57 ranchero ac

[len]

am thinking of putting vintage ac in my ranchero.at the moment i am having now floor pans put in.can anyone tell me which unit they like for this application.also at which point in my car rebuild should i order the ac unit. at the moment the body is off and completely stripped to bare and i am in the process of rebuilding the mostly stock suspension.putting in an injected 302.dont want the ac sitting here with a million other parts but dont want to put it in at the last minute either.also does anyone know if i have to make any changes to my firewall or is this a bolt in??i know i should phone vintage air but thought i would check here first.len

[RICH MUISE]

Len...I only checked into the Gen iv model..the largest. It fit. There are no mods needed to the firewall other than the bulkhead for the hoses. For about $70. you can get an empty mock-up unit from their distributors to use for fabricating the brackets,etc. and it usually can be returned for a refund. I went that route because I was a few years at least from having a running car, thus the warranty would have expired before I could even chack it out. You will lose most if not all of the glovebox. I would have lost all of mine were my dash stock but I had to mount the unit a few inches further towards the inside of the car than I think most would have had to. Suede57 borrowed my mockup unit and used it to set up several '57's...he maybe could give you a better idea on how much of the glovebox will be lost on a "normal" installation.
If you want to see a pic, type "carpeting" in the search block and open the first thread. The third pic down shows the unit.
Also, I don't think Vintage Air will be of much assistance when it comes to determining what will fit our '57's and what won't (they will tell you what will fit a '57 chevy though..kinda sucks, but we get use to that). They tell you to check the diagrams and measure your car
Welcome to the site by the way...where are you located?
Rich

[gasman826]

A few months ago, there was discussion about an article that outlines installation of Vintage Air in a '57 Ranchero.  Hit the HOME button and type Vintage Air in the SEARCH box.  The second subject will help.

[RICH MUISE]

I had forgotten about that. That article was for the Gen IV model I mentioned.

[len]

hey rich.thanks for responding on my ranchero ac. i hale from lethbtidge alberta,about 135 miles southeast of calgary.len

[xsilencex]

i have the gen lv in my ranchero. pretty easy install, hoses for the firewall and drain hole for the evaporator in the floor. because i deal with triple digit heat and stop and go traffic, i'm going to put an electric pusher fan in front of the condenser, with a thermostat for when i sit in heavy traffic in the summer. once the condenser stopped getting airflow the cab would heat up quick and if I hit one light after the other the ac couldn't catch up.

[Frankenstein57]

Is that unit a heater also? Or don't you need that in Texas? Seems I saw snow on your car last year. I left the stock heater in, and went to an under dash evaporator, works good.  Mark

[xsilencex]

no mine doesn't have the heater. i'm using the stock heater. heaters in texas are only used randomly and for a total of 2 weeks, of course my heater core would go out in the coldest 3 days we had last year. no snow last year that I can remember, just cold.