# Stupid question, did my car originally come with AC?



## Lawddog (Jan 2, 2020)

Hey fellas, 
I was looking at my engine compartment the other day and noticed two hard lines on the passenger side that look like they ac lines but they just stop at the fitting where the tge soft lines to the compressor would go (i dont have the ac compressor). I also have the center vent in the dash. Does that mean that my 66 once had AC? and if it did, would things be cheaper to put ac back in the car or am i stuck with getting something like the Vintage Air set up if i want AC? 

If gets up to 110 here in Folsom, Ca in the summer and i know i am going to eventually want AC, just trying to gauge if it is something easy or something that will be involved. 

thanks, 
Jason


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

Lawddog said:


> Hey fellas,
> I was looking at my engine compartment the other day and noticed two hard lines on the passenger side that look like they ac lines but they just stop at the fitting where the tge soft lines to the compressor would go (i dont have the ac compressor). I also have the center vent in the dash. Does that mean that my 66 once had AC? and if it did, would things be cheaper to put ac back in the car or am i stuck with getting something like the Vintage Air set up if i want AC?
> 
> If gets up to 110 here in Folsom, Ca in the summer and i know i am going to eventually want AC, just trying to gauge if it is something easy or something that will be involved.
> ...


If it had factory air, then the interior climate control panel would be the tell-tale, it's much bigger. Also, the passenger firewall is substantially different. However, it couldve had dealer installed air, which was very popular on these cars (I've had two with it), and maybe that was removed.
Passenger Firewall with AC:









Passenger Firewall without AC:


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

So, if you have lines but the firewall looks like the 6 pack car, above, then you had dealer air and it was removed.


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## Lawddog (Jan 2, 2020)

It looks like mine had AC at one time, looking at the top pic, it has the bigger fan/blower motor and the firewall looks super similar, just missing all the pieces. all the controls, hoses and other things for the AC is gone.


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

Lawddog said:


> It looks like mine had AC at one time, looking at the top pic, it has the bigger fan/blower motor and the firewall looks super similar, just missing all the pieces. all the controls, hoses and other things for the AC is gone.
> View attachment 140664


DEFINITELY!


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## Lawddog (Jan 2, 2020)

So i wonder now what i need to get it working.


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

Lawddog said:


> So i wonder now what i need to get it working.


Lol... that could be a big list... or at least an expensive one! This one help your AC, but this factory bracket will get your heater hose supported. Right now, it's going to either wear through your paint or visa versa.









Amazon.com: The Parts Place GTO Lemans Pontiac Heater Hose Bracket: Automotive


Buy The Parts Place GTO Lemans Pontiac Heater Hose Bracket: Heater - Amazon.com ✓ FREE DELIVERY possible on eligible purchases



www.amazon.com


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

I think you could probably get all of the parts fairly cheap.


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## GTO44 (Apr 11, 2016)

Lawddog said:


> So i wonder now what i need to get it working.


If you’re not married to keeping it all original i would say go with a vinatge air kit. For $1500 you get a new compressor, condenser, drier, lines, control panel, and it relocates the main unit to under the dash instead of hanging on the firewall. Its also electronically controlled so all the flappers dont the rely on engine vacuum. It also comes with all new hoses to hook to your factory dash. Will blow colder and harder than your stock unit.


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

I have the dealer installed air, which was on my car. Is there a market for them? Seems too heavy to ship, but I do want it out of the shop.


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## O52 (Jan 27, 2019)

armyadarkness said:


> I have the dealer installed air, which was on my car. Is there a market for them? Seems too heavy to ship, but I do want it out of the shop.


I _may_ be interested 
Photos?


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

I'll photograph it all for you.


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## Lawddog (Jan 2, 2020)

armyadarkness said:


> I have the dealer installed air, which was on my car. Is there a market for them? Seems too heavy to ship, but I do want it out of the shop.


I might be interested too...


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## Lawddog (Jan 2, 2020)

GTO44 said:


> If you’re not married to keeping it all original i would say go with a vinatge air kit. For $1500 you get a new compressor, condenser, drier, lines, control panel, and it relocates the main unit to under the dash instead of hanging on the firewall. Its also electronically controlled so all the flappers dont the rely on engine vacuum. It also comes with all new hoses to hook to your factory dash. Will blow colder and harder than your stock unit.


