[solowookie]

I had a 99 grand prix that had the different enviromental controls for driver / passenger. how practical would it be to fabricate that into the 1950 chevy truck that I'm hotrodding? (or a dual climate control from another vehicle that has it)

 

[solowookie]

nobody know's and answer to this question??? this is something I'd like to do if it doesn't cost an arm & a leg...

Jeff

 

[Swishy]

It would depend on how later model A/C unit you'd want to use , bare in mind alot of modern climate control style A/C units talk directly to the ecu as well as controlling the A/C temp etc , if you were running something like a TPI 350 out of something that had it you could probably get the whole lot including the aircon ecu/switchgear/plumbing/etc as well and just fabricate stuff to get the interior components installed nice ,
, But it'd probably end up costing you as much as buying something aftermarket that is standalone and will "bolt in",could be a fun project though

BTW how ,much room is under the dash of a 50 ?

Cheers
Dale.

[ November 05, 2002: Message edited by: Swishy ]</p>

 

[solowookie]

there's not a lot of room under the dash. I plan on making this thing FI so I'd have to find an ECU / donor vehicle that would run the enviroment stuff. grand prix is the one that comes to mind, but I'm sure there are others.

is the computer system with the grand prix's computer by compatible with custom chips to say run a 350 with manual tranny?

the only one I can think of off the top of my head would be the grand prix, but I will have to do my homework.

 

[Swishy]

I take it the 350 is injected, most aftermarket ecu's have a facility to start/stop A/C pump , if so you'd just need to get an interface made to allow the A/C unit to talk to the ecu to get the A/C turned off and on as required ....also remember to grab the temp sensors off the donor as well you may have issues with the amount of vents you have though as the A/C unit would have been preprogramed for X amount of vents and what mechs control what vent so you may have troubles if fitting less vents than the donor vehicle and you would have to allow for that when making the custom internal unit as well(assuming you'd be using the existing controls off the donor)....although you could probably just leave the required amount of outputs/inputs disconnected if you could find a wiring diagram for the control unit and run your own switchgear to control it .

Just a few inaine ramblings hope Ive helped


Cheers
Dale.

[ November 06, 2002: Message edited by: Swishy ]</p>

 

[solowookie]

awe - swishy you've given me hope! I'll have to find me a donor vehicle, and an ecu that can talk to the a/c. I'm planning on using a holley commander system so I'll have to call them, and see if they can accomodate the a/c.

yea I'd probably use the sensors & controls off the donor vehicle no reason to recreate all that stuff.

I'll be doing a lot of fabrication work on a custom console, and smoothing the dash anyway. considering I'm doing all of the it shouldn't be a big deal to add a space for the control untit for the enviromental controls.

 

[solowookie]

p.s. I want lots of vents anyway so it shouldn't be a problem adding in the same # of vents it had.

 

[Swishy]

No Probs good to see someone doing something interesting , Im building all my EFI system from scratch so should be fun to many people seem to be content with buying japos and spending money to get someone else to do the mods , good to see an active group building stuff from scratch on a budget any more queries sing out and Ill see if I can help furthur
(the holly kit should do the job nice to ;-))

Cheers
Dale.

 

[solowookie]

I'd be curious about this FI kit you are doing from scratch... i.e. performance expectations, cost for the project etc.

 

[Swishy]

cool I could post some pics later on once its a bit more complete but , basically involves fabricating a tuned length manifold from scratch ,and using "donor" parts ie injectors coil packs etc and a aftermarket ecu , Im going to use a link ecu( made in NZ) so far I have the basic manifold made just in the process of adding fuel rails etc etc , but its going to take a while, its going to cost around $1000NZ for the injectors/coil packs/throttle bodies etc , the ecu is around $1500NZ so its not to bad , current calculations should be getting around 300+ Hp out of the ol 253 Holden cast 8, basically I wanted something different and wanted to retain the factory option Holden engine (was a 1900cc 4 originally) ,so I decided to fabricate it from scratch to my own design (with help from a friend whos done similar for sprint boats )instead of adapting a later model tpi manifold ,but not much is going to be factory .
The fun part is calculating expected flow rates needed for the injectors ,pump etc and throttle body sizeing,
So far the car has had the drip rails shaved and front preped but still requires a rebuild of the rear guard archs (it had had glass flares fitted and the arches cut up for tyre clearance )but Im now shortening the diff and returning the arches back to standard .
The engine is out at the moment awaiting a rebuild once the manifolds have been fabricated .

mmm I think I might have overdone this post but enjoy the reading

Cheers
Dale.

 

[Swishy]

Just incase you wanted Link's website

<a href="http://www.link-electro.co.nz/" target="_blank">http://www.link-electro.co.nz/</a>

found them really good to deal with so far , used alot around NZ for rally and performance road cars etc
Im looking at running the Link Plus unit multi coil support to 8 cylinders etc , some really nice features for alot less than there competitors.

Cheers
Dale.

[ November 07, 2002: Message edited by: Swishy ]</p>

 

[1954chevyrod]

You could also try using an a/c and ecm out of a C4 corvette. Then you could use an LS1 and 4L60E tranny. I have a 1954 chevy truck that I am rodding out. It has a 2002 Camaro Z28 drive train in it but I am still working on it and it is no where hear complete. Plus I've been away from home for too long so not much is getting done. Hope this helps.

 

[horvath]

I've got a 54 Chevy pickup ... I installed the Old Air Hurricane AC/Heat unit in it ... much simpler than what you're talking about, but I've got 4 vents that I can open or close, the plenum custom-fits the bottom of the dash and it works great!

Alan
54 Chevy Pickup