Anyone swap HVAC unit from donor?

[67Dart273]

Back in the day, I would pressurize the cores with an air compressor & throw them in a bucket of water & look for bubbles. Solder the leaks up & do it again. Worked pretty good for a poor boy….

These are aluminum. I don't remember for certain, but I think some of it is epoxied joints

 

[DionR]

You mean something like this with a Dodge 1500 stock Box/AC unit ..The only problem was the orifice tube for expansion of freon I had one especially made to fit this section the oem was too long

I used the old holes of the radio for the fan and temp control..radio is asthetic now

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The controls are pretty impressive! Any more specifics on how you did that? What parts and how they work?

Which part is the orifice tube?

Very cool!

 

[Mike69cuda]

These are aluminum. I don't remember for certain, but I think some of it is epoxied joints

The original ones in my 68 barracuda were both not aluminum, because I soldered on both of them. I don’t know exactly what they were made of, but I assume the tubing was copper / brass like a radiator.

 

[vegasanthony]

The controls are pretty impressive! Any more specifics on how you did that? What parts and how they work?

Which part is the orifice tube?

The orifice tube is the part of the AC system that the freon expands and makes it cold it's a Dodge system. It is usually removable but dodge decided to make you buy a whole ac line because ac line is bent around the orifice tube after its inserted.
The trick was to use a donor ac tube from a dodge ram1500 ..2005 used a 2 part tube design over the 1 piece used in 2001
Also i am using a ac condensor from a 2001 durango because of the easier design to adapt too.
I had to cut the 2005 tube and remove to expansion valve aka orifice tube..then have the soldering done to fit all the pieces together..then shove the orifice tube into the new assembly also circled in blue.
I.didnt want to solder that ac line with the plastic orifice tube in it already ..im sure it would melt.
As far as the controls they are just potentiometers from the vintage air unit.the only part of the radio i am.using is.the faceplate..nuthin behind it

 

[vegasanthony]

 

[DionR]

@vegasanthony

I know this is an old thread, but I can't believe I didn't ask for some underdash pictures. Hopefully you see this. Any chance you could snap some interior shots? Curious how close the Ram box get's to the throttle pedal.