I have been keeping all my upgrades in my build thread, but figured they might be getting buried in there so I would start separate threads for some highlights that I had trouble finding anything on when I searched.
I am in the middle of an LQ9 swap. Actually looking to fire it up for the first time this next week, but just wrapping up the AC install so wanted to post up on that.
I decided to go with the Vintage Air setup. It isn't cheap, but it is the one upgrade that I think my family will benefit from the most. Lets be honest, they are never gonna notice the high steer, or headers
I was going to try and get away cheap with just junkyard parts but after looking into all that was needed I came to the same conclusion I came to when deciding LS swap vs 383. I could scrounge up all the parts, cobble it together and it still wouldn't work nearly as good or reliably as the vintage air setup. Plus I could get rid of all the vacuum lines,and the giant evaporator in the engine bay.
The fact that the Gen IV GM truck units had just come out made this a no brainer.
Anyway on to the install:
I was initially worried that the condenser wouldn't fit as I had hacked up my core support pretty good to get my winch and Abomb in there. But it went in perfect. Tons of room.
That is the thing with the vintage air. 90% of the product was perfect, and very very well thought out. Then there was 10% that looked like it slipped through the cracks in design. More on that later.
Anyway:
here is one reason I was stoked on the system. So much smaller and efficient. No more big box on the firewall
here you can see the condenser, drier and trinary switch all installed. The bent lines were perfect, they are so well done for our trucks it was truly plug and play. The trinary switch is another nice upgrade for our trucks running electric fans too. It controls the fans when pressure dictates it.
The high mount compressor. The stock location on an LS swap puts the compressor right into the frame rail, so that is out. The vintage air comes with a high mount that puts it up out of harms way. You will need a camaro idler pulley to get the belt lined up, but just a parts store run away
Some more of the firewall. The control unit under the dash, the template and block off panel, the pre made lines. All perfect fits. Nice and easy.
Here is the main issue I had. The control unit under the dash uses two plates to mount it. There is no way to the best of my knowledge that you can install this wrong. Problem is the heater lines and pressure line interfere with the bracket. You cannot connect the heater lines the way the bracket is, and the bracket severely pushes on the pressure line. See below:
you can see here the bracket pushing into the insulation on the pressure line and also that the heater lines are no way near lined up.
Not that big of a deal, considering the quality of everything else it was just a little surprising.
the results of my surgery.
getting the unit bolted up and mounted is a two person job or prepare for some frustration. I removed my windshield a long time ago for the cage install, so that made one of the bolts a lot easier, but still two people are really needed.
Unit fits under the DIY4X dash although I did need to remove half of the dash to get the unit in and then put the dash back in. Don't think that will be needed with stock dash.
I still have the wiring to complete and the control unit to mount so I will be putting more pictures up when I do that. The unit hasn't been charged yet either, so once that is all done I will try and get some video up too.
I am in the middle of an LQ9 swap. Actually looking to fire it up for the first time this next week, but just wrapping up the AC install so wanted to post up on that.
I decided to go with the Vintage Air setup. It isn't cheap, but it is the one upgrade that I think my family will benefit from the most. Lets be honest, they are never gonna notice the high steer, or headers
I was going to try and get away cheap with just junkyard parts but after looking into all that was needed I came to the same conclusion I came to when deciding LS swap vs 383. I could scrounge up all the parts, cobble it together and it still wouldn't work nearly as good or reliably as the vintage air setup. Plus I could get rid of all the vacuum lines,and the giant evaporator in the engine bay.
The fact that the Gen IV GM truck units had just come out made this a no brainer.
Anyway on to the install:
I was initially worried that the condenser wouldn't fit as I had hacked up my core support pretty good to get my winch and Abomb in there. But it went in perfect. Tons of room.
That is the thing with the vintage air. 90% of the product was perfect, and very very well thought out. Then there was 10% that looked like it slipped through the cracks in design. More on that later.
Anyway:
here is one reason I was stoked on the system. So much smaller and efficient. No more big box on the firewall
here you can see the condenser, drier and trinary switch all installed. The bent lines were perfect, they are so well done for our trucks it was truly plug and play. The trinary switch is another nice upgrade for our trucks running electric fans too. It controls the fans when pressure dictates it.
The high mount compressor. The stock location on an LS swap puts the compressor right into the frame rail, so that is out. The vintage air comes with a high mount that puts it up out of harms way. You will need a camaro idler pulley to get the belt lined up, but just a parts store run away
Some more of the firewall. The control unit under the dash, the template and block off panel, the pre made lines. All perfect fits. Nice and easy.
Here is the main issue I had. The control unit under the dash uses two plates to mount it. There is no way to the best of my knowledge that you can install this wrong. Problem is the heater lines and pressure line interfere with the bracket. You cannot connect the heater lines the way the bracket is, and the bracket severely pushes on the pressure line. See below:
you can see here the bracket pushing into the insulation on the pressure line and also that the heater lines are no way near lined up.
Not that big of a deal, considering the quality of everything else it was just a little surprising.
the results of my surgery.
getting the unit bolted up and mounted is a two person job or prepare for some frustration. I removed my windshield a long time ago for the cage install, so that made one of the bolts a lot easier, but still two people are really needed.
Unit fits under the DIY4X dash although I did need to remove half of the dash to get the unit in and then put the dash back in. Don't think that will be needed with stock dash.
I still have the wiring to complete and the control unit to mount so I will be putting more pictures up when I do that. The unit hasn't been charged yet either, so once that is all done I will try and get some video up too.
