firehawk68mcleod

iTrader: (2)

Well, im building and ls2 68 camaro... and im wanting a clean fire wall.. so im going vintage air, but im planning on using my ls2 air compressor and condensor..... What is the basic cheapest route i can go? and what vintage air box do i need? thanks

ls1nova71

iTrader: (4)

I would et a Gen IV with the electric servo controls ovet the older cable type, much better in my opinion. And as for using the factory compressor, all I can say is I tried it and it will work, but not nearly as well as the compresor Vintage Air sells with the kit. I would buy the whole package that's designed to work together rather than mix matching parts only to have it work somewhat good. The money saved just isn't worth it. Just my $0.02. I'm sure others will say differently.

bmf5150

Ls1nova,u have a part number for that vintage air kit??

Steve68

iTrader: (23)

If you go to VA's site, you can find everything you need, buying a complete lit is the way to go, shop around, good prices can be found!!

John McGraw

You can buy the kit with any deducts you want, but you will just need to call them so they can custom tailor the kit. I never use the hoses that are included in the kit because they are designed for a stock engine and accessory drive. I always use the EZ-clip hose system. It is easy to make your own custom hoses and they are a lot smaller and more durable than the thick OEM rubber hoses. Stainless braided hoses are expensive and the braid will chew up your paint.
I would recommend using their condenser and a Sanden compressor rather than trying to re-use your existing stuff. The condenser is matched to the system and is not that expensive. It comes with all the proper designed mounting brackets and the proper lines to go to the dryer and back into the engine compartment. The piece of mind that comes form having a brand-new part that will not screw with the warranty on the system, is worth the additional price. You are probably going to run into problems trying to use the OEM LS2 compressor as it will not fit in the stock location due to the crossmember. most of the relocation brackets that are available out there are based on the Sanden compressor. I have tried on several cars, to use the OEM compressor and have always ended up going to the Sanden. I have a whole stack of LS AC compressors in my shop to attest to that!

Nowdays, I just buy the full kit minus the hoses. it comes with every single bracket and fastener you will need. I always route the hoses back between the fender and inner fender so the system is almost completely hidden from view. They come out behind the battery and make a short jump to the comperessor, and that is all the line you see. I also use Street and Performance compressor bracket kit rather than the Kwik bracket that others use as I like the compressor being tucked down out of sight almost like the stock compressor. The Kwik bracket puts the compressor up on top of the engine and spaced out pretty far from the engine.

Here is a pic of the compressor on my 67 Chevelle using the S&P bracket kit.

http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2003-...3/IMG_0683.JPG


Regards, John McGraw

The Big Al

you can purchase the system is parts.

They make a unit were the hoses exit out the side, and not directly to the firewall. This way you can run your hose in any location IE: Under the fender.


We got was the new Gen IV it's hideous in size.

I am going to get the Smaller unit.
Gen II Compact unit


To much crap under dash!



Ie:

John McGraw

The Gen IV may be a little larger, but it gets the job done in hot weather. That is more than I can say about the Gen II. I have cars with both the IV and the II and I will always buy the Gen IV in the future. On Chevelles the lines go out through the kick panel vents into the cowl and out through the original fan motor location under the fender, but Camaro's end up with the lines coming out through the firewall where they are visible. The Gen IV also has the ability to use the slick little 3 **** electronic control panel that they sell.!


Regards, John McGraw

bmf5150

How hard are the kits to install??

Chris442

iTrader: (1)

Don't try the factory compressor. I've been there and done that and it's not worth the effort. It just won't work as well as the Sanden.

I built a '68 Camaro exactly how you'd like with smooth firewall. I used a Gen IV VA unit and ran my lines through the plenum and out the firewall where the original hole for the blower motor was. The 4 hoses run under the fender and above the inner fender. The heater hoses drop down right to the water pump from there. I've got a Sanden mounted in the stock F body location, which is easy to do using a bracket kit from VA. The brackets were a bit pricey for what they are, but for the time investment it would take to build them myself, they're probably worth it. One AC hose runs down to the compressor from the fenderwell, and the other goes straight to the drier, which I have mounted behind the headlamp. This hides the drier from view, but also gives it some airflow.

Under the dash, I used the VA Surefit Camaro setup for an original A/C car,, IIRC. This gives you fittings out of the unit that point toward the side of the car. I use a stock A/C control panel, too, using VA stuff to make that work. I just bought the underdash stuff from VA, along with the compressor brackets. I made my own lines with parts from a local A/C shop (a benefit of living in Phoenix, I suppose), and made hardlines using parts from Doc's Blocks.

I have hard and soft lines in various parts of the system. One nice thing about the hardlines is that they take up much less space than the hoses, which is good under the dash where it's tight. They also can be bent tighter than rubber hoses. A potential downfall is vibration resistance, although I've seen no issues with that in 3 years of driving. They won't rot like rubber eventually would either. Building them wasn't that bad, either. With the kit from Doc's Blocks, you just use a torch to braze the lines together, so there's no welding involved. Using the preflared lines they sell, you just cut two pieces to the length you want and braze them together.

Also, I bought a line crimper off ebay for about $200 or so. Worth every penny in retrospect. I had previously had to take every line down to the A/C shop to be crimped, and I had to pay them to do it. Between paying them, time, gas, and them being closed weekends; I would have more than paid for the crimper if I'd had it from day one.

My drier and condenser came from the A/C shop. They are both just off the shelf. I got a nice big aluminum condenser for a little over $100. I built hardlines to run to the condenser, which cleans up the look of the core support nicely.

In the end, my system works great. Plenty of cold air to keep the car cool in 100+ temps. Plus, it's practically invisible under the hood. Multiple people at shows have asked about the car not having A/C.

dxgxmx

john mcgraw how well do you like the s&p bracket
Can we get some more pics to see how close to block its placed
Also looking to put ac down low
I also dont like placing the compressor on top

Thanks
David

John McGraw

David,

The S&P bracket actually attaches the the original compressor mounting locations and positions it so closely to the block that you have to cut of the upper inboard mounting ear on the compressor to clear the block. I will look this evening and see If I have an better photos of the location. The only downside is that it drives off the main belt as do most of the other setups. I would really like to drive off the rear belt like the factory did, but it just ain't going to happen with the crossmember where it is. They make the bracket for both Corvette and F-body accessory setups. All the rest of my brackets are stock GM Corvette brackets and accessories. I am using a stock GM tensioner right now, but you can switch to a Ktech tensioner if slippage becomes a problem. I have not had this problem on either of my cars.


Regards, John McGraw

S10xGN

iTrader: (11)

John,

I got yer back,bud. Here's 2 shots of the S&P bracket (C5 model), I'm pretty sure they make other offsets...

dxgxmx

Thanks john and russ for pics