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Factory-Adapt

Hot Rod Air's Retrofit A/C (and heat!) For trucks.
February, 2009
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Air conditioning is cool--literally.... 
   
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Air conditioning is cool--literally. You may not need it in some regions of the world, but it's pretty safe to say that the majority of us greatly appreciate it. The folks at Hot Rod Air have made it even easier for those of us with original A/C-equipped (non-working!) pickups with their Factory Control Adapt Elite Series systems.
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The "adapt" portion refers... 
   
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The "adapt" portion refers to the controls. Hot Rod Air takes your controls (keep that in mind, as they do not have shelves full of OE control panels, so it's necessary that you send them yours)...
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...and integrates them with... 
   
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...and integrates them with one of their Elite Series kits. Cable- or vacuum-style, they can retrofit pretty much most systems out there.
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Here are the old factory components--emphasis... 
   
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Here are the old factory components--emphasis on "old"--which we were originally dealing with. While an OE rehab was something to consider, it was nowhere near cost-prohibitive, especially considering that some of the parts had literally been torn out and discarded to perform other work!
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And here's the old evaporator... 
   
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And here's the old evaporator unit. Its crusty appearance reflects the condition of the internals. Actually, just a month prior, the heater core let go, making for a nice mess of coolant on the carpet!
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As with most any job, the... 
   
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As with most any job, the removal aspect went fairly quickly--and it helped that we didn't have to keep any of the parts coming out, so a little strong-arming here and there didn't hurt.
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With all the factory stuff... 
   
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With all the factory stuff out of the way, you can see that we had plenty of room to work with...
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...Unfortunately, the new... 
   
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...Unfortunately, the new evaporator will require the glovebox to be slightly modified, but that's a minute price to pay for the benefits that lie ahead.
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For the defrost vents, Jason... 
   
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For the defrost vents, Jason took a piece of flat stock and cut a rectangle section from the center. The supplied vents were then sheetmetal-screwed in place.
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After Jason had filled up... 
   
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After Jason had filled up the gaping holes left from the stock A/C unit, he located the new aluminum bulkhead for the fluid hose to pass through the firewall and into the evaporator.
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Hot Rod Air supplied us with... 
   
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Hot Rod Air supplied us with a variety of crimp-style and threaded hose fittings. Four 90-degree fittings were sufficient for the interior side of the firewall...
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...(Also note that the bulkhead... 
   
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...(Also note that the bulkhead is equipped with the appropriate threaded fittings for water/Freon lines.
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Plumbing diagram
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The unit was wired-up under... 
   
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The unit was wired-up under the dash, as well as into the engine compartment per the directions.
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Next, we moved onto mounting... 
   
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Next, we moved onto mounting of the hard parts, specifically the compressor and a new Powermaster alternator. When ordering a kit (from anyone for that matter), always consider and be specific about the configuration of your engine's components, (i.e. alternator/power steering pump location), as well as water pump style--long or short.
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For a number of reasons--mainly... 
   
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For a number of reasons--mainly plumbing the compressor--we opted for a left-side alternator mount. The supplied Alan Grove brackets are laser cut plain steel (and also bolt up nicely), so you have the option of final finish.
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Obviously, the compressor... 
   
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Obviously, the compressor mounts on the right side of the engine, which made the routing of the fluid lines much easier. Also note that you can "clock" the compressor so that the coolant lines point further downward if you desire.
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Wrapping up the hard parts... 
   
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Wrapping up the hard parts installation, the condenser and drier were mounted in front of the radiator, behind the grille. In this situation, we are running a dual electric fan behind the radiator, so keeping the condenser cool won't be a problem. If you happen to run into heat problems with a single mechanical fan, flip to the "Back Up Cool" story in this issue.
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Before we closed the hood,... 
   
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Before we closed the hood, the remainder of the fluid lines were routed and hooked-up. For the crimping of the fittings, we opted to have our refrigerant specialist, Ron Gimenez, handle that before he charged the system.
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Back inside the cab, Jason... 
   
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Back inside the cab, Jason remounted the factory control panel. Note that it's not as new and shiny-looking as we'd like; we were unable to locate a new one for this particular application ('75 C10). Earlier models--and even later ones--are plentiful.
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For the registers (air vents),... 
   
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For the registers (air vents), however, we located just what we were looking for from Chevy Duty.
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Getting the registers mated... 
   
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Getting the registers mated to the 2 1/2-inch flexible ducting was not quite as easy, as the center vent features a "rectangular" outlet and the outers have two different diameters--each larger than 2 1/2 inches!
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A quick trip to Home Depot... 
   
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A quick trip to Home Depot landed us with the necessary "adaptation" goods to make everything work together. Probably not nearly as factory--let alone professional--as the original ducting, but the cold air gets to and out of the vents just as easily as before!
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On top of the brand-new registers,... 
   
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On top of the brand-new registers, we also ordered a new factory-style dashpad from Chevy Duty as well.
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Finally, the only component... 
   
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Finally, the only component that Hot Rod Air cannot integrate into the factory control panel is the temperature dial. A separate dial knob is supplied for that function, which we mounted slightly out of sight towards the bottom of the dash.
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And as you can see, without... 
   
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And as you can see, without peeking under the hood, you'd think the Cheyenne was still equipped with factory air...well, and a modern CD player too! Even passengers riding in the truck with the A/C cranked up would have no reason for suspicion, either--and why would they?
Hot Rod Air
www.hotrodair.com
QUALITY AIR (Mobile A/C Service)
CHEVY DUTY

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