Add in / on vehicle AC?

[ebinmaine 67,498]

I know there's been aftermarket kits available for folks building hot rods for quite some time now. Decades.

I'm looking at purchasing an early '80s truck and many of them if built for the northern half of the country did not have air conditioning.

 

Anyone ever used one of these kits?

Any experiences or comments one way or the other? They seem to be quite popular.

 

[squonk 41,118]

As long as the shop installing it has experience doing it and has a good rep, they are fine. Since almost all cars come with AC now it may be difficult to find a shop. Might be easier to find a truck with AC on it!  I remember prepping for delivery an 82 Chevy Malibu. It had just arrived from a shop 40 miles away that installed the AC. They forgot to put in the condensate drain hole and it was a hot muggy day. All of the condensate blew into my lap when I turned it on. 

 

I bought a brand new 88 S-10 and had AC installed. worked well.  

 

Here is a Co. that specializes with it:    https://www.vintageair.com/

Edited June 8, 2021 by squonk

[Pullstart 62,879]

Just make sure the windows crank good EB and you’ll be just fine 

[953 nut 55,229]

Here is the unit I had in my '48 Ford truck. They offer a variety of engine brackets for the compressor.

https://www.southernrods.com/a-c-and-heat-components/mini-kooler-under-dash-unit-complete-kit.html

[WHX?? 48,815]

Compressor went out on Blackie and I replaced it but now leaks R134a so I now have 360 AC...... roll down 3 windows and go 60! 

[Pullstart 62,879]

In all reality EB... make sure the vacuum pump is left on it long enough... that’s crucial.  Mrs. P’s Suburban was recently leaking at the low pressure port.  I figured I could quick change the valve core and simply recharge it.  Well that worked for a day or two!  I stuck the vacuum on it for a good amount of time and tossed a few cans in it until it said full and it works much better now that the oxygen is out of the system.

[squonk 41,118]

4 minutes ago, pullstart said:

In all reality EB... make sure the vacuum pump is left on it long enough... that’s crucial.  Mrs. P’s Suburban was recently leaking at the low pressure port.  I figured I could quick change the valve core and simply recharge it.  Well that worked for a day or two!  I stuck the vacuum on it for a good amount of time and tossed a few cans in it until it said full and it works much better now that the oxygen is out of the system.

Actually Kevin, Not so much the o2 but the moisture trapped in the oil. When you run the pump, you are lowering the pressure (Obviously)  which lowers the boiling point of the trapped moisture. So you run the pump to "boil" that moisture off. You will often see vapor coming out of the pump exhaust on a wet system. I run the pump at least 2 hours depending how long the system was open. I have fixed countless underperforming auto AC's that had come from shops than ran the pump for like 15 min. Water in the system will freeze the refer circuit at the point of expansion.

 

My wife's Toyota van had a rear AC line rot out. The shop changed the line and recharged it. 2 days later no workie. I put my gauges on and the pressures were pegged!  Took it back and asked, how long was the pump on? He says 20 min. I tell him to take out the refer and run the pump all day!!  System works perfectly now.

[Achto 27,575]

You could always take the easy route. 

 

[squonk 41,118]

25 minutes ago, Achto said:

You could always take the easy route. 

 

Did Jim let you take that pic? I can't believe he did that to that new truck! 

[seuadr 488]

2 hours ago, squonk said:

My wife's Toyota van had a rear AC line rot out. The shop changed the line and recharged it. 2 days later no workie. I put my gauges on and the pressures were pegged!  Took it back and asked, how long was the pump on? He says 20 min. I tell him to take out the refer and run the pump all day!!  System works perfectly now.

back when i did that sort of thing, i liked to take a micron gauge down to 500 and leave it for at least an hour that way - usually would take 8-10 hours to get down that far. more often than not -we'd just leave the pump to run overnight. I don't think people realize how much moisture messes with the cycle.

Edited June 8, 2021 by seuadr

[Herder 2,354]

2 hours ago, Achto said:

You could always take the easy route. 

 

Let me get a YEEEEHAAAAA.  Blows cold!!!

[WHX?? 48,815]

4 hours ago, pullstart said:

the oxygen is out of the system.

 

4 hours ago, squonk said:

run the pump to "boil" that moisture off

You school him Squonky.... I'm tired of it .....Although air is a non condensable so he is kinda right! 

You school him Kev ...I'm tired of it! 

