Heater box after body drop...

[Bagged Dually]

Wondering if anyone has any ideas or viable solutions that won't cost me 2 grand to get my AC and heater box moved to under the dash of a square body after a body drop. I've looked at some after market hot rod units but they all seem to want to use vents built into the new box instead of my factory vents and defrosters. Is there a behind dash box from another vehicle I could get from the junk yard?? Anyone who has found an answer to this problem please let me know what you did. Thanks

 

[crazy4offroad]

That is a very good idea thinking outside of the box no pun intended, of using the a/c system out of another vehicle but it may require a lot of fabrication to make it work. Of course a lot of fab work is what our trucks is all about. A few years ago I scored a bunch of new a/c parts from a Toyota Tacoma and you just got me thinking about trying to make something like that work on a square, because like you said you need most of the system to be under the dash not under the hood like OEM. I just dont know what it would take to tie into the factory vents, as well as the switches/controls, throttle step-up solenoid etc which is where the $2,000 kits are head and shoulders above grafting something else into place.

That reminds me there was a discussion a while back about aftermarket a/c systems, under-dash, etc and someone posted a link to a place that sells several different types, brands, etc. if you do a search it may turn up. I'll search a little too and see what I can find.

 

[crazy4offroad]

I think I found it...

Link to discussion...
http://www.gmsquarebody.com/forum/showthread.php?p=54939&highlight=system#post54939

Link to aftermarket a/c system website...
http://www.ackits.com/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Store_Code=01&Category_Code=AMA14370-4105

 

[Bagged Dually]

Thanks a lot man. That second link looks like the AC system they show might actually work. I'm going to give them a call Monday and see if they can just sell me the parts I need. It should drop the price quite a bit since I don't need the compressor or lines. Hopefully they will part it out for me. In the mean time I'm going to try to go out and scour a buddies junk yard for another factory unit that might fit.
This also makes me remember another thread on body dropping a dually and he ended up finding a complete box out of a limo that was mounted in the trunk. Something else I'm going to have to look into today.

 

[crazy4offroad]

True, yet another option making an enclosure for the factory unit (or other usable unit) and custom plumb it from wherever you mount it. Hopefully the ackits place can help too, might not be so intrusive looking trying to fab up your own stuff. Glad to help, good luck and post back what you come up with!!

 

[Bagged Dually]

Well there wasn't really anything worth using in the junk yard that would be easier than fabbing my own box up. I've got a buddy that does HVAC for a living. I just got off the phone with him and now have him intrigued by the idea of making our own box. So hopefully with his help we can build something easy and functional. As soon as we get started I'll post pictures of the progress and dimensions.

 

[Old77]

You might also shoot DV8Customs a PM. He's got a dropped project and might have already tackled this or at least thought it out pretty heavily. His is laying in the weeds....

 

[Bagged Dually]

I think the idea we've come up with thus far is to just cut a notch through the box and try to let the frame have clearance. After that we're thinking or removing the box and fiber glassing the notch we chopped out. Hopefully the frame will ride inside of the new notch in the bottom of the box. This is all just speculation to if this will work at this point but hopefully we'll find out soon!!

 

[Bagged Dually]

I started talking to an old guy at work today that builds a lot of hot rods. He asked me how my truck was coming along and I told him about this heater/AC box issue. He said well I think I might have a AC/Heater box setup that's all self contained and all goes behind the dash I used in an old street rod. He's supposed to be bringing it to work for me tomorrow. I'll post pics of it with the brand and part number as soon as I see if it's worth using.

 

[89Suburban]

I started talking to an old guy at work today that builds a lot of hot rods. He asked me how my truck was coming along and I told him about this heater/AC box issue. He said well I think I might have a AC/Heater box setup that's all self contained and all goes behind the dash I used in an old street rod. He's supposed to be bringing it to work for me tomorrow. I'll post pics of it with the brand and part number as soon as I see if it's worth using.

Cool.

 

[Bagged Dually]

It's a pro-air AC and Heater setup for behind my dash. It's pretty old but works great. I think I post more about it on my build thread title "Southern Belle". Enjoy!!

 

[89Suburban]

It's a pro-air AC and Heater setup for behind my dash. It's pretty old but works great. I think I post more about it on my build thread title "Southern Belle". Enjoy!!

That's neat.