[Scott Horton]

I am thinking about installing R134a air-conditioning in my (no factory air) 1969 GTO. Has anyone have any experiences to tell about doing this with eg. Vintage Air components?

[Scott Horton]

I am thinking about installing R134a air-conditioning in my (no factory air) 1969 GTO. Has anyone have any experiences to tell about doing this with eg. Vintage Air components?

[Rob Tapp]

Are you asking about converting an existing factory R12 A/C system to R134 or installing an A/C system in a non-A/C car? It sounds like you have both issues to contend with.

[Scott Horton]

I am talking about installing an aftermarket A/C in a car that did not have A/C before. This may or may not mean using some factory A/C components, such as ducting in the dash. But as I understand it, using factory compressors/condensors/evaporators designed for R12 will not work well. Vintage Air makes kits with all the components to bolt up neatly into Chevelles, but I have not been able to find a kit for GTO's. Since both are A-bodies, I suppose that the engine bay components would work in either car, but the dashes may be sufficiently different that the passenger compartment components are not interchangeable(?).

[JC455]

Scott,
I was thinking of doing the same thing to my 68 LeMans. I had factory A/C, but it's long since gone. I figured the Chevelle kit should work. V/A makes brackets for the Pontiac motors, so if you called them and asked them to substitute the correct brackets, I'd bet there would be no extra charge.
The biggest problem you're going to run into is the ducting. The Chevelle has outlets that are very similar to the Firebird/Camaro's (67/68) dash. If you don't mind changing a few things around, I believe it'll work.
One other thing you'll have to deal with is the control panel. You can either go with one of V/A's controllers or modify yours to activate the duct switches. Take a look at the F-Body conversion for ideas.
I hope this helps you out.


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John

[jnyeager]

Sort of a side issue, but converting factory R12 systems to R134a works fine. But you must evacuate the system completely, use a different compressor oil and change the receiver/dryer to a R134a compatible design. Not really a big deal, but you need to have it professionally done so they can collect the existing R12 and most of us don't have the vacuum pump to evacuate the system.

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