Vintage air vs. stock dilemma???

[MikeB]

About the V/A bashing: A poor mechanic blames his tools. My 69 C10 has the old cable-actuated version with tube & fin condenser that I installed in 1998. There are a few things about it I don't like (which have all been corrected on the latest unit), but it still blows cold air here in north Texas. I used to add a 1/2 can every spring, but replacing a hose fixed that. It's a non-air cab, but I installed the factory dash vents and pulled the ducting as tight as possible. That said, Old Air is less than an hour's drive from me, and I like the looks of their kits better. Plus you can buy ala cart. They also have stock A/C replacement parts.

 

[Bronze Knight]

Personally I’ve looked into both options and I’m going with the stock setup with the A6 compressor. Now my truck was a factory AC truck to begin with so I got that going for me. But I have to buy most of the under hood components (brackets, compressor, condenser, receiver/dryer) It’ll still be cheaper than a VA setup. Hopefully it works better too.

 

[gogo14910]

The only reason to do a vintage air system is if it isn't an AC cab to start with. If it is an AC cab and you have all the stock components(or even some of them), you will be far better off just using the stock system. If it is in good condition and charged properly it will freeze you right out of the cab even in temps over 100. When it is over 90 here in Oregon I'll run mine on full for ~5 min and then have to turn it down or it will get too cold. The good thing about where you are is that humidity is so low you can run it at full tilt without having to worry about freezing the evaporator over.

The best thing you can do for your CC is to make sure it is well insulated and good tint on the windows that will reject 100% of the UV. Then run a modern Sanden compressor, parallel flow condenser, and blue orifice tube with an R134 conversion and you'll be gold.

Also helps anyone to somehow close the leaks in the vent windows.

 

[Craig Nedrow]

$450 and you can have every single major component in your AC system brand new. The only items that are hard to find and might drive up the cost and ease of replacement will be the actual boxes and doors/actuators in the engine bay and inside the cab. If everything is present and just hasn't worked in a while, then it is WAY cheaper to just get the factory system working compared to ripping everything out and converting to an aftermarket system. I have the original A6 compressor on my 1980 K20 and it works perfect still. I pulled the system apart, rebuilt the compressor($25 kit from ebay with the new style lip seal), flushed all lines and condensor/evaporator, replaced all seals with green orings, new accumulator/drier, new orifice tube, new hose/manifold set from compressor, filled compressor with PAG 150, charged system with 3-12oz cans of R134, and sent it. No issues for the last several years.

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Thank you Eric, I to have a non-operational stock unit, This will get me going in the right direction.

 

[Orion]

$450 and you can have every single major component in your AC system brand new. The only items that are hard to find and might drive up the cost and ease of replacement will be the actual boxes and doors/actuators in the engine bay and inside the cab. If everything is present and just hasn't worked in a while, then it is WAY cheaper to just get the factory system working compared to ripping everything out and converting to an aftermarket system. I have the original A6 compressor on my 1980 K20 and it works perfect still. I pulled the system apart, rebuilt the compressor($25 kit from ebay with the new style lip seal), flushed all lines and condensor/evaporator, replaced all seals with green orings, new accumulator/drier, new orifice tube, new hose/manifold set from compressor, filled compressor with PAG 150, charged system with 3-12oz cans of R134, and sent it. No issues for the last several years.

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Great info. How bad was the hit to your fuel economy?

 

[dusterdude]

Does anyone know where i can get a sanden compressor and brackets?

 

[75gmck25]

I bought mine from Summit, and IIRC they were listed as Vintage Air parts. Put a good coat of paint on the brackets or they quickly get surface rust.

I would have to track down the receipt to verify, but I think this is the bracket set I used. Had to measure and experiment a little to get the best belt routing and length. https://www.summitracing.com/parts/vta-15123-vcb/make/chevrolet

 

[dusterdude]

Groovy,thanks

 

[Bextreme04]

Great info. How bad was the hit to your fuel economy?

Fuel economy?? What's that!?!?!

Honestly, I don't notice any difference whether I'm running it or not. My odometer and speedometer seem pretty spot on and I get ~10mpg no matter what with a 350/TH400/NP205, 4.10's, and 35's