Installing Classic Auto Air in a '70 Charger

[1 Wild R/T]

If the other port to the evaporator were capped you might be ok but honestly the dryer would be available locally as well as through Amazon, it's cheap & putting it together & having it freeze up sucks...

As fas as the compressor not fitting, do you have a spare engine floating around with a cast iron water pump? Try bolting it to that... BTDT... The brackets should have been designed for it but they aren't... Bouchlion offers a bracket that fits... But you've got to specify aluminum pump..

Ok, I see you got that... Never mind.. LOL

 

[Kern Dog]

This shows how the unit fits with the iron WP housing.

This would work but it would suck to give up that weight savings. If a bracket does exist to account for this taller thermostat location, I'll let the car sit until I can get those brackets.

 

[CoronetDarter]

I have the Classic Air in my Coronet and there were install issues too, but I don't remember quite as many as you're having. The compressor to thermostat clearance is tight - to get my thermostat housing off I have to remove the radiator hose and use an open end wrench on the one bolt head - 1/8 turn at a time.
And as you mentioned the wires tend to hang down under the dash, I used a lot of zip ties to clean it up.
The instructions are so-so, and I had to call their tech line several times. I always got the same guy, can't remember his name now, but he was a huge help. Spent a lot of time on the phone, never gave me the bum's rush.
The other thing was that the tips of my fan blades rubbed just a hair on one of the rivets on the front of the compressor. Took a file and gained about 1/16" clearance; been fine since.

 

[Kern Dog]

I don't know if I am expecting too much out of this but it just seems that they could have done much better in explaining the installation.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

Aftermarket A/C has always been marginal as far as directions... I worked at an ARA dealer while I was in high school, a Mark V dealer after I got out of the service.... Those systems were junk but if the air coming out the dash was cold the customer never saw the cheesy hack jobs...

We are car people, we see the poor engineering & poor instructions...

Makes some of the other aftermarket parts look well thought out huh?

 

[Kern Dog]

I was thinking about how we buy intake manifolds and they just fit. Seat skins, door panels, aftermarket grilles, same thing. THEN I wonder why other stuff l work with is so far off in terms of fit or function.
The control panel for this unit fit the recess but all 4 holes were drilled 3/8" off the mark. The instructions and template for the evap drain was off by almost 1 1/4". The drier fitment, the position of the compressor and who knows what else I'll encounter before I am done.

 

[Hey-O]

On my last build I used a piece of copper pipe painted black with the bolt run through it and the flange on the drier to clear to the apron, a spacer, so to speak. Jettison the aluminum for the iron housing and call it a day. Forget the weight, we're not running for pink slips here. 1 wild RT is right, the drier is there to remove moisture from the refrigerant and it can only do it as long as it hasn't absorbed tons of moisture already, which is probably what happen when you opened it. It might work, but if it was open for any period of time , it's probably shot.

 

[vance.dykes]

i would fab a different line for that receiver dryer the heat from the headers wont help the air temp in the car. refrigerant absorbs heat move it to the rad core support . if you go to a a/c shop they can make you a new line. or a hydro company like pirtek. and or if you got rely tricky get a condenser with the receiver built in . ford f-150 for instants. thank you for this post i'm going to install the classic air in my 69 i have cut the dash for the in dash a/c vents.

 

[HawkRod]

I was thinking about how we buy intake manifolds and they just fit. Seat skins, door panels, aftermarket grilles, same thing. THEN I wonder why other stuff l work with is so far off in terms of fit or function.
The control panel for this unit fit the recess but all 4 holes were drilled 3/8" off the mark. The instructions and template for the evap drain was off by almost 1 1/4". The drier fitment, the position of the compressor and who knows what else I'll encounter before I am done.

Kern,

Sorry you are having such issues. I don't remember having issues with mine, beyond lining up the belts with the Bouchillon (sp?) kit and messing with the installation with my own engineering because I moved the location of my compressor. Not sure it will help since my install was different, but here are a few reference links from my installation:

The kit I bought:
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

Compressor brackets (remember mine are down low):
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

Modification of my interior controls:
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

A/C Compressor Mounted:
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

Heater Box:
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

Hose routing:
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

Dryer Mounting:
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

My personal ratings I made on various parts:
Hawk-Rod: The Restoration

 

[Kern Dog]

Wow! posting all those links took you awhile. Thank you so much! Nice work, Sir.
I considered the low mounted compressor but I still run a mechanical fuel pump and a carburetor. The advantage of a low mount would have been a cleaner looking installation. Looking at mine though, it still will look less cluttered than a factory A/C arrangement.
The interior control panel they supply was painted the same color as my dash so I lucked out there...BUT the mounting holes were off by 3/8"! I had to cut the front edge to allow the panel to move forward enough to fit. THis leaves a gap at the back but you have to be looking UP from the console to see it. Cutting 3/8" off the edge was easier for me than to drill and countersink 4 new holes that may have been off just enough to ruin the panel.
*************************************************************************************************************
I'm waiting on a callback from Bouchillon regarding the mounting brackets for the compressor. I am also going to ask about the rear support bracket that fits around the power steering pump bracket.

The rear bracket looks like it is supposed to fit over the welded nut on the rear P/S bracket but I'm unsure. Maybe the welded nut needs to be ground off and a loose nut used over the compressor bracket afterwards to secure it all ?

