So, while adding new-age air conditioning to a middle-aged muscle car is certainly a worthwhile endeavor, it is also a fairly involved project that will consume the entire weekend, require a good assortment of hand tools, and access to a special "bead lock" crimping tool for installing connector fittings, or a shop that can do the job for you. Plan accordingly. For our installation we ended up removing the front seat, the complete dash, the passenger side front inner fender, hood, radiator, hood latch, and the grille assembly. With all that out of the way, we were finally ready to begin our installation. Of course, once you've completed your Vintage Air installation, you'll still need to have a vacuum pulled on the system to evacuate it and determine if you have any leaks. If you have a leak-free system, you'll be ready to have R-134a refrigerant added. But unless you have vacuum pump and a refrigerant recovery and service unit at your disposal, you'll need to take your Chevelle to a professional automotive A/C shop to have them put the final touches to your new Vintage Air system. Be sure to follow the instructions and charge with 1.8 lbs. of 134a refrigerant. With that done though, the inside of your Chevelle will now be just as cool as all the other upgrades you've done to it! Now we can move back inside and begin routing the hoses through our new kick panel insert and up through the opening to the block-off plate mounted on the firewall fan opening.Now we can move back inside and begin routing the hoses through our new kick panel insert Once the hoses are routed and the kick panel secured, the metal firewall plate is bolted in place using the mounting holes for the original heater assembly.Once the hoses are routed and the kick panel secured, the metal firewall plate is bolted i After attaching the heater hose fittings included in the kit, another metal mounting plate is attached to the heater/evaporator box. It is then positioned in place and secured to the newly installed firewall plate. Vice grips on the upper mount held everything in place while we started the nuts on the engine side of the firewall.After attaching the heater hose fittings included in the kit, another metal mounting plate In preparation for the installation of the condenser, we removed the grill and headlight bezels, the hood latch and supports, plus the radiator and electric fans.In preparation for the installation of the condenser, we removed the grill and headlight b The condenser that comes with the kit is an aluminum, parallel-flow unit that also includes a drier, a binary pressure switch, mounting plates and hardware, and aluminum tubing to help make all the requisite connections to the rest of the system.The condenser that comes with the kit is an aluminum, parallel-flow unit that also include After attaching the mounting plates, the drier is secured to the condenser and the lines are attached.After attaching the mounting plates, the drier is secured to the condenser and the lines a « | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | » | View Full Article By Chuck Hansen Enjoyed this Post? Subscribe to our RSS Feed, or use your favorite social media to recommend us to friends and colleagues!
71Chevelle_4dr 5/15/2011 at 11:07 PM O U T S T A N D I N G. Terrific article on the installation of the Vintage Air Gen IV Sure Fit A/C system on this Chevelle. A great system indeed, made even more attractive by these excellent, clear and beautiful, step-by-step instructions & photos! As always, well done Mr. Hansen. Kudos for a well presented project with your personal and cordial observations.
