I spent a lot of time and money 10 years ago getting my OEM A/C working using 134a in a 70 Chevelle I have, and it still is marginal at best. Now I have begun restoring a 69 442 with air, and someone mutilated the housing so it would be a good time to see what my options are. I'm not too worried about keeping a factory appearance of the housing. I just want it to work. Is there an aftermarket kit out there or is there a new way to get the old system to work closer to the newer cars? Any opinions appreciated.

 

Vintage Air makes a kit and has excellent customer service.

 

Why, yes there is!

For a spoiler, look at the construction of systems on newer cars that use R134a versus construction of our classics designed for R12.

The difference is in the style of condenser. For some reason, rooted in how easily the refrigerant molecules change from gas to liquid, R134a requires a more effective condenser before its performance can be considered adequate.

The R12 condensers were made with a single, serpentine path that the hot gas followed across the face of the condenser.

R134a condensers are made with side tanks, one for hot gas, the other for condensed liquid. Each tube in the condenser runs directly between those side tanks. These are termed parallel flow condensers.

Over the past decade, aftermarket manufacturers have begun to offer exact fit parallel flow condensers for our classics.

For example, visit https://www.originalair.com/3-reason...w-ac-condensor for more information on this swap.

 

Thanks I'll check into it.

 

I'll be reading up on the parallel flow. Thanks