remember how long the whole install took? What was the most difficult area? Working in tight spots under the dash seems tough, was it?

I can't answer without gross error as we were doing a total restoration on the car and had the dash out of the car. I assume are just adding the air with most stuff intact. That will add more difficulty and time to the job.

[John S.]

Re: Vintage Air system for small block.

Jerry,

I can tell you that I did all of the install itself in about 2 8 hour days. That did not include evacuating and charging the system. As to your earlier statement about not cutting or drilling any thing it is possible. I did it with my 67. Like I said earlier, the only issue is I put the condensate tube into a plastic bottle in the foot well of the passenger side.

[Gene M.]

Re: Vintage Air system for small block.

I was thinking about the drain hose. How about sliding it under the carpet, padding and remove the floor pan plug and slip hose thru the hole in the floor. Having the bottle to empty would look undesirable too......

I talked to Vintage Air about not having the hose routing thru the passenger fresh air vent on my '65. They said that that can be routed thru the firewall cover, but I would have to design my own modifications to the kit. They will supply extra long hoses with fittings on one end left uncrimped. They also have different angle ends to select from. I guess I need to take another look at the car we just finished to see how difficult or easy the change would be.

Another issue I did not talk to Vintage Air about is the possible option of mounting the compressor on the same right side as the alternator. I have seen cars (not Corvettes) with the compressor mounted on the left side with longer hoses.

[John H.]

Re: Vintage Air system for small block.

Another issue I did not talk to Vintage Air about is the possible option of mounting the compressor on the same right side as the alternator. I have seen cars (not Corvettes) with the compressor mounted on the left side with longer hoses.

Gene -

When passenger cars went to the new long water pump accessory drive system in 1969 with the alternator on the right and the A/C compressor on the left, the refrigerant hose routings and retention were a nightmare getting across and under the radiator support and back to the evaporator case on the right side, and it made for a REALLY UGLY engine compartment. Photo below is a '69 Camaro L48 with A/C - the refrigerant hose you don't see is below the radiator support.


69L48AC.jpg