Question is I have a 56 non air Century 4Dr hardtop. My wife said why not put A.C. in the car... Question is HOW GOOD ARE THE UNDERDASH UNITS and is it a strain on the motor I have the alternator conversion and I'm getting 14.1 volts with the Halogen headlights on... And she wants to get it installed for a birthday present so we can cruise in comfort She says I'm getting old I will be 53
Check out this hamb thread. May be what you're looking for..... http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/under-dash-air-conditioner.1023785/
Sgt John, 53, your just a PUP.. Wait till you hit 62 like me and you have to take ivpropane with your morning coffee to get moving..LOL. Bruce.WOW that's a old post from me now I am 66 and I take 2 ivpropane in the morning!!!!!LOL Bruce.
Cruising in comfort usually means more cruising and longer road trips. Those Mark IV style under dash units will usually freeze you out when you sit straight in front of one.
Okay thanks ..I have 2 More years left in the Army National Guard and that will be 22 years and she wants me to retire
That's how you know the Air Force is coming, the air conditioners arrived in the first plane. I seen it happen many times.
1shot and Sgt. John, that explains why the army and marines never liked us Air Force guys, lol! Thank you for your service!
Make sure you run a engine driven fan with a shroud and buy a wide tall condenser. Box the condenser in so most of the air has to flow through the condenser. This will give you cold air at idle.
Okay I was going to let an radiator place look at it also I have the ORIGINAL RADIATOR WITH THE SHROUD or will thenjoy radiator have to be changed.
You may want to try it first if you have a rad in good condition. US radiator in Ca. can make you an Excellant one for AC. I believe they make 4 different grades for our older cars. Make sure it's copper/ brass. Good luck.
My wife asked me the same, if I wouldn't love her, I would never do that, by me, it was okay to drive without A/C. I found a garage that could make this customization to my old '59 Chevy. The guys from https://www.socool.sg/ made quite a good work, now I admit that it is way better to drive the car than before.
Go with a Vintage Air system. They are easy to install and great products! I put one in my '40 and never had a problem.
Vintage air is my go to for the people that want or need a/c and come to my shop for install. Adding an electric fan helps at idle or in slow traffic to keep the cockpit cool. At least down in the Florida summers it did.
Use vintage air, that’s what I have in my convertible. They have great products and tech line, I would never use any other brand
Hello, I have seen a lot of different A/C units in old hot rods. Before Vintage Air came to be popular, there were home set ups that worked well. (utilizing GM parts and hose kits for our 327 motor and others.) There were a lot of installers that did all kinds of A/C units. When the rotary compressor motors came out, the installs were much easier to set up and made the motor compartments much cleaner. In your photo/install, would it be possible to move or rotate the compressor motor to a lower area out of sight? Or at least , if not, rotate the compressor so those lines come from underneath to connect. In some of our old A/C compressors, it was possible to move or rotate the actual compressor as much as it could for clearance, as long as the belts aligned correctly. The hoses did not hinder the sight of the motor or valve covers. So, it looked like a much cleaner installation. Sorry, if this was a preliminary set up photo and the final install moved the hoses lower or somewhere else. If so, could we see the final installation photos? Thanks... Jnaki
I wish I had had air in this one. The hang-down will be all you want, and probably a simpler install in the car. Vintage Air is the best. If you go with the more expensive,(and better looking imo) complete AC/heat/up under the dash unit, they are more work, and will eliminate your current heater set up. Hang down is traditional and period-correct, although there were Buicks out there in 56 that had factory air.
Vintage Air is the only way to go. They've been manufacturing A/C components for about 40 years. Tech support is great. What ever you do don't buy Southern Air they are garbage.
Sgt John , you aren't old wait till you hit 66 like me.You will start waking up saying HEY that didn't hurt yesterday.LOL.Bruce.
I seen this kit on eBay. Don't know if anyone on here has installed 1 on there buick. I am thinking about getting 1 for my 55. Anyhow here is the link. https://www.ebay.com/sch/i.html?_fr...9.TRS2&_nkw=1956+buick+air+condition&_sacat=0
Finished product. The customer didn't want to pay enough for me to hide everything. One bracket for A/C compressor and Alt. Clean enough for the customer.