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| 28-Oct-01 |
Mounting the A/C Evaporator Part 1 |
Winterizing and Summarizing
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| It's beginning to get cold here in South Dakota with temps dropping to the 20's on a few occasions so it's time to install the… A/C! The A/C arrived last February (when it was really cold!) and I'm just finally starting to install it now. That's the way it goes when you build a car. Remember a few articles back when I mentioned how the placement of one thing can affect another. This A/C project all started while trying to find a good location for the coil on the inside of the car. I gathered up all the items that need to mount under the dash and started the jigsaw puzzle. It seems that the logical approach to product placement would be to start with the biggest item first – the A/C. I'll follow up on the tentative locations on for all the other “stuff” as I install it with explanations as to why it's where it is – like keeping the coil isolated from the computer. |
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 The Hot Rod Air Elite series evaporator unit is about as compact as they come for a unit with A/C, heat and defrost, but I am going to need to make one minor modification to get it to fit. In most cases you won't need to do any modification to the unit. For more information on this unit visit the Hot Rod Air web site. Oh yeah… Project33 is even pictured on the back cover of their new catalog! |
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 The distance between the firewall and the ¾-inch steel bar (some call a knee bar) that I mounted the steering to is a bit too tight for the unit to fit between unless I remove the fan cover. This piece is mostly decorative but it also helps support the fan. The way I intend to mount the evaporator will give the fan the extra support it needs. |
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 When I built my last car I bought a 4x8 sheet of 1/8-inch aluminum to form various parts of the interior and assorted brackets. I didn't use the whole sheet and have been saving (and moving) the remaining scrap over the last 7 years in anticipation for this kind of project. Shown here is one of the aluminum panels I made for the rear of our '35. This is the left rear arm rest before it was covered with foam and leather. |
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 The A/C mounting brackets pictured here were made from this scrap of aluminum. After a final template was made in cardboard it was transferred to the aluminum and cut with a saber saw. If it seems like I'm getting ahead of myself by not showing all the boring details like making templates and mounting locations – just wait. As they say a picture is worth a thousand words so if you're lost you'll catch on to what's happening in a moment.
The center small “L” bracket is another bicycle rack bracket that holds the reflector. The large aluminum brackets were bent to shape in the vice with a hammer and a short 2x4 wood block.
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 These are ¼-inch “Elevator Bolts”. They come in various lengths and sizes and are available at most hardware stores – cheap. The head is super flat and can be welded if needed. The grill insert on my last car was held to the shell with elevator bolts.
In this case elevator bolts will be used to mount the A/C unit to a ½-inch piece of plywood. The plywood panel will be glued to the firewall with construction adhesive once I'm sure that everything that needs to mount to it has been accounted for.
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