I am leaning towards the vintage air option, i just want to make sure i do my due diligence before i drop 1500.


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## GTO44 (Apr 11, 2016)

Lawddog said:


> I am leaning towards the vintage air option, i just want to make sure i do my due diligence before i drop 1500.


For sure.

I just know what a pain in the butt tracking down all the correct components for a factory setup can be.

I currently have a ‘72 chevelle, ‘73 Corvette, ‘71 Mach One, and a ‘32 Ford Roadster in my shop and all of them got a Vintage Air setup. The kits are great and arent very hard to install. It just makes it very conveient as everything you need is included.

For example on the 73vette...the owner wanted to use the factory air. We spent a ton of money ordering all the factory parts and pieces to overhaul the factory air conditioning...then it turned out that the stock “vir” air box was rusted out on the inside of even though it looked decent from the outside. Ended up going Vintage Air after that. Now everything is electronically controlled, infinite blendablility between floor, feet and defrost, the firewall is cleaned up now with no more stock box (they include a new firewall cover plate), and no vacuum lines to hook up.

The system really is a no brainer if you dont have all the components and dont care about a numbers matching look.

Plus like i said in the previous post, it will blow harder and colder than any 50+ year old A/C system.


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

GTO44 said:


> For sure.
> 
> I just know what a pain in the butt tracking down all the correct components for a factory setup can be.
> 
> ...


WOW! I have a 70 Vette and I would not want to squeeze an AC unit under that dash! Holy smokes! You need to be a yoga instructor just to change the flasher.


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## GTO44 (Apr 11, 2016)

armyadarkness said:


> WOW! I have a 70 Vette and I would not want to squeeze an AC unit under that dash! Holy smokes! You need to be a yoga instructor just to change the flasher.


hahah yeah the dash is out currently so it went easy


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

GTO44 said:


> hahah yeah the dash is out currently so it went easy


AHHHHH!!! You didn't mention that you cheated. You don't know what "working on old cars" really means, until you spent time under a vette dash. If I was in a race to replace a dash bulb on a C3, I could pull the steering, seat, and dash, replace the bulb, and put it all back together... In half the time that it would take to write the obituary of the guy who tried to sneak it in without pulling the dash.


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## GTO44 (Apr 11, 2016)

armyadarkness said:


> AHHHHH!!! You didn't mention that you cheated. You don't know what "working on old cars" really means, until you spent time under a vette dash. If I was in a race to replace a dash bulb on a C3, I could pull the steering, seat, and dash, replace the bulb, and put it all back together... In half the time that it would take to write the obituary of the guy who tried to sneak it in without pulling the dash.


lol! i found out the hard way... It all started with putting new dakota digital gauges in. To get the gauge bezel out the dash pad has to come out. To get the dash pad out the passenger side had to come out cargo pocket deal had to come out along with the a pillar trim. To get the a pillar trim the top trim along the window for the t-tops had to come out. To get those off the center cross beam trim for the t-tops had to come out. So basically disassemble the entire interior just to replace the gauges lol. Then we found all the rust hiding under all the trim which opened up a hole other can of worms...


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## rockdoc (Mar 16, 2009)

I would consider putting original AC in your car since you have the correct lines, etc.

Long story long... My 67 had original AC, but the hose was off when I purchased the car. The fellow I bought it from told me the compressor had a bad bearing and that he cut the belt. Turns out he was right. I got the bearing replaced cheaply at a local AC shop. They asked me if I wanted to run R12, said it would be expensive to charge, but I said why not. They charged it but found a leak in the condenser. So they pumped all the R12 back out (and didn't charge me a thing!). I bought all the correct parts for R134a (hoses, POA, new evaporator and condensor) from ClassicAutoAir (I think), which weren't too expensive. Took everything back to the shop, the guy told me to go ahead and install everything, he would check it and charge it. He charged me $150 (including the earlier visit with R12)! It still works great after perhaps 6 or 7 years, and every hot day I'm glad I did it.

So yeah, go ahead and put it back to original. It will be cheaper than the vintage air option, and it will look right.

By the way, that shop is in Bloomington, Indiana, and they're still there.


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## Robertcladner (Nov 15, 2020)

GTO44 said:


> For sure.
> 
> I just know what a pain in the butt tracking down all the correct components for a factory setup can be.
> 
> ...


