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’32 Update: air conditioning (article 19, archived)


We will be using a Vintage Air Gen II Compac system. It’s 9″ tall, 7-3/4″ deep, and 20-1/2″ long. It’s got servo motors to give us a TRUE bi-level function, too. Vintage Air has these neat mock-up units which are exact shells of the functioning unit, with all mounting points in the same spots, and all the ducts and stuff in the exact locations. They make it much easier to install because you don’t have to keep hoisting the actual unit into position each time you check fitment. Also, there is no risk of dropping it!

This is a picture looking up from the floor at the inside of the firewall. I have put masking tape about where my mounting holes are, then I made a mark on the tape while holding the unit in place. I will be using the car builder’s secret weapon: not duct tape (although that’s a good weapon too)… knife inserts. I think that’s what they’re called.

The Bear body has a neat lip on the top of the inside firewall panel that I can rest the evaporator on. It also shoves it way up under the dash so you can barely see it.

Knife Inserts. I think that’s what they’re called. You can get them at your local hardware store. I got these at Home Depot. If someone knows the actual name of them, please email me using the little button on the left side of the screen. Even if you just like the fact that I call them knife inserts, please email me using the little button on the left side of the screen. I’m also married.

There’s the little guy, screwed into the firewall. No bolts showing on the outside! That’s the Specialty Power Windows wiper motor, mounted to the steering column support plate.

Who has air conditioning???
ok, ok… I do.

If you ever decide to put the ducts right in front of the evaporator like I did, this is going to be necessary. There isn’t enough room to come straight down from the top of the evaporator and then go 90 degrees into the duct, so I trimmed it so the hose had an easier route. I’m nice. You’ll want to leave two tabs at the bottom for connecting the hose.

Because I cut off one of the hose tabs, I had to make another one. I got out the propane torch, threw a bit of heat to the back side of the duct, and with a screwdriver pried it up so it formed a tab worthy of holding the hose in place.

That’s all you need.
June 9th, 2010 | Tags: , , | Category: 32 Build, Air Conditioning/ Heat | One comment

’32 Update: More Air Conditioning (article 27, archived)

More Air Conditioning
A/C hoses rank right up there with brake lines on my “things I don’t like looking at” list. What else is on the list, you might ask? Cigarette butts flying out of car windows, mold, and melting snow are all making their way to the top. Anyways, I tried pretty hard to come up with a way of dressing down the hoses. The first way was using Vintage Air’s reduced barrier hose and fittings. The second was to try to make the zinc plated fittings look a little less shiny. Follow along!

Here’s what the fittings look like out of the box. Photos from horton.on.ca

You need a special set of pliers to snap the rings in place. A really nice feature is that you can get an amazing crimp without taking the hoses out of your garage. Get them clocked in the right direction and snap the rings on. That’s all it takes.

This is #10 hose!
On the ’32, I’ve used shrink wrap to cover the hose as well as the fittings. This makes it consistently matte, and looks somewhat like a snake which just swallowed an air conditioning fitting.


I installed the drier in the trunk to save space under the dash. It was a little extra #6 hose, but not enough to notice a performance drop especially since the cabin is so small. The trinary safety switch is mounted right to the drier. To mount the drier, I just used a tube machined to the correct length and welded two 1/4-20 threaded bungs to that tube. After drilling and countersinking holes to match, that’s all it took. The bolt heads will be hidden by the access panel.

September 21st, 2009 | Tags: , , | Category: 32 Build, Air Conditioning/ Heat | One comment

’32 Update: glass! (article 49)

We’ve known Pete, the glass guy, for a long time… he has installed the glass on many cars in this area over the years and really knows what he’s doing.  We chose a slightly tinted safety glass for all four sides – nothing close to limo tint, just enough to have a very slight blue/grey appearance.

glass

On the Bear body, an option was to have the windshield frame as a part of the body.  Some bodies we’ve seen have the frame airbrushed to look like chrome, but I think we’ll leave it black.  The glass installs from inside the car, with a garnish molding finishing it off.

glass
Once the back glass was installed (again from the inside, with a trim piece supplied by Bear), Pete taped around the glass and the body, then squished a urethane (I think) in the gap to finish it off.  After smoothing it with his finger, when the tape was pulled off it looked terrific!

glass

glass
The door glass was a bit of a hairy situation to install… we had to pry the door apart while Pete pushed the glass in.  It would only go in one way, and to get the last few inches of the corner in, it was almost a “ok, here goes….. woo hoo!”  But both windows did get installed without cracking, so there’s no problem.  I tried to hide the Specialty Power Windows kit by using countersunk screws around the lip of the access panel to hold the window channel.

glass
Power windows?  Really?   The switches are in the overhead console, behind the rearview mirror.

glass
Maybe I should have cut the defrost duct slots before the windshield was installed… my only issue was the thickness of the glass.  I was pretty sure I took that into account when I marked the slots, but I wasn’t 100% positive so I waited.  Oh well, it turned out ok.  I taped a piece of cardboard against the glass to protect it from the cutoff wheel.

glass
How’s this for accessible!  This is in the process of hooking up the ducts for defrost and the ones in the dash.  If you were wondering why the duct on the left (and the one on the right, but it’s covered by the speedometer) have the front trimmed out, it’s because the duct hose needs to come forward immediately out of the duct, and then  straight down.  Trimming the outlet like this lets more air through the hose when it’s bent 180 degrees.

glass
The heater flow valve is pretty much in the confines of the unit – I didn’t have to figure out where else it would go.

July 9th, 2009 | Tags: , , , , , , | Category: 32 Build, Body | 2 comments