Maybe I am missing something but I can't see how it would hurt the value or desirability of the car by putting in the aftermarket system. If all the OEM components are saved, they could always be reinstalled. My car is factory air and the system needs at least as much work as yours. I am going for a Classic Auto Air system. I am storing my original components. As far as my research shows, the only mods to the car may be drilling some extra holes in the firewall. Maybe not even that. There are also adapters that make using the factory controls and vents possible.
@NZ GS 400 Are you going with a kit from Classic Auto Air? Or ordering ala carte components? -On Originalair.com, I stumbled across this: https://originalair.com/68-72-pontiac-lemans-ultimate-engine-compartment-upgrade-kit-134a-stage-3 and am wondering if this would work on my '68 GS assuming I can get the correct compressor bracket from one of the members on this forum. It appears that this upgrade kit allows you to keep the factory vacuum climate control setup and under dash heater box. -The issue I'm running into in my reading is that I can't seem to find a parallel condenser that is a bolt in replacement for a '68 so as to hook up the factory hoses, if I wind up trying to resurrect my old system.
So couple things- installing a vintage air system is a bolt in kit. But its a huge project. You will be removing the right fender and hood and gutting your dash to remove the old system. The potential for collateral damage to paint is huge. You'll have 40-50 hours into it easy and $2500 bucks for the kit alone. Second if the system was charged in 95 it is not unreasonable for it to be empty nearly 25 yrs later. Third it will cost you less than 50 bucks to take it somewhere and have them pull a vacuum on it. It may very well pass the test and only need recharging. If it fails its very easy to put some dye in and fill it with compressed air to find the leak. You are looking to spend 2500 bucks to avoid 2-3 hours of diagnosing time. It makes no sense to me!? At the very least diagnose the factory system and get a price on fixing it!
Condenser available here https://www.ebay.com/itm/68-69-1968...ndenser-A-C-OEM-30105045-AC1350-/232561333341
@436'd Skylark - Agreed. I need to see what I'm dealing with first. @Daves69 - I missed that one by a country mile! Thanks guys!
They will put together something for me if the kit won't work. I still need to finalize my plans. As had been pointed out, it is a big install job if you have to disassemble your car to do it. My car is completely disassembled at the moment, so that is a huge factor to consider of course. The points made regarding trouble shooting your existing system make very good sense to me. See if you can get your factory system to work first! Good luck.
So I thought I would chime in with an update on my A/C adventures. I took several peoples advice and am trying to revive the original system, since all of the parts are there and also give everyone a few laughs along the way. Here is what I have done so far: -Removed A/C compressor to drain out old oil (unscrewed drain plug and nothing came out! Compressor is not noisy so still hopeful). -Rented flush gun from AutoZone, purchased A/C flush from Amazon and flushed out evaporator, condenser, and hoses. (Just a small bit of old oil came out, but otherwise nothing shocking.) -Installed new green seals everywhere (previous "restoration" folks simply just put old A/C parts back on the car as several connections were either missing o-rings, or only a fourth of an old o-ring was left on, plus no oil in the system). -Installed new receiver dryer and added 134 compatible oil to the system. -Adjusted POA valve screw -Pulled vacuum on the system for a little over an hour. Then shut pump off and let car sit for 2 hours and system still held vacuum. Yippee! ---Time now to add freon and see what we've got. Start car, turn fan switch on, notice no blower motor working. Look under hood and see smoke coming from back firewall area and sure enough, blower motor decided to take a dump right then. So after removing hood and R/F fender (this was fun), old blower motor is out and new one from OPGI is on the way..... Last of the funny stories here: Before removing R/F fender, I had this "mystery" wire laying in fender well. Couldn't figure out where it went as nothing was missing a connection and this brown wire was not listed in the FSM. Once I had the fender off, I saw that it was attached to the one of the blower motor hold down bolts and it appears that someone was trying to ground the blower motor. The bad part was that this wire had power when the fan switch was on, most likely due to the shorting out of the blower motor! That's it for now, stay tuned! Dave
Well, guess what, new blower motor isn't working after plugged in and verifying that I have power to the motor. I also took a test light and touched the bolts that hold the blower motor in place and they lit up my test light. I poked around and realize that I'm missing the ground strap from the block to the firewall. Remembering that the R/F fender is off the car and the small negative ground wire is not attached, and missing the ground strap to the firewall, do you all think that is enough to not provide proper ground for the blower motor? Besides the 2 ground wires mentioned above, are there any other factory ground straps on a 68 GS 400? I'm not seeing anything in the FSM. Thanks in advance, Dave