How do I know if my car AC is cooling?


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## O52 (Jan 27, 2019)

Properly charged, an R12 A/C will be blowing 38-40* out of the center vent. Original units with R134, a few degrees higher.


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## lust4speed (Jul 5, 2019)

I restored the factory air in one of my GTO's and many, many dollars later I had a system with all new parts running R-12 that worked pretty good. My other 67 GTO never had AC and I purchased a Vintage Air Mark IV unit and retained the stock heater. Original unit on a 100°+ day we would have the fan on max and set to recirculate, and it kept us pretty much comfortable. Same 100°+ day with the Vintage Air and we've dialed the fan down to medium and the AC temp gauge set about half way to keep from being frozen out. Other GM cars like the big Pontiacs had larger condensers and evaporators and maybe less restricted air passages and were killer. The GTO's always had complaints about mediocre cooling and lack of air volume from vents.


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## StuInNH (Apr 17, 2020)

Has anyone tried trunk mounted a/c unit in a convertible?


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## Montreux (Mar 8, 2009)

armyadarkness said:


> So, if you have lines but the firewall looks like the 6 pack car, above, then you had dealer air and it was removed.


Six pack?!? I thought that only came on big blocks !😁


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## armyadarkness (Dec 7, 2020)

Montreux said:


> Six pack?!? I thought that only came on big blocks !😁


For the last 30 years, the two number one GTO comments that I get are:

Nice GTO. I had one but mine had a big block.
Nice GTO. I had a 67 but mine had the six pack.


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## mikelly2 (Nov 24, 2018)

I installed Vintage Air in my '56 Chevy and it works great. I'm wondering about adapting the controls for the Vintage Air to my '68 GTO that once had factory air. I don't think they make a kit specific to the GTO so one for a Chevelle would probably be the next best choice but it wouldn't have the brackets and such for the GTO. That could be overcome if there's room for those long linear pots. It's really tight under the dash of the GTO. Anyone done this?


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## GTO44 (Apr 11, 2016)

mikelly2 said:


> I installed Vintage Air in my '56 Chevy and it works great. I'm wondering about adapting the controls for the Vintage Air to my '68 GTO that once had factory air. I don't think they make a kit specific to the GTO so one for a Chevelle would probably be the next best choice but it wouldn't have the brackets and such for the GTO. That could be overcome if there's room for those long linear pots. It's really tight under the dash of the GTO. Anyone done this?


 Vintage air now offers Sure Fit kits for the 68-72 gto:









VINTAGE AIR RELEASES NEW SUREFIT CLIMATE CONTROL SYSTEMS FOR 1968-72 PONTIAC GTO/LEMANS/TEMPEST - Vintage Air


Vintage Air, the leading manufacturer of complete performance air conditioning systems for muscle cars, hot rods and street rods, has announced the release of its new Gen IV SureFit […]




www.vintageair.com


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## mikelly2 (Nov 24, 2018)

Wow, thanks.


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## gtomike455 (May 24, 2020)

Lawddog said:


> Hey fellas,
> I was looking at my engine compartment the other day and noticed two hard lines on the passenger side that look like they ac lines but they just stop at the fitting where the tge soft lines to the compressor would go (i dont have the ac compressor). I also have the center vent in the dash. Does that mean that my 66 once had AC? and if it did, would things be cheaper to put ac back in the car or am i stuck with getting something like the Vintage Air set up if i want AC?
> 
> If gets up to 110 here in Folsom, Ca in the summer and i know i am going to eventually want AC, just trying to gauge if it is something easy or something that will be involved.
> ...


nobody here can answer that. you need to get the car documented. PHS-online.com. that will tell you everything you need to know about your car.


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## tDub (May 6, 2018)

I have a 66 convertable with factory air; the dash control should be an indicator, except if it was dealer installed; one other thing to check is the size of the radiator; the a/c car should have the oversize radiator. My car was ordered by the original owner with factory air, because it comes installed with the large oversize radiator; at the time you could also order a 421 shortblock installed by the dealer when the car arrived from the factory; components on the 389 also fit the 421 (heads intake, etc) the a/c was ordered because the 421 would also need more cooling capacity. I have all the components that came with the car; the a/c compressor is huge. ( I also have a large tank of R12 that was purchased before R12 was no longer available (hope its still good!)


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