vintage air

[greasemonkey71]

andybody use of theses setups?

hows the fit and the install

hows the heat

i dont need the AC as much as i need the heat

[jborders]

air and heat both work great in mine.

[jborders]

As far as install. It's not that bad. Only things i didn't like were the compressor bracket that came with it and the way you use the regular heater control to control it. i installed mine in 98 or 99 though i think they have changed that now. it all went together good and had great instructions.

[greasemonkey71]

what model did u use?

where do u actually mount the unit

[wheel]

I'm very interested in adding this as well! Anyone have any before and after pics of their install?

[Wrenchbender Ret]

I put one in my 70 stepside. I used the Gen 2 universal. It was quite a bit of work but the results are good. The heat is plenty & the A/C is good enough. I just bought the inside kit & used a factory comp. & made up the hoses. I used a universal rec/drier & a cond. from a Saturn. I have no glove box left but I put a pouch inside the door for papers.

[acl]

I order 1 of the "sure fit" for our trucks and was not happy at all. It looked like an add on. I call v/a and discussed it and for a few bucks more the made what i needed. I did not want the plumbing going thru firewall for i had closed all hole before. Wanted to use billet bulkhead. They hve other units which plumb inside truck for cleaner look. Also go ahead and get a factory control unit for ac truck, if not you can not control fan speed. its on or off. They might have changed it, but that how it was a few years past. They are great to work with, and had a switch go bad and called and was shipped out that day and repaired the next day. works great heat and air. if you have a nice rig do not settle for the "cover " that hides the works. Gary

[man-a-fre]

Not happy at all with my surefit kit i installed in my 72 blazer,they sent the wrong heater shutoff valve,and the patches that block your old holes in the firewall are cheap looking plastic you silicone and sheetmetal screw on. The install instructions sucked,i wouldn't advise getting this kit.

[69sixpackbee]

Had one. It sucked. Went with Old Air Products...sucked X2. Went all OEM. Best choice I ever made. You don't get the benefit of fresh air blending with either of the aft'mkt versions.

..Bud

[robnolimit]

I have installed MANY vintave Air kits. "Sure-fit" kits are pretty easy installs, and are desinged to be like a factory style install. Remember that A/C in a 60's or 70's was kind of bulky lookin. The hoses go through the factory heater box port, and a cover is included, it is made of plastic like the stock heater box cover. I agree to get and use the factory style heat - a/c control. Next, for guys doing a more custom style truck, I would say to use seporate parts. I like the Gen II Compaq, swap to knob style controls, an inline 4-port bulkhead, hose kit w/dryer, the monster condensor, and a compressor. This set-up will take more work to install, but it will look cleaner. Smoothing off the stock firewall on the pass. side, and making a new dash face for the a/c controls is the hardest part. Hope that helps.

[greasemonkey71]

what about a heater


im more interested in heat than the AC i always have the windows anyways

unless its snowing..or raining

i just want something that will work a better than stock
and put out more heat

[vectorit]

Originally Posted by robnolimit

I have installed MANY vintave Air kits. "Sure-fit" kits are pretty easy installs, and are desinged to be like a factory style install. Remember that A/C in a 60's or 70's was kind of bulky lookin. The hoses go through the factory heater box port, and a cover is included, it is made of plastic like the stock heater box cover. I agree to get and use the factory style heat - a/c control. Next, for guys doing a more custom style truck, I would say to use seporate parts. I like the Gen II Compaq, swap to knob style controls, an inline 4-port bulkhead, hose kit w/dryer, the monster condensor, and a compressor. This set-up will take more work to install, but it will look cleaner. Smoothing off the stock firewall on the pass. side, and making a new dash face for the a/c controls is the hardest part. Hope that helps.

I checked out your website, pretty cool stuff being done there!

Anyway, on the AC stuff... Is there a system out there that is powerful enough for a Suburban?

[acl]

Originally Posted by greasemonkey71

what about a heater


im more interested in heat than the AC i always have the windows anyways

unless its snowing..or raining

i just want something that will work a better than stock
and put out more heat

I don't know whats better than stock for heat. my V/A works ok for heat but my truck is find of a fair weather driver. Are you not getting heat at all now?

[greasemonkey71]

the stock heat is ok

i replaced the heater core

but it still sucks

the PO never used the heater and the little fiberglass box that houses the heater core has a big a$$ hole in it

in a few months i will be reloacting and insulating most of the cab and then installing carpet and headliner

hopefully that helps a lttle

[Wrenchbender Ret]

The stock heater ingood condition should be all you need if you dont need A. /C.

[vectorit]

Fix the hole in the heater box, and your heated air output will be hot enough to melt your shoes. You are losing half or more of the heat, since the fan is blowing most of the heated air out the big hole and not into the cab.

[Brainchild]

Originally Posted by greasemonkey71

what about a heater


im more interested in heat than the AC i always have the windows anyways

unless its snowing..or raining

i just want something that will work a better than stock
and put out more heat

Other than the crappy defroster vents in these trucks, the heat is more than enough. I did take mine apart and fix the flap inside cleaned out the animal habitat and installed a new core since the other was leaking, but the heater in my 71 will cook you in the dead of winter.

[Wildstreak]

Originally Posted by vectorit

Anyway, on the AC stuff... Is there a system out there that is powerful enough for a Suburban?

Id like to know this too, I was thinking about the gen IV system, anyone use that? I would also like to have a clean firewall, is there ways of running the hoses more clean?

[BLACK AND BLUE 67-72]

Just plain stock heater will usually run you out of the cab, when everything is working as it should!!!

[ETsC10]

The guys are right. I've had my truck for years and always complained about lack of heat. Finally took the
housing off to change the heater core and guess what? The air door in the thing was corroded and not
closing fully. I spent a good hour with penetrating oil, moving that door back & forth, back & forth,
until it operated smoothly and sealed when closed. One day of tinkering and ...walla! Tons of heat!




.

[Wildstreak]

Originally Posted by vectorit

Fix the hole in the heater box, and your heated air output will be hot enough to melt your shoes. You are losing half or more of the heat, since the fan is blowing most of the heated air out the big hole and not into the cab.

Unless he's the guy with the heater box that had a license plate covering the hole.There was a guy on here a week or so ago showing his heater box, if that was this guy, just find another heater box from a vendor on here and replace it and you should be good.

[man-a-fre]

The surefit kit has about half the size of heater core than stock but the va fan blows alot more cfm than the stock fan,won't heat my early blazer very well,but when i kick my rear heat on it's toasty.

[jborders]

surefit is what i have. My heater has worked fine I've had no complaints.

[greasemonkey71]

i think im goin to just take everything apart rewire **** and try it again