Mock-Up: A/C Evaporator (September 8 - 9, 2012)

Today I mounted the A/C evaporator under the dash.

The Vintage Air evaporator uses 2 of the holes in the firewall that the factory heater box used.  I wanted to make my own brackets with studs, as I didn't want any screw heads showing on the engine side of the firewall.  Here we have the evaporator blocked up with a box to see what kind of space it took up.  

Since we are using the DSE select-a-speed wipers, we needed to slightly relocate the evaporator assembly to clear the rod that runs from the wiper motor to the passenger side wiper arm.  With factory wipers, this wouldn't be necessary, as it's designed to clear the rod.  Since the DSE wiper motor is on the inside of the car instead of the outside, we had to make some adjustments.  These are the brackets I made the space the evaporator away from the firewall slightly.

Here the brackets are held in place with screws through the original heater box holes in the firewall.  

Welding them in place.

You can't see in this picture, but I removed the screws and replaced them with socket head cap screws (allen screws), which fit through the hole in the firewall.  I used red loctite on these so they're not coming out.  Later I'll weld up the holes in the firewall. 

This is the Vintage Air bracket for the top of the evaporator.  Since we moved the unit out from the firewall slightly at an angle, I had to reposition the tab on the top of the bracket (in this picture, I already cut off the tab).  You can also see the studs that the bracket will attach to.  The Vintage Air instructions have you using self drilling screws, which protrude into the cowl area.  I didn't want to see screws through the cowl grille, so I used 10-32 allen head screws into a 3/16" plate on the inside.  I used neoprene washers under the heads of the screws for a seal.  

Here's the modified upper bracket. 





Evaporator unit bolted in place.