Hands down, they win.......

[MnkyBiz]

Who Wins? What do they win???

Vintage Air wins the award for the WORST WRITTEN F'ING DIRECTIONS ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH!

Ok, usually I can deal with directions that are vague or sometimes leave out a step & you need to go back.....

....But when the directions have....no direction & they leave out steps, the "custom fit" unit DOESN'T FIT etc......

I am not a happy camper right now.

To top it off, the wire colors in their schematic don't match what I got in my kit!!!

Oh joy!

Yeah....they are going to get an earfull of Monkey tomorrow!

 

[MnkyBiz]

OH, BTW, if anyone has installed this older style of Bronco AC, not the new one offered by Chuck (which I should have waited for had I known), please shoot me some advice! I am going nuts!

 

[trophybass]

The best help i can give you would be to ship the unit to me and i'll install it in my rig ;D
No really try to get abold of (Tom)Bear1911 i think he has that unit in his rig. Good luck andd let me know how it works out.
Alex

 

[vap13]

Hey Minky, I know the feeling, I'm in the same place when I talked to you last. I hav'nt even started on the wiring yet because none of the brackets they sent me fit. I'm waiting for Chuck to finish the brackets for the 351W. He sent me a set to help me out but they were for a 302,( not his fault ) . Good luck talking to Vintage Air. I called them on three different issues and never really resolved the problem. The people you talk to are never the ones that did the install, so all they say is it should work. If I had known I would have waited for Chucks, let me know how youmake out.
Paul

 

[trophybass]

Hey guys please keep me updated on this so that i dont buy an older one and run into the same problems with no ansewers.

 

[pooterpot]

dont feel so bad. i had an old k bar s unit from the early 90s and i didnt even have instructions. took me 3 months to get it in. i even had to fab my own compressor bracket because with the bracket that came with it caused my compressor to hit my valve cover. left a big scratch on it too. good luck

 

[MnkyBiz]

Here is a start to my questions!

I have PM'd both Bear & NicksTrix to get their input.

1) Why separate my power in (Red) from the keyed source (Purple). I will be running both from my Ron Francis Fuse panel, which doesn't give power unless the key is on!
2) Why so many Grounds? Can I ground them all to the same ground lead from my grounding block? I am not using a body or frame ground, but running large gauge wire directly to a block linked to the "-" terminal
3) How the F do you connect the tubes to the vents? If I try to make them go outside, the diameter is too small, if I try to force them inside, the diameter is too big!
4)Mounting the vents on the dash bottom? Do they go on the 45 degree angle as it looks in the diagram, or on the portion that is perpendicular to the floor? If on the 45 degree, the vent controller mechanism pops off!!!! It doesn't fit!!!!
5) Which vacuum port is which, none are labeled on anything I have & all I have are some different colored tubes!!!! Mine evaporator is installed, so I can see the flappers! There is one dead center & one to the far left. Is the left one the defroster one and the center one the heater?
6)Which wire goes to my AC pump? The figure says purple....but I don't have a purple wire!!!!! Black yeah, Blue sure, Orange, Red and white......NO F'ING PURPLE!!!!
7) Why the heck would anyone use WHITE for all their ground wires! Duh, this is a car!!!! Everyother freaking wire used to ground is black!

Ok enough venting....where is my Banana Martini????

 

[bmcqueen]

Here are some pics of the install that Nick did on my 76 with the same unit you are fighting...including the notch in the tunnel and custom glove box liner for clearance...look closely at those welds...wow . Nick is your man for the info.

 

[HotWheels]

bmcqueen that is soo nice. I need an AC unit now for sure. Gonna call chuck shortly...honey...I need some money....

 

[MnkyBiz]

BMCQueen,

Thanks for the photos, but that isn't the "Bronco" unit. That is not what I have. Mine looks like this. It is waaaay different & hasn't 1/10th the room to work that yours has!!!

Ugh.

 

[LSUpete]

Do you guys really need A/C that bad? Hell, I live in South Florida and I don't need A/C. I rarely have the top on, so the cold air wouldn't do me any good anyway.

 

[MnkyBiz]

I dont' need the AC as bad as I need a "Dried" defroster. DC gets lots of foggy weather that you just can't see outta the windshield for! As mine is a DD, I need it!

 

[HotWheels]

Do you guys really need A/C that bad? Hell, I live in South Florida and I don't need A/C. I rarely have the top on, so the cold air wouldn't do me any good anyway.

dunno....thought it would keep the rig dehumidified in Hawaii ?:? . Every little bit helps right?

 

[bmcqueen]

BMCQueen,

Thanks for the photos, but that isn't the "Bronco" unit. That is not what I have. Mine looks like this. It is waaaay different & hasn't 1/10th the room to work that yours has!!!

Ugh.

Mine is a Gen II System...
www.vintageair.com/download/pdf_singles/16.pdf
I think Nick pieced together a vintage component system he thought would work better than the bronco/toyota specific package...I ordered this before Chuck was up and going with his unit...the proline controls and billet vents are way cool but it is big time tight behind the dash.

 

[72Sport]

OH, BTW, if anyone has installed this older style of Bronco AC, not the new one offered by Chuck (which I should have waited for had I known), please shoot me some advice! I am going nuts!

