I have 2 65 Skylarks, one a hardtop parts car with a complete factory A/C system. The other is a 65 Skylark convertible with just a basic heater system. This convertible had the heater core disconnected when I bought it, so I'm guessing it was leaking. I realize it's a lot of work, but having A/C in the summer will help get my bride riding in the car. Do I need to change the metal firewall, or will everything bolt up? Just looking at both side by side, they "look" identical. I plan on pulling the passenger side fender next week to get to the dryer , muffler & lines. I want to glass bead and paint them & just put them loosely back for reference. This will be a winter project, just want to enjoy the convertible in it's current condition, which is a fun driver. The cars will be side by side, so when I remove a part from one, it can be immediately installed on the other. The only delay in the installation will be cleaning and painting the housings as necessary. I have a NOS A-6 compressor and POA valve that I plan on using along with a new heater core. Anyone done this, and if yes, any words of advice or helpful suggestions? Thanks, Ron.
There are 2 holes that need to be cut in the fire wall, one for recirculate, the other for fresh air (to the cowl). The front of the torque box needs to be cut out and a "V" shaped sheet metal bracket on the bottom needs to be moved from one car to the other, it's spot welded on. Inside the kick panel there is a heavy metal bracket that is spot welded on, it holds the heater box to the torque box where the evaporator resides. That needs to be moved to the other car too. Other than that it's bolt in.
Phil, I guess I will start looking to see what you are refering to. Not too sure what you are saying, but I guess I'll find out. Would any of this be in one of the 3 65 Buick books I bought? I did a 66 Pontiac Bonneville, about 10 years ago, had to swap out a part of the firewall. Once it was welded in, you couldn't tell it wasn't factory since everything was hidded by the outer evaporator box. I had the same parts to swap out from behind the kick panels, but nothing was spot welded in place. The rest was mostly an unbolt and bolt on. Wiring was also a car to car swap. I guess the good is that I can put both cars side by side. Thank you again, Ron
I did this once on a ‘77 Pontiac sunbird. The difficulty was in getting the suitcase to seal to the inside part. Also there was a dash brace I had to cut to get the inside part to go in. If you are running R134a you will be really glad if you use a 2 pass microchannel condenser. Dropped by outlet temperature 10 degrees.
