Vintage Air Installation Part 1

-
We we are back at working on the truck. I purchased a Vintage Air kit last October and just getting to test fitting the unit. There is not a whole lot of info out there for a step by step for a  60's Ford truck so I thought I would post some of the build.
I started with a Vintage Air Compac II Unit that I was told would fit fine. Turns out, there is plenty of room.
Mounting this would not be as difficult if you maintain your original glove box. One suggestion is if you want a clean dash like myself you may want to do this before welding the door shut!


Mounting the unit 

Vintage Air provides brackets but they seem generic and flimsy. I had to come up with a better solution.  I remember Detroit Speed made a Vintage Air bracket for the 1967-68 Camaro. This bracket rapped around using the provided mounting locations on the evaporator and select key locations under the dash.  So I purchased some small square tubing and proceeded to fabricate. I welded tabs on the key bolt locations and made the tubing fit around the unit. I did utilize the Vintage Air rear bracket into the fabbed unit.








 Fitting it in the cab

One thing I did do was to countersink a bolt into the dash. I then took some strapping and brought it down in front of the unit to bolt to the front. 





 It seems low here but I had to leave room for the ducting. I am putting a valance across the bottom to house the dash vents and the controller.



 Note the bracket . It joins both the left rear bolt location as well as the lower phillips bolt in the blower housing.


 This is the dash support that served as the left mounting location.


 I found that mounted this way I had room to install the bulk head



 The bump out proved to be a good spot for the pass through.


 With the evaporator back in place it shows how much room I ready did have.


 The Compac II did not seem to have a movable drain outlet so we opted to go out the side kick plate.


Defrost Ducts were next. I used some plastic reducers and removed the rubber from the stock defrost ducts where it was stapled on. Painted black and looks great.
 



  Click here for part 2




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Ford Hubcaps and Wheel Vintiques Steel wheels Part 1

-
Image
Project Disruptive by its' name, causes on to believe that we do not fit the mold.  Yes, going the shiny 20x12 Torque Thrusts may be tempting we are opting for the more traditional route. Looking at F100's on the inter-webs I found a truck to model after.  It uses stock Ford wheels and 57 Ford Fairlane Wagon Hub Caps, Dog dish, poverty cap, whatever you call them. Photo courtesy of Jerry Wassenaars1966-ford-f-100/HotRod.com  https://www.hotrod.com/articles/jerry-wassenaars-1966-ford-f-100/ The quest started looking for these hub caps..Just found some hub caps on Craigslist just like these.  I then searched for the best deal on wheels. Looking at some F100 Jag IFS posts and other F100 forums I decided to go with the Wheel Vintique series 62 - 15x7's up front with the standard 4 1/2 BS and the 15x8's with I believe the standard 4" backspace   They all arrived shipped for around $430.00. Now on to test fitting before painting. Very ...
Read more

1966 F100 ABS Headliner on the Cheap!

-
Image
Being Budget Minded AKA Cheap, I was now ready for the headliner. I did not want to put the traditional cardboard headliner in but I do not want to spend thousands on a custom interior. I saw someone had a 1 piece headliner for the f100's but shipping and the price was getting up there as well.  I found a local supplier for ABS sheeting. I opted for the 1/8 inch black sheet. It was around $40.00 a 4x8 sheet. I took my old cardboard headliner and traced the outline on the smooth side with a grey sharpie. The corners were a little difficult. I sprayed water on the corners and put a heavy  object on both sides in the sun. After some time I placed the flattened corners out and traced them as well. After cutting out all the pieces I started up the trusty propane heater. I gently warmed up the corners and when pliable I formed the hot ABS around my mig welder tank. A couple of tries and it was formed.   The back clips went back as the original....
Read more

1966 F100 style side wood bed floor- Can it be done?

-
Image
With the tubs widened 4 1/2 inches and the bed getting a coat of Raptor liner it is time for the wood bed.  The biggest thing to consider is how the wood will fit around the tubs and the gas tank filler tube location.  I  placed cardboard on the floor and just experimented with sizing until I was close. I allowed 1/2 " between boards. I found a local wood worker who was very helpful with the red oak.  The wood had checks and holes which I filled.  Cut grooves for the metal bed strips Stained with Danish Oil As you can see on the metal tubing I welded on tabs to bolt the rear, front and around the wheel wells. I made a trip to Dennis Carpenter to pick up some "Plain Steel" bed strips with no holes.  I bought the bolt kit and figured out where they needed to go. Using the mustang gas tank it puts the filler on an angle. I found that NAPA 1056 Gas Fill Hose was the ticket in fitting my Marine Gas filler. ...
Read more