I have an 81 brat that I would like to put Air Conditioning into. I put an ej22 motor in it. So I will have to use the EJ compressor. I got a/c parts out of a late 70's wagon to use in my brat. I will have to use the gen 1 evaporator. My question is will the ej compressor work with gen 1 parts or should I stay with EJ parts as much as possible? Does any one have a Gen 1 A/C Diagram? I know there are 2 or 3 different setups that were use. Do I have to have the electrical wires connected to the receiver/drier for the system to work?

 

Thanks

i would stick with EJ parts as much as possible. i would guess the EJ stuff should be relatively easy (considering you did a swap) to install in the engine bay. then it's all similarly compatible with the EJ22 set up. and parts sourcing should be much simpler, EJ stuff is everywhere, people are throwing it away.

Where I would:

1) use the compressor that fits the motor

2) scour junkyards for an under dash aftermarket unit (complete, last one I bought was $40 used)

3) mate the compressor with the aftermarket stuff

4) fill carefully, with gauges attached, watching my pressures, so as not to over/under fill.

5) enjoy

2) scour junkyards for an under dash aftermarket unit (complete, last one I bought was $40 used)

what does that mean? aftermarket under dash unit? what is that?

aftermarket under dash unit? what is that?

 

Quite a while ago (I *think* JCWhitney still sells them) you could buy an aftermarket air conditioner kit. All the catalogue stores sold them, ie: Sears, and if I remember correctly they listed at the time for a couple of hundred bucks. They were a universal kit, condenser, compressor, piping, and under dash unit (evaporator/fan unit). They required 3 holes in the firewall (in/out and drain), and a power wire, something like you see at the bottom of this page: http://www.classicautoair.com/vintage_air.asp

or here:

http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/ac/evaporators-44.php

 

The hot rod guys use these things, and the original units were built tough enough to outlast a few different vehicles.

 

Or simply go "whole hog"

http://www.nostalgicairparts.com/air-conditioning/universal-underdash-ac-system-451.php

Thanks for the advice. I will look into the aftermarket options.

It is all: "whatever works for you".

 

In the past, when confronted with the daunting task of vehicle disassembly to install an OEM air conditioning set-up, I decided to go "easiest way", now, I was not working on vehicles of historical value, and wished to have air "now", not after 20-30 hours of work.

 

All I offer is "another way".