1 hour ago, seuadr said:

take a micron gauge down to 500 and leave it for at least an hour that way - usually would take 8-10 hours to get down that far. more often than not -we'd just leave the pump to run overnight. I don't think people realize how much moisture messes with the cycle.

That boy right there needs no schooling! The moisture does not play well with what is coined as hygroscopic oil... same as some brake fluids. 

[squonk 41,118]

Big systems, sometimes we'd run 2 pumps for a couple days. Gave us time to get a 400 hundred pounds of refrigerant upto the roof. 

[ebinmaine 67,498]

5 hours ago, Achto said:

You could always take the easy route. 

 

 

I couldn't possibly be low balled into such primitive behavior. 

 

Duct tape???

 

Oh no no no no no

 

The BBT and I have moved up to black Gorilla tape!!!!!

 

 

 

 

Man... I hate to even write this but it's true:

My Ole Man had a (Isuzu??) Cabover truck. 16 foot cargo box.  

AC worked but just couldn't keep up with that giant cab and window in the sun. 

He did. Literally. Install a small room AC connected to an inverter.  Just. Like. Above.  Right where there was a back window.  

 

 

Have to admit it worked some kinda better than the truck AC. 

 

[elcamino/wheelhorse 9,297]

Why you all making fun of the AC unit truck window. Redneck engineering , plus you don't have to clean the rear window.

[squonk 41,118]

11 minutes ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

Why you all making fun of the AC unit truck window. Redneck engineering , plus you don't have to clean the rear window.

You silly goose! If he was to do it the right way, he would have installed a mini-split! 

[ebinmaine 67,498]

27 minutes ago, elcamino/wheelhorse said:

Why you all making fun of the AC unit truck window. Redneck engineering , plus you don't have to clean the rear window.

 

^^^^^  ^^^^^

 

 

Have to admit the man has a point

[lynnmor 7,306]

47 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

 

I couldn't possibly be low balled into such primitive behavior. 

 

That is actually a high end unit, apparently you haven't priced 2 x 10s lately.

[ebinmaine 67,498]

26 minutes ago, lynnmor said:

That is actually a high end unit, apparently you haven't priced 2 x 10s lately.

Okay. Okay. You're right. I hadn't even given consideration to the price of the dimensional lumber involved.

 

[305 380]

back when i was building hot rods professionally i always used Vintage Air and had very good luck

[Wheel Horse 3D 3,795]

What do you AC experts do to keep the moisture outta yer vaccum service pumps(or to get the moisture out)? Figured the same principles will apply to the freeze dry system when I build it.

[305 380]

both of these cars i installed Vintage Air

[squonk 41,118]

1 hour ago, Wheel Horse 3D said:

What do you AC experts do to keep the moisture outta yer vaccum service pumps(or to get the moisture out)? Figured the same principles will apply to the freeze dry system when I build it.

Some moisture leaves thru the pump exhaust. The rest is trapped in the vacuum pump oil and you are " supposed " to change the oil after each pull down. On big jobs sometimes the pump is shut off and the oil is changed them the pump restarted

[seuadr 488]

5 hours ago, Wheel Horse 3D said:

What do you AC experts do to keep the moisture outta yer vaccum service pumps(or to get the moisture out)? Figured the same principles will apply to the freeze dry system when I build it.

Well, the pumps use oil so it doesn't really get entrained, but you do need to check/ replace the oil as it'll get other contamination and also a little atomizes during use so it uses a little that goes out with the vapor.

 

But yeah, pulling a vac on food will definitely dehydrate it.

 

I think the challenge you'll have trying to freeze dry is it needs to flash freeze and be exposed to a vac once frozen, my suspicion would be it needs to pull down to vac really quick to be effective, that can be a challenge with a typical portable pump. 

[Wheel Horse 3D 3,795]

Lol dont wanna hijack the thread, but there will be a cold trap to capture as much moisture as possible before the pump. While "flash" frozen is used in commercial application, to better maintain the structure of the foods, for our purpose a good deep freeze will be just fine.

As you apply vaccum the temp naturally decreases anyway, deeper the vaccum, colder it gets. If the food is too cold, it cant sublimate properly. The idea is to hang out at a temp and pressure that is just below the tripple point of water. At some point, you gotta add a little heat into the system to get the last of the water out.

More info over here:

 

"PPrepper knowledge! Alternative power and solutions - non tractor related discussion - RedSquare Wheel Horse Forum" https://www.wheelhorseforum.com/topic/93128-pprepper-knowledge-alternative-power-and-solutions/?page=2