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| The before picture |
Part 3
Classic Air Perfect Fit
Air Conditioner Install
Retrofit A/C "Hillbilly, How To"
Reflections of My Experiences of Installing A/C in My Classic Tri-Five 1957 Chevy
-Alan Arnell
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| Where do these go? |
20. Replace the balls, cut the 2" hose 30" long and connect the hose to the center duct outlet
21. Route hose to the passenger side louver and attach to the adaptor. I used a zip tie again to hold in place.
22. Repeat the process for the driver's side except use 42" of hose and attach over and behind the instrument panel to the side louver.
23. Ready the cables and wires by pulling the out of the hole for the heater control.
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| Fan control wire connected |
24. Connect the red/white power wire to the old blower wire you tagged earlier. I would suggest to stop future problems use a soldering gun, solder and shrink wrap the connection. Looks better and works better than crimp connections.)
25. I am getting lazy and skipping the non Deluxe heater control instruction. If you are one of the two percent of people without a Deluxe control you will have to look the instruction given by CAA. I don't believe I have even seen a non Deluxe control before. Have you?
26. Remove the old blower switch from the heater control. Save the original cable clips and light bulb. The will be reused
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| Nice smoothe under dash unit |
27. Attach a connector to attach the bulb for the control. (Check to see if the bulb holder is clean to secure a good ground.)
28. Ready the new blower switch and insert it through the face bezel of the control. Drill and screw it in place.
29. They say to put the control knob on the blower switch. (I would recommend waiting until later. I knocked the knob off a dozen times. I sometimes wonder how I ever kept track of the knob.)
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| 2 inch hose all hooked up on the passenger side |
30. Connect the cables to the control panel. (This will take some twisting and cursing to get everything to fit in correctly. But before putting it all together be sure to hook to corresponding knob. I still have tape post it notes stuck to the wires to keep track of them up under the dash. Remember to tighten down the cables with the original clips or the inside of the cable will not move correctly.)
31. Attach the wire harness to the blower switch. I got the wires mixed up and the blower would only run on low, until I found the correct order.)
32. Screw the heater control panel to the dash.
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| First step to my custom evaporator bracket |
33. Just put the glove box in place. I would suggest not screwing the box in yet as you will be screwing with it to get to you custom engineering to work making everything work the way you wish. Common sense will make you want to put the box in upside down. Fight the urge. )
34. Depending on where your alternator is or what type of engine you have will determine where you will make openings and hole package you have in place. But no matter how you have or decided to run the hoses you will have to use the supplied template to drill holes in the bulkhead. link to template picture
35. Now we get to work on the evaporator coil by starting with attaching of the mounting backets on both sides.
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| Step two |
36. Attach the liquid tube (condenser to drier), Liquid tube (receiver to bulkhead) and discharge tube using the correct "O" rings to the drier by just hand tightening the hex head screws. Don't forget to oil the rings, etc.
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| Dryer and Evaporator in place |
37. Loosen the radiator mounting screws. If you live up in the Yankee states you may get away using the original radiator. But us Southern folk need an upgraded radiator. I put in a desert cooler, which is much wider than the standard radiator. I attached my evaporator coil with pass through plastic bolts and nuts. If you are still using the original radiator you may mount the evaporator between the radiator and its mounting bracket.
38. Line up the A/C tubes to set the proper height of the dryer. Attach the drier to the evaporator coil. Tighten up all the hex bolts after everything is in place and will not have to be move again.
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| Dryer and Switch all wired up |
39. Tighten back up the radiator mounting bolts. Note: I would suggest replacing the stock Tri-Five fan with a clutch fan. Or you may use an electrical fan. I have had several friends get stranded alongside the road, because of electric fan failure. I use both a puller mechanical fan and an electric pusher fan mounted to evaporator coil. I have rigged up a relay system to run the electric fan when the A/C is turned on or if the engine heats up over one hundred and ninety five degrees. I will explain how I did that later.
40. Install the Hi/Low pressure switch safety switch by first using a drop of oil on top of the drier.
41. Run wires through the engine compartment along the discharge hose to the compressor.
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| Refrigerant tubes, wires and compressor |
42. Hook up the clutch wire to one of the white wires. The other white wire route along suction hose and attach to blue clutch wire coming from the thermostat.
43. Install the long liquid tube at the block off and to the fitting on the radiator bulkhead.
44. Install the discharge hose with the 90 degree end on the compressor and the other to the fitting on the radiator bulkhead.
45. Attach the suction hose again the 90 degree end on the compressor and the other to the block off plate fitting.
46. Install the water valve kit. I did a bad job on this and never went back to make it work correctly. The CAA manual had highlighted instructions. You need this valve to keep hot water from the engine making the new heater core hot during the summer. I had a manual valve installed before my A/C retrofit. I kept the old valve in place and use it. Someday I'll get around to fix that problem, however I have not even used my heater for years while I have been driving in Texas. That fact keeps the new valve on the back burner.
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| Radiator bulkhead hook up with wiring |
47. Now you have everything put together. Go back and recheck everything. Triple check that all bolts and nuts are tight ready to go. What is not in the instructions is that you must set up a new pulley system for the additional drive belt for you Tri-Five. The best way to go would be to install a serpentine belt system I chose standard fan belts. This is the hardest part of the project for me. getting the pulleys and belts all lined up. I am still fighting with this problem to this day. I don't think I will ever be happy with the three fan belts on the front of my engine.
Also check the trueness of the crank pulley for wobble using a straight across the front edges of the pulley. Rotate the crank at 90⁰ intervals and check the far end of the straight edge for difference to the same point. If untrue replace rather than trying to fix.
Remember you don't need to add oil to the system. The next part is suggested that you should use a qualified and certified A/C Tech. Although, if you choose you may charge the system yourself you can find out in my next blog.
Please check back later
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| ACC Wire Diagram |
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| Everything wired and ready to go |
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| All done and at my first show with A/C |
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