I have been searching for awhile and can't seem to find a write up on doing this, so I hope I am good to start one.

I have a 1988 Base camaro 305 TBI 5 speed. As far as I know, it didn't come with ac. I have basically everything I need to install ac on my car and have already started the process. Since I didn't have ac, the heater hose going to the heater core came straight from the radiator. I installed a new 4 port diverter valve and new hoses already. I haven't hooked up the vacuum yet because I'm having trouble finding the vacumm fitting on the intake manifold that it gets the vacuum from. I bought the check valve and the spare vacuum cylinder that mounts under the mysterious orb of power, but haven't hooked that stuff up either.

I went to put in the ac box I have been sitting on for months, and it was way easier than I thought. However, I pulled it from a junkyard and it's from an 89 camaro and mine is an 88. As far as I have found they were the same. Next I was going to install the evap and noticed that the hard line I took off an 89 in a junkyard doesn't work with the evap I have. After research, and going to the junkyard today, I discovered that in 89 they changed the tube on the evap itself and it uses a completely different line. So I was going to return it and get a newer evap that would work with my hard line but today I found an 88 in the junkyard that had the right hardline, so I'm back in business. This is as far as I have gotten so far. Everything for the ac system is brand new; evap, blower motor, compressor, condensor, metal soft/hard line, wiring, just about everything is brand new, mainly because I don't want to do this again. So I don't have questions as far as the installation of everything under the hood, because it seems pretty stsright forward and my buddy has a 3rd gen and I can sort of match it to his if need be.

Where I am having some questions is the wiring. I found a diagram online that shows where the connections are through the plugs for the computer, but I haven't looked into it further. I am wondering if anybody out there has done this before, or knows enough to help out with this. What absolutely has to be wired and what can be bypassed? Also, what is wired to where as far as the computer goes? I don't have much wiring experience so everything I get feedback wise I will discuss with my buddy that understands and see if we can figure it out.

I understand the whole recommendation of selling it and just buying one with ac, but I am set on keeping this camaro. I already have a lot of time invested in it and still much more to put into it. Any help on the wiring side would be greatly appreciated, and any other tips of course I greatly welcome. Installing the ac is the easy part, getting it to work correctly is the hard part.

 

IMO, if you have an '88 available that the junk yard I would consider removing all the wiring associated with the AC. It would be quite a task if it intertwines into the dash harness but it's the only way to obtain the correct gauge, color, length and connector types if you want it to be as close to original as possible. Even if you want new wiring and connectors it would be the best reference to compare against if you decide to build a new harness. I'm guessing that the '88 would need to be the same engine etc. for that to work. While you're at it you could grab the computer as a back up too.

As far as incorporating the new wiring into yours, I would locate the wiring diagrams for both (ac and non-ac) and also do something called repinning the connectors (Ie. to the computer). Repinning is the process of backing out each pin from the connector by depressing a small metal tab to release it. Ie. you would want the complete wire from an ac component to the computer and basically plug it in vs. splicing the connection. The diagrams will tell you what if any are needed for AC and also if there are any conflicts. Ie. if you run into conflicts where a pin on the computer is already in use then you would need to look into it further so you don't cause damage.

I'm not as familiar with it, but the diagram will also tell you about other parts of the AC system like the power steering pressure cutoff switch etc.
Here is a link explaining what to look for.
http://mdhmotors.com/ac-compressor-c...gnosis-repair/

 

I guess I should have mentioned that the only wiring I don't have already is for the compressor. The rest of the wiring under the hood is all there. I'm not sure if GM just made all the cars and three in all the stuff for it and then just didn't install the actual components, or if somebody already tried converting it, or if maybe it was originally with ac. The ac box bolted right in and had factory cut holes for that box which are different than some of the ac delete boxes. I don't have the ac dash though, so that would be an odd thing to change. I grabbed all the wiring from another camaro a few months back and even the in cab control unit for it too just in case it's different than a non ac one, and I don't notice a difference. Right now, I'm operating under the assumption the only thing that needs to be wired up is for the compressor. I'm not sure if the computers were any different between an ac and non ac. I haven't been able to find anything showing a difference. If somebody knows this to be false though, hopefully they can chime in.