Update time on this one..
Air. Conditioning. Mmmmmmmm.
So, like everything we do, this spiraled wildly out of control and turned into a 2 month project. Unit is a Classic Auto Air "Perfect Fit" series. We were forced to adapt it to existing lines from the system we had in it previously. Instructions, like all aftermarket parts, pretty much suck. Our usual can of worms.
First item of business was the controls - ours was originally heat only. Classic's adapted controls for these are hideous and were not going in there, so I set about re-inventing the wheel.
Step 1 - duplicating the existing cable control for the 'Heat' tab, which switches between top vents and floor/defrost
Cable holder
Step 2 - provisions for two switches, one controls the fan, the other turns on the compressor for the defroster
Step 3 - after much heartache, frustration, blood, etc., it's all together
Toughest part was reverse engineering the mounts for the tabs. The only original one left had been broken off, so I had to reverse engineer from what little of the lever was left. After some trial and error, I cut small sections of scrap to the right shape and welded them to the switches, being careful not to put too much heat into them.
Finally. Hours, and hours, to make something like a factory piece. It's a special kind of crazy..
On to the next part - figuring out how this thing is supposed to be wired & plumbed. As I mentioned before, to call the directions lacking would be a bit of an understatement.
Got the condenser mounted, and new hoses hooked up to metal lines from the previous system.
Went with these vents on the outside corners. Another pair will find their way into the console in place of the rectangular ones down the road.
Not perfect, but they'll work
My concern the whole time has been keeping it cool with the AC on. It runs 170 normally (160 thermostat), but would creep up on the highway around cars. Got to test it Saturday - at 91 outside, around 50% humidity, it touched 190 while sitting at traffic lights, then immediately cooled off on the highway. Success!
To celebrate, it got a bath, and will be heading to its first car show in 8-ish years this weekend. Then we'll get back to regular thrashings at the drag strip
