Air Conditioning / Heater Vents

[Rogue Trooper]

Hi all

Have just been sorting out vents for the dash build and have had great help and service from a couple of outfits.

Getting some aftermarket dash vents has solved a lot of headaches for me not to mention trips to Pick-A Part.

For the Kiwi guys I've been dealing with www.totalair.co.nz and PremiAir. PremiAir are based locally here in Lower Hutt and source Red Dot products but TotalAir are based in Auckland. TotalAir are the distributers of the JayAir product line. JayAir are based over the ditch for you Aussies.

Great range of aftermarket vents and both PremiAir and TotalAir were really quick to get back to me by phone or email so if you're after this sort of stuff try these guys first. You won't be disappointed.

[MaTTe]

hey Rogue, do you have any photos of the system they installed in your van?
I'm trying to get some ideas of what systems will fit, and that will cool the WHOLE van down relatively quickly.

Cheers,
Matte

[Marishka]

anyone know how exactly an air cond system works?

i can see there is a fan driven compressor pump, a alloy radiator thing called a drier, another radiator lookin thing that is placed in the air cond unit in the vehicle, and a fan to blow through the inside radiator, and gas injected into the system. n maybe a thermistat 2 turn it on n off automatically. .

how hard would it be 2 make a custom unit ourselves 2 suit our own needs and dashes?
maybe even fit a second cold radiator unit in the back of the van 2?

as soon as i know how the system works im going 2 get into makin my own. this hot weather is killing me, 
 

[Rogue Trooper]

Sorry but I didn't get a system installed. I just sourced the vents for the dash I'm building. I'm in the process of modifying and fitting the heater system out of a Ford Laser.

I investigated fitting airconditioning and there are a range of aftermarket systems available however when I weighed up the cost and how often I was likely to use it as well as the work involved in fitting it I decided it really wasn't worth it.

Most of the units are quite large and there isn't a lot of room between the dash and the firewall for fitting. I had fun just with the heater unit I am using and then there is sorting out the compressor and mounting of the condensor and fluffing around with gas etc. My engine is mid mounted so I have more room under the dash than most but it was still going to be a major hassle and because our climate is a bit cooler here than what you guys have to deal with I figure opening the sunroof and the windows will do just as good a job.

If you did want to set up your own system then the outfits I linked up above do all the parts you would require and I think one of them is based in Aus as well. Other than that have a bit of a search on the web as there are quite a few options available especially ones designed for retrofitting to hotrods etc.

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hi Guys, I am up in brissy, and of late have been seeing upto 42 degrees in heat, more than any human should have to bare. Can anyone recomend the best aircon system to drop into a beddy ? I have seen toyota prado mentioned over the years.  I will be fitting a full custom dash into my van so want to have everything thats going in, to be there when I start, and will just build the dash to fit accessaries. Take care in the silly season, its nearly over. Thank god...
Regards
          George...........

[Rogue Trooper]

I had a good look around before I decided to flag it and from my investigations it was going to be a lot easier going aftermarket than trying to fit up something that was designed for another vehicle.

Although you would be able to pick something up a lot cheaper moneywise at the wreckers designed for another vehicle you will more than make up for it with the time spent trying to fit and modify all the components into the van.

Somebody here might have seen something I haven't but that's my experience.

[Bedfordcrazy]

Hi Rogue, that is the path I have been looking @, I went to my local guy here that sell all the components that make up a complete system, it was going to be xxxy, from memory, but because I have a donor car here for the V6 motor and gearbox, there are a lot of bits I can reuse from my donor. I just thought someone might have recently done an install ie: prado. I also want to go as new as posible so I only have to do it once.
Regards
           George..........

[Rogue Trooper]

I would say the best place to look for something to adapt as far the fan/heater unit goes would be to look for something from a jap van perhaps. Hi-ace might be a good start. You want something from a van that has a mid mounted engine as they didn't have a firewall and so everything was built very compact to fit under what dash they had. Even so you will still have to negotiate the hump in the Bedford firewall.

If you are using the engine out of the donor car you should be able to retain the compressor unit although if your V6 is a Holden 3.8 you might have to relocate it depending on how you are mounting it. I'm mid mounting mine so a lot of these problems wouldn't exist for me. Don't know where the condensor is in your donor car but if you can re-use that as well then you have part of the battle won.

The dash unit is going to be your biggest headache so maybe aftermarket for that?

[MaTTe]

Hey Rogue, no worries. I had thought you may have gone a complete system, in which case i wanted to see what sort of parts they supplied as getting pictures out of the sites you listed proved to be a little above the effort level i was willing to put in.. haha

I have had a look at vintage air, and they have good products, but they are mostly quite large (and i have a HZ dash).
There are a few aussie products i've been looking at, and some of them are quite cheap, but i can't be sure how good they are. I want something that'll cool down my entire LWB in a matter of minutes.. i dont want something that'll cool down something directly infront on the vents only. I'll post up some sites i've been looking at for others considering the effort.

Cheers anyway

ok some of the main sites i have been looking at
http://www.vintageair.com This site is excellent, the main problem is most fo their systems are designed for LHD, however if you download their catalogue(recommended) they have a section at the front that explains in great detail how to design a system for your needs..

http://www.speedyairspares.com.au this is a local site, that have some good products, however i have a few questions for them that i'd like to ask as there isn't as much information supplied as i'd like.

http://www.aussiedesertcooler.com.au/evaporator.htm Not alot of products, but this does look quite good. the numbers are impressive at the very least. If it can be mounted at 90degrees to what is specified it may well fit behind a standard dash(not sure how deep a standard dash is)

http://www.heatcraft.com.au This site has alot of parts(get the catalogue) but you really need to know what you are looking for as the parts are mainly from other applications so you need to know what would suit your needs.

more to come when i find them again...

[beddymad]

hi there guys, ive been looking into these new aftermarket systems.seeing as im going to build a cabinet behind the drivers seat,you can buy a unit with four outlets.it will be put in the bottom of this unit with the ducting going behind the cabinet and two ducts going to the front and two going in the back.if you look at those new nissan import vans they have the air vent in the roof lining and thats what intend on doing.