ac components.. im lookin towards doing my ac on my ls swap .. im starting from scratch though!!

 

Take it to a shop that does custom installations of a/c. There is a good guy around the corner from Don's shop on Batavia in Orange. The compressor on an Ls series engine is located down low on the right side of the engine, whereas the compressor on our cars is located high on the right side. The compressor is also of a different design than ours so our compressor won't fit an Ls, and there is probably not room for our stock type compressor and the front subframe. Boxing the frame won't give you enough clearance to mount one of our compressors even if you could make a mount to fit. The compressor used with the Ls series engines is similar in size to the Japanese compressors used by Vintage Air in their custom systems. You will need custom hoses fabricated, and G.M. hoses are different diameters than any other hose on the market, so you can't buy aftermarket bulk hose and make it up. The Third Gen uses an orifice while the 4th Gen uses an expansion valve. Therefore the switches are totally different, and their location has to be different. There is no accumulator tank in a 4th Gen if I remember correctly because the accumulator tank is only used with an orifice. The 4th gen Ls system will use a receiver drier on the high side. In short, you can probably use the condenser, evaporator, and fans from a Third Gen, nothing else will interchange.

 

i want to try to do this my self.. as i seen ghettocruiser in the ltx lsx conversions his project looks pretty simple. rather than the wiring.. i have a notch in my k member for that ls1 compressor.. for now i wanna start of with the fiberglass casing . blower motor.. and dropping in the 4th gen components. and hopefully 4th gen hvac controlers since i have the 4th gen dash and intrumentals. that would be great ..

 

In that case, don't buy a used compressor or receiver drier. I also would recommend a new expansion valve. The smallest piece of dirt or a pin hole in the capilary tube will render the expansion valve inoperable. The GM compressors have not historically been the most reliable designs, and a used compressor that hasn't been carefully sealed up when removed will have absorbed moisture and started to rust internally. If you do get a used compressor, have it rebuilt before you install it. Don't buy a rebuilt off the shelf from an auto parts store because the rebuilders do not package dessicant bags with their compressors and if they sit on the shelf for any length of time, the rebuilt compressor will also absorb moisture. Do not re-use an old filter-drier. If it has saturated with moisture, it will just pass the excess moisture into the system. It is also a filter to remove any metal particles that wear off of the internals of the compressor. Reusing a filter drier is like doing an oil change and then installing a used filter. A used evaporator should be ok if it doesn't have any leaks or cracks in the tubing, and it has been carefully sealed up to keep out dirt after being removed from the previous vehicle. The condenser may have contaminants inside. If a compressor fails, the junk goes through the condenser before it gets to the filter. I would recommend if you do go with a used condenser and/or evaporator, get some refrigeration flushing solvent and pour it through any used evaporator or condenser. If it goes in clean and comes out clean, you are good to go. If it goes in clean and comes out dirty, there is junk inside. You could try to clean up a dirty coil, but I would not recommend it. Each return bend acts like a miniature centrifuge, and the refrigerant is going through the system at a pretty good clip when your compressor is turning at speed. Any junk going through the system, will tend to compress and pack into the outside of the return bends. Mixing fine metal particles with compressor oil makes for a tightly packed paste that resists breaking down, but will continue to send bits of contaminent through the system. I think 1-800-radiator sells brand new condensers for about $175.00. One last thing, when you get it all assembled and are ready to charge it up, you need to pull a deep vacuum on the system to get all air and moisture out of the system. If you want to we can set up a meet for me to hook up my vacuum pump and evacuate and charge the system.

You may have guessed from my response that moisture is not good for an a/c system. It is actually close to the worst thing that could happen to an a/c system. The only thing comparable would be running a compressor without oil in the system. Moisture in the system will cause corrosion, it will also form acid in the process of forming corrosion, and if there is any oxygen in the system, it will form carbon deposits in the system as well.

 

bump!
any one have there stock hvac box? i don't need the evap or accum. just the casing, blower motor, and resistor.