A/c to no A/C?

[manimal]

Are the firewalls different between a/c and non a/c trucks? My 85 has a/c and I want to eliminate it and just have a heater. Will the factory non a/c heater plenum in the engine compartment bolt up to the a/c firewall? How about the inside parts?...am I making sense?
Thank You
Lance

 

[riotwarrior]

Firewalls should be same...

Why bother removing it when you can just run HEAT only anyway?

 

[manimal]

The entire interior is disassembled along with the a/c plenum,controls,dash,etc.....and I mean TOTALLY disassembled!...lol

 

[rockbender]

Are your compressor and condensor in good shape? I'm getting ready to go the opposite direction and put AC back in my van!

 

[manimal]

Are your compressor and condensor in good shape? I'm getting ready to go the opposite direction and put AC back in my van!

The clutch is not frozen and the condenser looks to be in good shape. I am just wanting to make this truck as basic as possible. I am eventually going to convert it to hydro boost and a manual transmission...doing away with the vacuum pump.

 

[swervyjoe]

Sounds like youre doing the same thing as me. I'm in the middle of the swap, so I don't have all the details, but from searching and trips to the junk yard, I have a good idea of whats going on.

Youre going to have an extra rectangle hole in your fire wall after the swap. The whole heater system is different. The controls are different and the dash vents will be unused with the non-ac setup. Non-ac pickups don't have holes for vents on the dash. The ac controls are vacuum operated while the non-ac controls are cable operated. When you grab the non-ac controls, make sure its from a dual tank pickup so you have a tank selector switch. From what i can see, the defrost vent section may be the same, everything else is different. Also, the kick panels are different from ac to non-ac.

After comparing all the parts, I decieded to go with a 70's pickup heater box to gain a lot of space on the engine side of the firewall. The blower motor stick out on that side, but everything else is under the dash.

EDIT: I'm looking for a non-ac PS pump bracket and pulley if anyone has one laying around.

 

[rockbender]

I might spring for a new compressor just because I want to do this AC install just one time, but I need the bracket that the AC compressor mounts to. If you're interested in getting rid of yours (and willing to ship to OR), please drop me a note.

Let's see some photos of this mayhem underway!

 

[swervyjoe]

I'd like to trade for the non-ac brackets, but my pickup is my daily driver so I can't have it down. If i get an engine from the junkyard this weekend, it has brackets I can send you.

I'll take some pictures when I can get going on it again. It was in the single digits earlier this week so I'm riding around with half a dash until it starts acting like spring.

 

[manimal]

I might spring for a new compressor just because I want to do this AC install just one time, but I need the bracket that the AC compressor mounts to. If you're interested in getting rid of yours (and willing to ship to OR), please drop me a note.

Let's see some photos of this mayhem underway!

pm sent......

 

[Dave 001]

Just use Dorman p/n 34180. Rockauto has them but I don't know how to get a link to it. With this idler, everything stays the same.....brackets, belt, etc.

 

[rockbender]

I was thinking about those idlers too, but isn't that only if you have a serpentine setup? The AC pump has its own v-belt if I remember correctly.

Hope you are making some headway, Lance!

 

[swervyjoe]

I got the havac mess out of my pickup. Ill post pictures of the non ac box next to the ac box and vents in a few hours. If i can make it to the junkyard tomorrow ill have pictures of the firewall differences. I also just found out that the gasser and diesel tank selector switches are different.

 

[towcat]

if you still have the AC box and stuff, I'd stick with that. Why? when you blow a heater core on a AC truck, the job is 15 mins to change out the core if you are fast. an hour at the most if there is a six-pack nearby. with the non-ac plenum setup the heater core job is a straight up two hour ***** if nothing is rusted up.

 

[manimal]

I plan on using a Flex-a-lite Mojave heater in mine, OR I plan on making my own. I have already made the template to cover up the firewall.

 

[manimal]

Made some headway today...installed the non ac power steering brackets.

You must be registered for see images attach