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A/C in the Deuce using TM Americas alternator mounts

shannondeese

Member
651
16
18
Location
High Springs Fl
Long about January of this year I got an A/C kit from a fellow steelsoldiers member just north of Vegas and I still lived in San Diego. Well I am finally done with the install in Macon Ga. It just took a little while to get it all in and working. I had the heater in, plumbed, wired and functional in Feb. The rest has been on the back burner for awhile. Between moving across country, finding a house, work and other stuff all seemed to get in the way. So here is how I did it.

The heater and A/C box I mounted under the dash on the passenger side. I put it as tight to the firewall as I could so my passengers would still have some leg room. This meant that I would not be able to use the stock breather. I removed the glove box insert and cut out a spot for the control panel. I removed the passenger side kick vent completely and used the cover that comes with the kit on the outside of the cab to cover the now gaping hole. The suction port for the kit fits perfectly in the hole left over along with the doughnut seal it comes with.

I bought TM Americas dual alternator mount. I used the lower mount as advertised with a 27SI alternator with a 3 1/2 inch pulley. I moved the primary fuel filter back 1 bolt hole and drilled a new hole for the aft bolt. The upper alternator bracket I cut the fwd ear off and moved it back 1/2 inch and re welded it. I took the stock alternator adjustment bar and drilled a hole in the radiator cross support and mounted it there. This allowed me to mount the compressor inline with the belts and be able to adjust it if I needed to.

The stock breather wasn't going to work with the hoses from the kit so I ditched it. I bought an AEM dry 650 CFM cone filter that fit on the stock breather tube. I used a left over mount from the A/C kit and laid over the tube until the filter was right beside the drop panel. I welded the bracket to the tube and bolted it to the body. Then I made a window in the drop panel so some fresh air could get to the filter and used some spare BBQ grill expanded steel mesh and welded it in place as a brush guard. I took the stock hoses that came with the kit and had NAPA add 10 feet to each of the hoses going to the condenser. I mounted it under the bed by cutting the legs off the stock mounts and reversing them. The heater hose control valve came from O'Riely's. It's for a 69 Bronco. It is a standard 5/8 hose inlet and outlet but it's control valve fits the cable that came with the kit perfectly. The belts are 56 Inch Green Stripe Gates belts. You could use 55 inch belts with this set up but I didn't feel like fighting with a belt that was just about max stretch at full collapse on the adjustment bars. The fan I used was from Coldmasterinc on E- ay it was $40.00

The wiring was a bear. I wired the control panel that came with the kit just as it says to with the kit but I added a master power switch to it to act as an ignition on switch basically. Then I wired in another switch, this one runs as follows. Starts at the battery, to switch on dash, 20 AMP relay to low pressure safety switch, to high pressure safety switch, to T fitting and splits off to a 12 inch 24V fan on the condenser and back under the hood to the compressor. I have multiple ground points due to the fact that I used most of the wiring harness that came with the kit.

The heater has two settings off and Sahara Desert, The A/C is pretty cold considering I have not sealed my cab at all.
 

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A3 man

New member
10
0
1
Location
Mineral va
Very nice, I wich I had one for my bobbed A3 but it sound like a lot of work. I've looked at the split units but they go for $ 3800. One day
 

shannondeese

Member
651
16
18
Location
High Springs Fl
The local NAPA in Warner Robins Ga carries A/C hoses and fittings. They had to order the size 13 female to female fittings though. It took a couple days for them to come in. I was charged $130.00 for the fittings, hose and assembly. Not a bad deal since the local A/C shop told me $300 to do the same thing.
 

welldigger

Active member
2,602
15
38
Location
Benton LA
I'm thinking of getting a generic under the dash heat and a/c unit from vintage air. The whole kit including compressor can be had for less than 2 grand. In fact if you scavenge a compressor from the junk yard you would have less than a grand in the whole kit.

Nice install none the less. Here in the south no a/c in the summer sucks. Especially in a deuce. The on the fender heater kit is a total joke also.
 

tm america

Active member
2,600
24
38
Location
merrillville in
Nice to see it going to good use.. i am actually working on a setup for the deuce that will give you dual alts and ac.. i am gonna keep the 24 volt alt where i have it now put the ac where the 12 volt was and move the 12 volt alt to the driverside of the engine mounted off the cover for the timing gear.Just trying to figure out which ac compressor most guys would wanna run?
 

shannondeese

Member
651
16
18
Location
High Springs Fl
My total cost in the heat and a/c system is $1300.00. All new parts. I'm looking forward to seeing your new kit. Eventually I'd like to have a 24 volt alt a 12 volt alt. power steering and a/c. That's going to be a long way down the road though.
 

taylordc15

Member
249
3
18
Location
Sale Creek, TN
Nice to see it going to good use.. i am actually working on a setup for the deuce that will give you dual alts and ac.. i am gonna keep the 24 volt alt where i have it now put the ac where the 12 volt was and move the 12 volt alt to the driverside of the engine mounted off the cover for the timing gear.Just trying to figure out which ac compressor most guys would wanna run?
Very interested in this, I have your 12v alt kit installed, I will be using the compressor from the MTVR A/C kit which judging by the threads on putting A/C in a deuce is what most people are using.
 

HASSON1911

Member
748
24
18
Location
roseau/mn
Nice! Are you planning on protecting the condenser with expanded steel also? Not too sure on the number of rocks they can take! Great build, write up and pics!
 

HanksDeuce

Well-known member
1,081
242
63
Location
Prairieville, LA
Shannon,

Can you show a few more pictures of how the evaporator and fan assembly fits under the dash? Maybe a shot as you open the passenger door, then a few close-ups? Thanks!
 

shannondeese

Member
651
16
18
Location
High Springs Fl
I have some more expanded steel and a piece of 1/4 inch plate steel that I am going to fab up a guard with. I use my deuce as my daily driver and for my job as a tree surgeon so limbs, sticks, and odd off road situations are an almost daily occurrence.
 

shannondeese

Member
651
16
18
Location
High Springs Fl
Here are a few more pictures as requested. The one shows the nut extensions I used so I could get the correct spacing to match the dash lines. In that picture the inlet tube is cut and folded in. I later realized this was unnecessary so I straightened it back out.
 

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shannondeese

Member
651
16
18
Location
High Springs Fl
Today I decided to insulate the cab a little bit. I went to Lowes and bought a role of silver bubble insulation. I used the holes already in the cab with some bolts and large washers along with some self tapping screws with large washers under the head again. Once I had it on the fire wall and on the back of the cab I found I had some left over so I started to put it in the cab roof. I might have enough to finish it another day but the rain has put a stop to any progress for a while. I will paint it as soon as the rain stops.
 

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