Has anyone installed Vintage Air in their’70-72 GS? Please share the cost and possibility of doing it yourself at home.
Following! I am working with Larry at Larry’s auto in Bradenton Fl. to put a vintage air system in my 72 but mine is an AC car. If /when we start to make any real progress I will pass on whatever information I can. Cliff
Its definitely easier on a non ac car. I haven't done a GS but helped my brother put a kit in his 67 firebird. It definitely takes some time, id guess 20-30 hours total. We also had the fenders off the car. It was a well designed kit.
I can't. My brother bought everything. I think the kit was about 2k. The car had a hot 400 SBC with EFI. He used a late model serpentine system with a modern ac compressor already incorporated. That worked pretty slick. The kit came with the covers for the old heater box holes. It was pretty straightforward. Although the interior was out of the car at the time of install too.
I am going to be tackling this job in a 65 Malibu SS in the coming year. I will keep an eye on this thread and contribute anything I can.
Biggest issue I've heard is the controls. If you want the factory look it takes alot of fabrication. If you are OK with the Vintage controls then it is plug and play. Second is the compressor bracket, but someone(on the board) is making those now. Too bad they don't make a sure fit kit for Buicks!
Ken - They make them for that car: 1964-65 Chevelle with/without Factory Air Gen IV SureFit™ Complete Kit $1,825.00
You might want to run by Nostalgic AC Parts - specializes in a/c kits for all vintage/classic vehicles. They are in Ocala, Florida https://nostalgicac.com/complete-ac-kits.html
The only type of kit I would even consider would be one that mounts the condensor under the dash. No interaction at all with the factory HVAC system. I have never done it, but I had a local friend/customer who changed a AC car back to a Non AC car.. and it was a ton of work, all done within the confines of a complete frame off resto. So many parts are different.. The switch from Non AC to AC with an attempt to make it look like a factory install would be just as complicated. I owned a 76 Caprice with the aftermarket under dash kit installed, in that situation all you have to do is get the hoses into the car. The controls are build into the under dash unit, so it's just a matter of drilling two holes in the firewall for the hoses. There should be just enough room to fit the factor floor shift auto console under the unit. JW
Just to clarify - I was talking about the factory controls only, not the whole system. Doing a factory install of the system, whether going from AC or non-AC would be very difficult, as Jim said. Edouard had this done to his wagon, the 1965 Buick Special "Billy-goat". There is a good description if you go back and read the build thread.
There's a lot to be said about the older hanging units & THEY DO work quite well for what they are & cost much less. Tom T.
I just finished doing one in my 70 Camaro and it was a bit of a pita but I also didn’t like the hose setup they sent and wanted to use a Detroit Speed firewall plate. Worked great for hotrod power tour as we put 1800 rough miles on the car in a week. I’m waiting on the evap kit for my 66 Special right now. They don’t make anything specific to our cars so I’m cobbling it together plus I slicked the firewall so the brackets would take some tweaking anyway. I used one of their genV controllers mounted vertically in my dash behind the factory ac bezel slim interested to see how it turns out. Been waiting on the evap box quite a while now so be prepared for a long wait for parts. The kits are good, the wait is LOOOOOONG!