 

[HawkRod]

The rear bracket looks like it is supposed to fit over the welded nut on the rear P/S bracket but I'm unsure. Maybe the welded nut needs to be ground off and a loose nut used over the compressor bracket afterwards to secure it all ?

I will say I needed to mess around quite a bit with the Bouchillon kit. It did NOT line up, so I had to grind, add washers, etc. and fiddle until it lined up OK. You'll be happy using the two belts because mine is driven by one belt only and it puts a lot of strain on the one poor little belt.

Good luck!

Hawk

 

[Kern Dog]

I thought yours had two belts. The picture of the one duct taped to shorten it....I figured you used a shorter belt there after determining the length.
I just talked to Randy at Bouchillon. He is shipping out the taller brackets I need to clear the thermostat and he did say that the welded nut at the rear P/S bracket has to be cut off. NO problem....I usually find a way around obstacles but when I bought a kit, I'd hoped to have clearer instructions. Maybe I lost a tech sheet if they included one....It was February 2018 when I got the kit and I've had the stuff out of the boxes a few times.
The original compressor brackets may allow me to do an A/C install in something else late on down the road.
I asked why they didn't just default to the taller brackets to clear all applications. He said that cars with Shaker hoods need the extra clearance the shorter brackets provide. Makes sense to me.
I talked with Steve at CAA. Of all the issues, he did say that the drier could be okay, could be contaminated. I'm going to get another one and install it right before I take the car in for refrigerant charge. The wrong placement of the evaporator drain has been covered in the NEW instructions...They don't include a paper template anymore, they instruct to do just as I figured out: Install the unit and mark and drill with the unit in place. This makes so much more sense because when you factor in the sloppy tolerances on these cars, the years of movement and wear and tear on the car, the errors in the paper template in printing, properly positioning the paper template then drill bits moving off the mark, I'd be surprised if anyone ended up with a perfectly placed hole.

 

[CoronetDarter]

For the Coronet I bought the Classic Air Perfect Fit kit. Maybe you inadvertently bought the 'Just OK' Fit kit.

 

[Kern Dog]

Ha...Mine was the same kit.
Their revised instructions should result in fewer problems. I know that If I started another installation in my next car tomorrow that I would make better time and do a better job with it.

 

[CoronetDarter]

In an old edition of Mopar Action, Ehrenberg wrote that A/C driers can be "restored" by baking them in an oven at 250* for 1/2 hour to remove the moisture.

 

[1 Wild R/T]

FWIW The edelbrock heads are much tighter to the A/C mount & P/S bracket than iron heads... I did an A/C conversion on a car with Edelbrock heads recently, I used a die grinder to remove the welds holding the nut to the P/S bracket, I made a bushing to make sure the bracket still centered on the bolt. I tacked it to the P/S bracket & I drilled the hole in the A/C rear mount to accept the nut I'd removed from the P/S pump bracket.... it worked very well... Only other change was I had to shorten the bolt since with iron heads it can run long but with the Edelbrock heads theres no room....

 

[Kern Dog]

The bolt that I have been using on the P/S bracket is just the right length to not hit the head. It clears by about 1/4".
I just ordered a new drier from CAA. Looks like next week I'll have the brackets and drier. In the meantime I can button up the interior and do a few other things.
I was hoping to have it driveable to make it to a Cruise Night THIS Saturday.
Son of a bitch.

 

[Hey-O]

On my coronet the drier is on the core a few inches from the condenser coil, I didn't install it so I can't say who or why. I did one on a gm, I know, no help, but the bracket attached to the first header bolt and needed to be cut round to go around the front header tube. My point, **** just happens when you deal with what I'm going to call, after market. Bottom line here is, thank God you're well rehearsed in seeing it through and done right, the pay off is well worth it. Easy to say now, I know!!

 

[1 Wild R/T]

The temperature of the receiver dryer is a non-issue, The whole principle of how an A/C works is based on the changing of a gas to a liquid... It evaporates in the evaporator & it condenses in the condenser... It's under high pressure but till a vapor, when it goes into the condenser it is cooled some which causes it to change state & become a liquid... From there it travels to the receiver dryer... It enters the dryer from a port at the top as mostly a liquid but if the system is undercharged there will be some gas... To make sure what leaves the dryer heading for the expansion valve is a liquid the discharge line actually draws through a tube that extends to the bottom of the dryer.. On a properly charged & operating system the dryer will always be hot....

The hot liquid leaves the dryer & heads to the expansion valve... The expansion valve is basically a restriction, the restrictions causes a dramatic change in pressure, typically from 250-350 PSI down to 30-50 PSI.. That causes the liquid to change states from a liquid to a vapor... Flashback to Science Class... Latent Heat of Evaporation.... Basically when the fluid changes state it absorbs lots of heat......The closer the dryer is to the expansion valve the better the system will preform... But it is a minimal change..

 

[Kern Dog]

Thank you again. I knew absolutely nothing about A/C systems a year ago and now I know twice that.

I've actually learned a lot but have to keep rereading to keep it memorized. I can't easily remember how it all works after a few months. If I had actual training on it or if I had more experience with it I would probably remember better. Like...Most experienced people encounter obstacles in their work and they know ways around them so that they don't get stuck and unable to proceed any further. I am not nearly there yet with this stuff. I'd like to have the skills to take a universal kit and make all the brackets and specific parts. Maybe on a project car, not my own one.