Where do you want to start? I would suggest getting the evaporator mounted under the dash. Their brackets didn't work for me. After you get the unit under the dash then worry about the mounting the wiring. All I got from VA was that my Bronco must have been a factory 6 to V8 conversion that is why nothing would fit.

I made a longer spacer to go behind the unit and new brackets for both ends. I also used a long stud where the plastic spacer goes so I could take the unit in and out easier. The unit doesn't mount in the existing hole you have to drill a new one. I can take pictures a little later today if you want. I also modified most of ther lines to get things to fit. I don't remember problems with the wire colors. Everything worked fine as far as the wiring went.

Heat the defrost hoses with a hair dryer to make them oval shaped so they will fit.

After I realized most of the stuff in their instructions was wrong the installation wasn't too bad.

I mounted the compressor low on the passenger side with my own brackets (serpentine).

 

[MnkyBiz]

72Sport,

I also redrilled a hole, about 1/2 inch towards the inside of the rig (i.e. left).

The dash & firewall connections worked, but not where they wanted them.

Can you get a photo of wher you mounted all the wiring junk? I am confused as to whether I should stash it in the Engine bay or under the dash........somewhere???

Also, on the vacuum hoses, they Grey one, does that go to the connection to the far left & the red to the center one?

Now to the hoses. Are the hoses supposed to go inside the vent or outside the oval vent????? The inside has clip like areas?

And mounting the vents? Where did you mount them, on the 45 degree portion?????

Thanks

MnkyBiz

 

[74bronc]

Send Vintage Air my way. I am a Technical Writer for a living. I will write them some good installation directions if they send me a new A/C system for my Bronco!!

 

[72Sport]

72Sport,

I also redrilled a hole, about 1/2 inch towards the inside of the rig (i.e. left).

The dash & firewall connections worked, but not where they wanted them.

Can you get a photo of wher you mounted all the wiring junk? I am confused as to whether I should stash it in the Engine bay or under the dash........somewhere???

Also, on the vacuum hoses, they Grey one, does that go to the connection to the far left & the red to the center one?

Now to the hoses. Are the hoses supposed to go inside the vent or outside the oval vent????? The inside has clip like areas?

And mounting the vents? Where did you mount them, on the 45 degree portion?????

Thanks

MnkyBiz

I mounted all the vacuum valves on the inside under the the dash. I would have to disassemble everything to take a picture. I just went out and looked and I can't see anything but I know it is in there. I mounted all the valves on a piece of 1/8 x 2"? aluminum up high on the firewall bump. I think you would have to lengthen all the wires to reach the controls if you mounted it on the engine side.

I am not sure what you are talking about on the vacuum lines. I just looked at page 10 of the installation instructions and I didn't see any mention of color for the vacuum lines and like I said I can't easily look to see how mine is hooked up. Page 6 also shows a pictorial of the valves.

The way I read things all the hoses were supposed to go in the air vent. Since the suction hose was so stiff I added a connection inside the vent box. I put a straight fitting on the line from inside to the top of the box and a 90 degree fitting on the suction hose coming from the compressor. I think I did the same on the pressure side but I can't see it. I used stainless tube for the heater hose bends to go from inside the vent to the engine compartment. I hope I never have any problems.!!!!

I mounted the center vent flush with the front on the dash on the angled portion on the bottom. The side vent on the passenger side is mounted on the firewall side of the glove box hinge mounting screws and about the same distance on the drivers side.

If you have to use the stock fuse panel in the glove box don't cut the hole using their pattern. It was not the same as my fuse panel and it had to be rotated 90 degrees so the wires would reach.

 

[ponch0v]

72Sport,

I also redrilled a hole, about 1/2 inch towards the inside of the rig (i.e. left).

The dash & firewall connections worked, but not where they wanted them.

Can you get a photo of wher you mounted all the wiring junk? I am confused as to whether I should stash it in the Engine bay or under the dash........somewhere???

Also, on the vacuum hoses, they Grey one, does that go to the connection to the far left & the red to the center one?

Now to the hoses. Are the hoses supposed to go inside the vent or outside the oval vent????? The inside has clip like areas?

And mounting the vents? Where did you mount them, on the 45 degree portion?????

Thanks

MnkyBiz

Nothing worst than incomplete and inaccurate instructions! Especially after laying out a couple of $$$$. Make V/A look bad.

The V/A unit sounds way different from the BCB unit. Seems like V/A may be using a "one size fit all" unit for the EB install.

The BCB unit is tailored specifically for the EB. For example the BCB unit uses many existing mounting hole. The only new hole is for the bulkhead fitting that passes the ac and heater lines thru the fire wall. The BCB unit does not use vacuum, everything is electric/solenoid driven. All the BCB mounting brackets are also specific to the 302/351w (V/A uses generic brackets that need to be modified for your application).
You will use the stock glove box, no need to cut it up.
BCB is in the process of finalizing the installation instructions for the BCB AC unit. Very detailed and complete, with many illustrations.

 

[vap13]

I have had the same problem with the discharge hoses, I tried heating them with a hair drier and they still don't fit. I noticed the high spots on the inside of the vents but if you put the hoses on the inside it crushes them to reduce air flow. One of the pressure hoses they sent me was wrong and they had to send me another. Where to mount the vents is another story. The center discharge vent is to close to the evap box to connect the hoses. I'm thinking of adding a piece of metal to the bottom of the dash to mount the vents in and maybe a couple of gauges. It sucks big time !!!
Paul