I have a 1970 350 Cutlass s holiday coupe that had or has A/C but it doesn't have the compressor and I am wondering how to rig that up I was also wondering if the alternator is supposed to go on the driver side or the passenger side because I got the car and it was on the passenger side but I have a friend that says it is supposed to be on the driver side. Who is right

 

AC cars have the alternator on the drivers side.
Non-AC cars have the alternator on the passengers side.

Below is what the AC system looks like under the hood.



edit:
I found this image that shows a different view. Ignore the text; the pic was from a how-to for heater core R&R.

 

Thank you I was also wondering how could you tell if you had A/C in your car?

 

An easy way to tell besides the position of the alternator is to look for the condenser in front of the radiator. Here's a basic diagram of an auto AC system.

 

Thank you once again. Also would there be any way to tell if you had air conditioning from the interior of the car

 

Well, the HVAC control panels are different. One says "HEATER" at the top and one says "AIR CONDITIONING".

 

So let me get this straight if it has air conditioning it has a compressor and the radiator and all that stuff but if it says heat then it doesn't have all that

 

Yes. Not a lot of reason to install those parts on a car WITHOUT A/C.

 

Thank you so much

 

Now here I thought a guy whose name is Fedders would know all there is to know about air conditioning.

http://www.fedders.com/collection/climate_control.html

When I was a kid in the 1960s, we had a Fedders brand window air conditioner in our house!

 

Not all Fedders are from the exact same family even though we are all related somehow.

 

I thought you were just born with it!

 

Another question I have is what is the difference in diagrams between just having heat and having Air Conditioning. cause I am still kinda fuzzy on what the difference is.

 

Which "diagrams"?

Heat-only simply uses hot engine coolant circulated through a heater core (a small radiator) in the HVAC box under the dash.

A/C has TWO separate systems - a similar heater that circulates hot coolant and a SEPARATE system that circulates freon through an evaporator core (also a small radiator). The two fluid systems (freon and engine coolant) are completely separate. A flapper door inside the HVAC box (the door is called a temperature blend door) regulates how much hot air from the heater core and cold air from the evaporator reach you inside the passenger compartment.

Get a Chassis Service Manual for your car and read Chapter 1.

If you are talking about the diagram in post #4 above, that is ONLY the A/C part of the system (the freon loop). It does not show the heater part of the system. If you only have a heater, NOTHING in that diagram is installed on your car. If you are thinking this is like a heat pump, it is not. You don't get both heat and cold from the same system. It's like having a hot water radiator in your house for heat and a window air conditioner for cooling.

 

Ok thanks that clears it all up thank you very much Joe