The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network - View Single Post - Moving the AC from the roof to under the rear seats

1leglance · 01-11-2012, 02:55 AM

Ok this might be a crazy idea but I think it will work better for my needs.

I want to move the AC unit on my 1970 Suburban from the rear roof to under the rear seats and build a custom center console that will direct the air to the back seat folks & to the front seat people.

Here are some pics and thoughts.
So it fits here which is the most important thing

I will get a shorter run of hose and I can insulate the box to preserve the cold air...very important in our Arizona desert.

Here is my son helping me mock up where the new back bucket seats will go. I should have plenty of room to build a seat frame/box that will hold the AC unit and allow fresh air in and blow the cold air out to the passengers.

This is my first effort with Google Sketchup. I am much better with a pencil/ruler/paper but I thought I would give the digital design thing a go. I plan to watch some tutorial videos and see if this Sketchup thing might be worth playing with.

And I would be using 4 of these kinds of vents set into the console

Here are some fun side benefits and considerations:
We are usually a 3 person family which means the seat behind the driver won't get used by anyone other than the dog normally. That means the "steping over the console" thing won't be a big deal.

The roof of a rig gets hot in Arizona and I think I can insulate the floor/console better than the roof.

The air won't have to travel as far with this setup.

I can built a snack cooler compartment where the cold air blows by a metal floor and chills goodies.

I am open to all thoughts.

I am running a Vintage Air setup in my 72 C-10 truck and it works great there. Worst case I could put something like that in this burb and just not have my son in the back seat get much AC

01-11-2012, 02:55 AM	#1
1leglance Registered User Join Date: Mar 2006 Location: phoenix Posts: 254	Moving the AC from the roof to under the rear seats Ok this might be a crazy idea but I think it will work better for my needs. I want to move the AC unit on my 1970 Suburban from the rear roof to under the rear seats and build a custom center console that will direct the air to the back seat folks & to the front seat people. Here are some pics and thoughts. So it fits here which is the most important thing I will get a shorter run of hose and I can insulate the box to preserve the cold air...very important in our Arizona desert. Here is my son helping me mock up where the new back bucket seats will go. I should have plenty of room to build a seat frame/box that will hold the AC unit and allow fresh air in and blow the cold air out to the passengers. This is my first effort with Google Sketchup. I am much better with a pencil/ruler/paper but I thought I would give the digital design thing a go. I plan to watch some tutorial videos and see if this Sketchup thing might be worth playing with. And I would be using 4 of these kinds of vents set into the console Here are some fun side benefits and considerations: We are usually a 3 person family which means the seat behind the driver won't get used by anyone other than the dog normally. That means the "steping over the console" thing won't be a big deal. The roof of a rig gets hot in Arizona and I think I can insulate the floor/console better than the roof. The air won't have to travel as far with this setup. I can built a snack cooler compartment where the cold air blows by a metal floor and chills goodies. I am open to all thoughts. I am running a Vintage Air setup in my 72 C-10 truck and it works great there. Worst case I could put something like that in this burb and just not have my son in the back seat get much AC Last edited by 1leglance; 01-11-2012 at 03:04 AM.