I was wondering if anyone here has tried to install an A/C system in an A/C delete car. If so, how hard was it?

I have looked at the aftermarket vendors and no one makes a system for third gens.

My car was oroginally sold in Oregon and now its in Texas. It needs an A/C BAAAD!

 

I would try to find another car. The A/C delete is fairly rare. Keep it the way it is and get a summer driver.

 

The swap will be some work, but there's no reason that you'd be better off getting another car than doing it! You will be best off removing the dash assembly from your car to do it. You might be able to get it done without totally removing it, but you'll be contorting your arms and squeezing parts into tight spaces. In addition to all the A/C components under the hood, you will also need the interior diverter box and control panel from a donor car. The non-a/c setup uses tension cables to open and close the diverter doors whereas the a/c setup has vacuum operated valves to open and close the doors. One item you won't want to overlook is the heater diverter valve which is a plastic piece mounted above the passenger side valvecover. it has a total of 3 heater hoses attached to it and a vacuum line coming from the heater control panel. It allows the cooling system to not flow through the heater core when you are on the max a/c setting so the cool air isn't blowing over a hot heater core.

I can get into more details as you need them. I went in the opposite direction to a non-a/c setup, but i did a complete swap including the interior components and understand what's needed to reverse it. your best bet is to locate a donor car that has the same belt setup as yours (serpentine vs. v-belt. The compressors probably mount differently for each setup and i believe they are on opposite sides of the engine so the hoses will be different lengths for them.

 

There sure is a reason you would be better off getting another car!!!!! Originality. As a collector, it will be worth less (alot less to me) if the car is not original. If you are just looking for a piece of shi_ to beat on, there are plenty of those around.

 

Well, mine is not a POS that I want to beat on. It is a 42,000 mile survivor with original paint. It still has the original GM shocks and had the original exhaust system (recently replaced with an Edelbrock system).

Sounds like a factory style conversion would be a significant amount of work. I looked at Vintage Air systems and they said that I could probably get one of their smaller universal systems to fit. I may look into that more. Their boxes are fully electronic and everything is contained within the box that fits under the dash -no bix box under the hood.

 

My point exactly. Its not a POS so keep it nice. Your signature says it has a 5.7L crossfire. Has the engine been changed? It should have come with a 5.0L.

 

The original engine had already been replaced when I got the car. It was still a 5.0L though, and it smoked. I thought that as long as I had to replace the motor, I would go with a 5.7L for more torque. All I have to do now is find someone to help me tune it.

My goal is to keep a stock appearance, but I am willing to upgrade comfort items as long as I don't have to hack up the car. It is hard to tell from the pics, but I lucked out on this car. It is very sweet. I have not seen another driven third gen this old in as good of condition. Heck, I haven't seen many 10 year old fourth gens in this good of condition!

 

Leonard, since he inquired about swapping to A/C, I saw no need to tell him to not do it for the sake of keeping it original. He obviously already decided that he was willing to modify his car from stock form. In any case, now knowing that it's the 3rd engine that's been in the car, the idea of keeping it original is out the window. Gheatly, how is it on its 3rd engine with only 40k miles on the body? Something isn't right there

 

Yes Master!

 

Not too concerned about the engine. I have looked over the body very carefully and everything underneath looks original. Not a squeak or rattle in the whole body. That's all I need to confirm that it is a true low mileage car. I bought an 83 Firebird new and put 87,000 miles on it. It was a rattle trap by the time I sold it.

It probably didn't need the third engine. I was told that the second engine was a cheapie $500 long block from some local engine builder. I wanted to replace it before it developed any real problems.

 

How does the 5.7 Crossfire run right now? I have a 400 SBC I am going to be putting the CFI on...alot of people rip them out. Nice to know you are keeping it. They aren't that hard to tune as some might think...let me guess, no mechanic around where you live will touch it?

 

It runs ok. Really needs a tune. It is fine driving around town and cruising, but there is not a lot of "performance" to it at this point. Under 3,400 RPM the A/F ratio is 16:1 and up, over 3,600 RPM it is 10:1 or lower when running at WOT.

 

Looks like you're running rich...have you checked the O2 sensor and coolant sensor? Are you getting and error codes? With the bigger engine you probably aren't getting the air you need as far as the ECM is concerned. You should make sure you have your throttle bodies balanced.

Check out this article. While it's about the corvette, it is the exact same setup as your camaro.

Tuning the Forgotten EFI System

 

wasnt CFI a very bad flowing intake even for the little 305? Why would you put it on a 400!


Anyways, back to topic...

I have been looking into doing the swap into my non A/C car and it looks to be a heck of alot of work! Like stated above the best bet would be a complete donor car, that way you know every little piece is there.

Search around a bit, i have come across a couple of threads where guys were putting in a aftermaret unit but i have yet to see a completed one...

 

I know off topic, but that's ok. The relevant engine mods are as follows:

X-ram intake in place of GM crossfire intake (X-Ram)
X-ram modified throttle bodies - now flow 710 cfm for the set
Corvette injectors
Corvette computer

I just got the car and know absolutely nothing about computer tuning. My big complaint is the complete lack of throttle response. There is no crispness in the engine's response to changes in throttle position.

Also, is it bad that the fuel pump sounds like it ingested a bunch of marbles? Just kidding - it may need a new fuel pump.