underpowered

iTrader: (1)

Swapped my 1978 Impala wagon earlier in this year. with winter "build season" approaching, the car will go down for a bunch of maintenance. For comfort, the addition of Air Conditioning has been put pretty high on the list by the Wife.

Hoping for a bit of Spoon feeding here.

Plan on a high mount with a sander 508 compressor. after that...i am lost on what to do. Many factory parts are still available for the car (condenser, drier, lines etc) but I am unsure how to get it all to play together with the right fittings, connections etc. any help on what others have done would be appreciated. Car is atleast a factory A/C car, though the evaporator core is all that remains of the stock system.

Thanks in advance..

350SS

iTrader: (38)

there's alot to read through here but i'm sure most of your questions could be answered in this thread:

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...5-3-4l60e.html

some a/c stuff around post #190 and i'm sure plenty elsewhere

https://ls1tech.com/forums/conversio...l#post20087126

not sure if he got it finished up or not

B52bombardier1

I'd buy a kit. My 70 El Camino with a 5.3 L LS is getting a "Classic AC" system that allows me to use the LS compressor - no change to the front of engine accessory drive. I'm sure the Vintage AC kit would also work equally well. These kits will have the more modern parallel flow style of condenser for better efficiency.

I prefer the Classic kit because the under dash evaporator assembly and all of its parts are repairable. The case can be split to gain access for repairs.

Rick

mytmouz

iTrader: (2)

If you have everything under the dash, Classic Auto Air can refurbish it, and update to R134a. They have a restored division that can supply you with a parallel flow condenser and the hoses and fittings you need connect to whatever compressor you use. I did thisonmy 67 chevelle, using a truck compressor that came with the engine. The cost was about a third of what a kit cost, since I had the main components...

jimmyg

I just used a sanden sd7 compressor and hooked it up to factory Ac in my 83 cutlass . Works mint . Bought a new evaporator etc off rock auto . Coldhose . Com made me the correct hoses . Just tell them what your wanting to hook up .

kpeters59

Mine pretty much just went back together once I obtained the bracket and compressor.

I had to scramble around to have hoses made that had the correct turns and such.

A couple things to consider:

Apparently on my OBS, it would have been possible to keep my A/C compressor in the factory location (on the drivers side) instead of the LM7 location (on the passenger side) and then I could have used OEM hoses. Maybe I wish I'd done that...

Also, the Sanden Compressor didn't have the High Pressure Sensor built in like (apparently) the OEM Compressor did. You'll be glad if you include provisions in advance to deal with that. Likely just a port to screw an appropriate sensor into? The ECM wants (needs?) that input to operate correctly.

The factory control circuit seems to be plenty adequate otherwise. My 0411 ECM has an AC Request input that comes from the dash, through the switch on the Accumulator and the Low Pressure Switch to tell the ECM to activate the AC Clutch Relay. The High Pressure Switch is a separate ECM Input.

HTH.

-KP

underpowered

iTrader: (1)

I've kept up with his thread. He is usually just a few steps ahead of me in the swap process.

however, he doesn't show much of what it actually took to get the AC going in the car as.



I'll check out classic auto air, and coldhose.com for supplies. I'd much rather keep my stock A/C setup than go with an aftermarket unit completely. The aftermarket may be more efficient, but i'd just prefer to use what i already have if i can.

thanks for the input. hopefully i can get it all squared away this winter

350SS

iTrader: (38)

you're right, for some reason i thought he had it up and running. sorry bout that.

NCDEERE

iTrader: (1)

If your flexible on the compressor you can high mount the R4 compressor that came with your car. I did that on my 78 Nova, R4 compressor on the passenger side, factory Nova evaporator and controls, hoses and condenser. It works well using R134 but I did buy an updated compressor designed for R134.