'72 K5 - BYT - 1 ton swap

[ktmoutfront]

Those vents should be wide open. The electronic controls close or open the doors as requested by the operator. You should hear more fan with them open. Every one of them I have installed has fan noise, because of the squirrel cage and no ducting feeding it. If you have the correct exhaust note, you will only notice it on high.

 

[ashman]

That might explain the extra fan noise too.... If you've got vents completely blocked off that are supposed to be operational, the fan motor is probably going to be struggling to push air out the remaining vents.

Interested to see what your investigation reveals.



-G

The vents aren't blocked, they are just on the back side so I didn't see them.




With the stock non-A/C controls I'm using it just says "def" on the top slider. To turn it on defrost, you slide it all the way to the right. All the way to the left is "vent". Now I know that "floor" is in the middle. Never tried that before. There is a vent that blows down from behind the unit for the ps, and one that blows sideways across the hump for the driver. Actually feels like it's gonna work pretty well.

 

[6872xtc]

Blows good and strong but the blower is a little louder than I had hoped. No outside air intake might be part of that. Also, no floor vents. Probably not a big deal, but I was surprised.

The system that I installed back in the late 90s into my shortbed worked well as far as cooling.
It had a decent amount of blower noise. It was only one of the reasons why I pulled it out, not the largest reason, though.

I like how they moved the hose connections out from under the dash. My system had them under the dash, inside of the supplied cover.

You may be able to gain some airflow control by swapping to a factory A/C controller. I can't remember how mine worked in that regard.

 

[Greg72]

Josh,

If you didn't already know... VintageAir makes a nice Blazer reproduction panel with the correct-looking front AC bezel. Has the fan speed control and is all set up for their GenIV solution.



-G

 

[ktmoutfront]

The blower noise is why they were mounted in the engine bay.

 

[6872xtc]

The blower noise is why they were mounted in the engine bay.

Yes, but look at GM trucks starting in the GMT400 and up. My '01 GMT800 is just fine.

 

[ktmoutfront]

You're just getting older and can not hear as well.

 

[6872xtc]

You're just getting older and can not hear as well.

 

[ktmoutfront]

What about Spam? I eat it if it is cooked correctly.

 

[72gmck5]

I took a very lightly used factory AC control out of mine. It’s sitting in @ashman ‘s shop. It won’t really add any extra functionality but it would look prettier.

 

[mrk5]

I was watching Vice Grip Garage and he installed a Vintage Air in the crew cab. I noticed in the video the fan noise was pretty loud. I have no idea what speed it was on, but it was loud enough that I noticed it.

 

[ashman]

Josh,

If you didn't already know... VintageAir makes a nice Blazer reproduction panel with the correct-looking front AC bezel. Has the fan speed control and is all set up for their GenIV solution.



-G

I took a very lightly used factory AC control out of mine. It’s sitting in @ashman ‘s shop. It won’t really add any extra functionality but it would look prettier.

As Ryan said, I have access to a nice AC control unit, but the kit I have was for the non-AC controls and they are different enough that I couldn't just swap it in. If I care enough to use it, I'm sure that I can get the correct pieces from them to make it work, but I have a lot bigger fish to fry at the moment, so I'll stick with what I have for now.

They also make a nice new control unit that is all electronic too. @72gmck5 is using that and it's pretty slick. If I upgrade, most likely I'd go that direction.

 

[ashman]

One of the things I needed to fix after the ac install was relocating my front speakers.
Several years back I took stock ac vent housings and installed speakers there. Now that I actually have ac, those needed to move.
I found these nice kicker 3" speaker pods, changed the mounting bracket to fit 1.75" tube and mounted them to the cage.

 

[ashman]

Time to start work on the d60. Gonna regear it, install the arb and rebuild the kingpins. Any other upgrades I should look at while I'm at it?

 

[kgblazerfive]

Reid knuckles

 

[ashman]

Reid knuckles

Not made of money. Have to save that one for later.

 

[Chevman88]

Bronze kingpin bushings

 

[nvrenuf]

Use those Spicer hubs!

Diy4x makes a plating kit if you want to beef up the stock knuckles and can weld cast iron.

 

[mrk5]

I second bronze bushings.

 

[mrk5]

Use those Spicer hubs!

Diy4x makes a plating kit if you want to beef up the stock knuckles and can weld cast iron.

My understanding is the factory knuckles are forged steel like the inners.