I need some info if anyone knows. I have a 67 GS convertible. It's a non a/c car. I found a donor car with a/c, but a friend told me he thought the hole through the firewall are different sizes on a/c and non a/c cars. Anyone ever done a swap like this?
the holes are indeed different. if you want a/c, do yourself a favor and use a vintage air unit- i removed the factory air from my 72 ( no new parts available, heavy compressor, r12) and installed a vintage air gen 3 heater/ac unit last winter-what a nice change! it was less work than converting your car to a factory ac car even with a donor, uses a small light compressor and usees r134 freon. had the car out a lot this past summer here in hot southern california and it worked like a dream.
The firewalls are different and can make the factory install difficult. You may be better off as Scott suggested. Though, I have seen some odd firewalls lately. I will attach a pic of the firewall on my 64 Skylark which was built in Freemont, CA. The car does not have A/C, but has plates covering the openings where the unit would go. It appears that on this firewall an A/C unit could be added without cutting anything. I have seen some other cars with the plates too. Don't know where they were built. Pic is a bit grainy as it was enlarged. Regards, Mark
Thanks guys for the info. I think I'll probably go with aftermarket a/c, sound easier. The only thing I worry about is the compressor mounting brackets for the motor. I called Vintage Air and they don't make a kit for a GS. They said the brackets would have to be fabricated.
I guess I could , but the newer compressors are much better than the old axial compressors, and I would prefer to use r134 than the old r12.
i used my stock steel lower compressor bracket-had to notch it at the rear/bottom and weld a tab on for the lower rear ear of the compressor, and space the front lower ear out about 3/4 of an inch-then i welded 2 adjustor brackets together for the upper ear of the sanden comptressor to adjust. comperessor is small/light enough to not need the upper rear bracket.
Three years ago, I installed factory a/c into my 1966 Skylark. The donor car was a '66 Skylark 4 door with 300 engine. It was the project from Hell. Ten days of my life. Had to cut the firewall, and also had to extremely carefully make the dash center and end cutouts. Had cut a big section of the donor car's firewall, and also the dash ends in order to make template tracings. Yes, it works, and yes, it looks perfectly factory. But, it was not worth all the effort. If I were to do it again, an aftermarket item like the Vintage Air unit would be my choice.
