alternatives to vintage air?

[Thunder1957]

i went to vintage air's website and they dont offer a kit for my 57 t-bird, i was a little upset that they offer a kit for toyota landcruisers but not classic t-birds, what is the world coming to?!? anyone know of a AC kit that will work in my bird?

[paul274854]

What kind of "kit" you looking for. Vintage Air does have the compressor bracket for an early (55-57) TBird Y Block, the rest should be their regular parts. Did you talk with them about it? Bracket number is 15120 VFB - I just checked their website.

[FMXhellraiser]

Well we could go back to the older days where there WAS NO Vintage Air!

[BigTruckDriver]

Originally posted by Thunder1957
i went to vintage air's website and they dont offer a kit for my 57 t-bird, i was a little upset that they offer a kit for toyota landcruisers but not classic t-birds, what is the world coming to?!? anyone know of a AC kit that will work in my bird?

I bet if you call and talk to someone they can put together a kit for you.

[5.0strd]

Try Hot Rod Air, Southern Air there are sveral quality companies, one of them is bound to offer a kit for your Bird. Most everything in these kits are all made by the same manufacturer.

[Swifster]

The custom nature of a hot rod means that most components are in fact, custom. Vintage Air does not make a 'kit' for my Studebaker, but this doesn't mean the car won't have A/C. It means that the HVAC system is one more custom system, just like my stereo system, chassis or the engine.

This means you make your A/C lines and you route them where you need to. You put the vents you want where you need them, and sometimes this means fabrication. The kits most places sell are made for cars that sold in large volumns. There are more of the cars that have kits for them still on the road than Ford sold Thunderbirds from '55-'57. It's a long term money maker to make a kit for either your car or mine (and I'll bet there are more '63-'66 Studebakers still on the road vs those T-Birds).

[akrateffil]

Your best bet is to go with a universal kit. This requires a little more homework, in reference to the size of the unit and look (factory or hot rod). Another option is to keep an eye in the ads for a stock unit. Hemmings and eBay are two large markets for parts. I will be facing the same problem for my 56 plymouth in the future. Good luck

[Swifster]

I don't think I'd go with a straight stock '50's type A/C system. With the cost and availability of R-12, it's definitely worthwhile to adjust for using R-134a. The basic differences are in the condensor (which any of the above companies can size for the car) and the fittings used to charge the system.

The big difference is the interior appearance. Universal units mount on the trans floor and can take up quite a bit of space. The newer systems from Vintage Air, Hot Rod Air, etc., will usually fit behind the dash without problems. The only issue is vent placement and control placement.

I'm installing my center dash vents and the A/C control unit in the dash where the radio was. I'm putting the radio and navigation system in the console. The outside vents will be in the outside kick panels just below the dash. The system looks symetrical and without an 'add-on' look to it.

[AzDon]

Many Ford models only offered under-dash evaporator units thru most of the sixties. These can be used successfully with r134 and give the interior a more vintage look. Basically, you get (or make) the brackets to fit the Sanden compressor to your engine, and you can buy the condensor, dryer, hoses, and end fittings all seperately from vintage air. They even offer a cool bulkhead fitting, so you don't hafta run hoses thru the firewall. The only parts that they don't offer is the two flared hose ends that screw onto the old evaporators, but a well-equipped REAL parts store will have these, and usually their machine shop can crimp the hose ends after you fit and index them...good luck!
P.S. order carefully from Vintage Air because their return policies SUCK!