How Hard to add A/C?

[mckay105]

New to C-10s been reading a lot.  I have an 84 C-10 that does not have factory A/C, how hard is it to conver it to A/C?  I bought all the plastic tubes and compresser, everything that the donor truck had even the controls.  I will have to buy the evaporator being I had to ship this stuff and it cost the same to ship as it did to buy a new onw.  What all will i have to do to make it work?

Thanks

[zieg85]

The fire wall modification will be the most difficult.  A much easier way would to go with a vintage air add on unit.  GM factory units are excellent when it is all working perfectly but my preference is the non AC ventilation with an add on unit when you need AC

[zieg85]

Forgot... Welcome to the site!!!

[mckay105]

Thanks,
I was looking at the vintage air but its 1000 for it v/s the factory.  I plan to sell or trade it when it gets finished.  My wife and I are talking about another kid and i dont think 2 car seats with 2 adults will fit very nice in the c-10.  I live in Arizona and its hot here (Yuma) so i know i need to be able to cool off.

[zieg85]

I just got back from vacationing in AZ.  Hot yes but I'd take it any day of hot and humid in NW Indiana.

[bake74]

     You are going to have some heavy modifications to put the factory A/C in.  You might want to decide after doing some searching if it is worth the time to modify yours.

[Edemich]

I would highly recommend the Vintage air unit conversion.  What is your time worth per hour?  Putting factory air into a non factory truck will require some guessing as to where certain holes should be drilled and then you are working with used stuff which brings reliability questions into play once it is installed.  Not impossible but definitely going to take some time.

The vintage air instructions are very thorough and their techs are very knowledgable.  Also blows really cold!!

[Dan75k20]

Edemich you are right about the time vs money it is more practial to use vintage air

[timthescarrd]

You could also get a cab from a factory A/C truck and swap it but there is ALOT of work involved there

[Jason S]

My $0.02, I've done both and I prefer the factory air conditioning systems.

In the late 90's, I installed a new aftermarket air conditioner in my '73 GMC. The aftermarket air system worked 'good'. Installation of my aftermarket a/c system required: A hole cut through the firewall to route the refrigerant lines through and then connect the lines to the evaporator.  Then, removal of the intrument cluster bezel,  dash pad, glove box and removing the bolts from the right side of the metal portion of the dash.

Then, carefully pulling the bottom of the dash out and shoving the evaporator up into the dash above the current heater housing/plenum. Then a portion of the glove box was cut and a filler piece (supplied with the air kit) was installed on the glove box liner.  The pocket on the instrument cluster bezel was cut and the switches for the a/c were installed and the wires ran to the evaporator and to the compressor. Vents were installed in the dash and the ductwork attached to the evaporator. The underhood portion is pretty easy, just mounting brackets for the compressor and condensor and the refrigerant lines were routed.   

When the aftermarket a/c compressor finally locked up, I swapped in a factory air conditioner system from a '75 GMC truck. I got everything on the truck that was air conditioning related, everything.

Cutting the firewall was not difficult although I did remove the inner fender to help give some room.  If I remember correctly, on a heater truck there are dimples on the cab that line up to the under hood evaporator housing. Using measurements and lining up with the evaporator housing, I marked the firewall and then cut the hole.  A portion of the firewall (where the current heater core resides) will have to be covered up, but that can be done with sheet metal. 

The swap took a little bit of time, but if you can get all the parts from a donor truck it is fairly straight forward to install.  Vents will need to be installed in the dash panel, the instrument panel bezel swapped and the ductwork run.  The control panels will need to be swapped, a vent door installed at the cowl and the right kick panel vent. Then, run the vacuum lines to the correct port and hook up the wires to the correct locations... 

In a nutshell, the factory system just plain worked better for me.