Tex's Tips for Surviving the Summer Heat Wave

Surviving the summer heat wave. Extreme heat is the primary enemy of your A/C system. To avoid untimely breakdowns and ensure that your Vintage Air system operates at peak efficiency, you must inspect the entire cooling system before heading out for a summer of cruising.
Throughout our 25 years of experience, we have found that common items are often overlooked as causes of air conditioning failure. If you're experiencing a system failure, see our troubleshooting guide in the download section.

Create a mock-up of each universal unit using cardboard

When purchasing a Universal System for a vehicle it is important that you determine if you have the space available to install this unit. We will be able to give you a general guideline as to the capacity of each unit to cool and heat certain vehicles, but we are not looking under your dash. Since each vehicle has unique characteristics under the dash, the salesperson must rely on you, the consumer to tell us what will fit best in your application.
Each Universal Evaporator page has overall dimensional drawings that will represent the outermost measurements of these units. You can use these dimensions to create a cardboard “mockup” of the evaporator. If you can fit your mock-up behind your dash
without any interference, the actual unit will fit just as easily.

Many applications will require slight modifications to the underside of the dash or firewall to make the final installation. Note: Remember most of the vehicles we deal with were never designed to have air conditioning in the first place. It is very important to bear in mind when modifying a vehicle that no one set of standards exist and not everyone will do the installation the same way.t

How to Air Condition Your Hot Rod

This updated edition of the original book, written back in 1993,not only tells you how to plan an install, but gives you the understanding and basic knowledge about a complete air conditioning system. This book explains the science of the refrigerant, the importance of insulation, and how controlling humidity and heat levels inside the car affects the overall function of an air conditioning system. This eleven chapter, 144-page book explains about the major components that make up a complete air conditioning system, along with planning a complete system install. The installs start with planning a layout and an understanding as to where to mount each component. There's even a section that explains how to make sure you have a large enough radiator with optimal air flow to ensure proper functioning of your air conditioning. Three complete installs are outlined in this book, including installing air conditioning in a traditional street rod, muscle car, and a pick-up truck install. These installations are step-by-step from installing the condenser in front of the radiator, mounting the compressor and compressor bracket, hose routing, installing the evaporator behind the dash, and installing or modifying existing controls. The final chapter of the book gives you the details of charging a new system and basic trouble shooting. This 30,000 word, easy-to-understand, 350 color photo book is a must have for any automotive enthusiast interested in learning about and understanding automotive air conditioning and the proper way to install a complete system.