Is there a good aftermarket A/C kit for Chevelles? One that is cold?

I have bought aftermarket kits for other cars before and they don't seem to be as cold as a factory A/C.

Any suggestions?

Thats a good question,I am looking for a good ac unit for a 69 myself. graemlins/thumbsup.gif

i will let ya know in a couple of weeks...installing VA R134 Sure Fit kit in a 72. Do a search of my posts in heating and cooling. Yes I am less than pleased with some parts of the kit...it is not a totally mindless drop in unit as the words Sure Fit might lead ya to believe.. You will want to re-engineer some of the mounting brackets they provide and a few other things provided in the kit. You need basic fabrication skills to pull this off. You don't have to be Boyd Coddington BUT if you want a good solid install you need some fabrication expertise.

A couple of points.......

If you go with R134 and VA ( or any vendor) USE A BIG CONDENSOR. The bigest you can find and fit inside the underhood area of the car. Size matters: ( no matter what ya tell your girlfriend or your wife) it is CRITICAl to cool temps at the A/C air outlets in the dash.

Use electric fans...the more CFM the better. Airflow at in town speeds is CRITICAL to cool temps at the A/C air outlets in the dash. I am using dual 13 inch units rated for 4000 CFM. Be prepared for an alternator upgrade to 140 Amp for the fans.

VA's kit for the 68 to 70 WILL work in 70 to 72 Chevelles and Monte Carlos. You need a dash control unit for a non A/C car. This is covered in my notes / posts in the forum.

Firewalls are NOT an issue. I repeat NOT an issue: this can be done W/O welding no matter what type of car you have. A/C or non factory AC it does not matter. The firewalls are indeed different but it is NOT a critcal issue. DO NOT LISTEN TO THE NAY SAYERS particularly those who have not done it. Talk is cheap and as some baseball player said "If ya can do it it aint bragging". The firewall type is just not an issue in this convversion. These guys with the "The firewalls are substantially different and that means a lot of work" line are full of it. Yes the firewalls are different BUT that fact is not a show stopper, it is not even an issue. I have a paper template: if you have some sheet metal, a drill and a metal shears you can do it.

There is a lot of info I have posted out on this forum. Some is just ranting ( and at the time I was pissed to be sure) but I have worked around all the issues in the install and believe me I am VERY FUSSY about the quality of my finished work.

I am willing to share any data that is not on the forum already if you decide on VA...or any other vendor for that matter but my data becomes less valuable if you use non VA parts. Any unit with the heater core and A/C evaporator inside the passengers compartment can use my firewall and hose routing experience. but the items about dimensions and hole positions become less valuable.

The_Oman49@hotmail.com is one address or you can use HPEXPATRIOT@yahoo.com

I installed an underdash aftermarket AC set up in my truck from Nostalgic Air and it honestly blasts me out of the cab it's so darn cold. Of course the cab of a pickup is less space to cool than in a car but it works well. I have 38 degree air coming out the vents. As mentioned above which seems to make sense, this application has a condensor almost as large as my radiator! It all works great and I was very pleased with the coldness considering I've never much been impressed with R134a systems as original equipment as none of them ever seem to get all that cold. All the parts used on the truck AC install were new components.

As a side note I did a conversion on my daily driver at the same time from R12 to R134a and it blows as cold now as it did with R12. I don't think it should but I had a very knowledgeable guy charge it for me and I attribute my success to that fact as much as the fact that I also changed the drier at the same time.

Make sure you use a brand new drier and that the drier is not installed until just before you vacuum and charge the system. The drier will come with rubber plugs over the fittings for a reason. Keep those plugs in place until you are ready to charge it. The remove the plugs and attach it to the appropriate lines and then vacuum and charge it immediately. R134a tolerates moisture in the system a whole lot less than R12 does and the drier can only do so much. If it is exposed to a humid atmosphere too long it may have little to no capacity left to dry the system once it is all closed up.

Thanks for your replies. They have helped considerably.

By the way, Dizzy Dean was the baseball player...