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Vintage Air install tips (Hose Installation)

chaosrob

New Member
Joined
Jun 7, 2022
Messages
22
Currently installing a vintage air kit in my 74 Sport (302/c4/PS)and was curious if you guys had any tips for running the hoses through the air vent. Is it best to take the passenger side fender off (mine appears to have never been previously removed), gain access by cutting off the top vent section or just trying to feed them through the holes they have you drill from underneath (seems like this would be a major PITA. Any tips appreciated, TIA
 

Madgyver

Bronco Madman
Joined
Jul 30, 2001
Messages
14,678
Here is an idea of what I did for hose routing. I just removed the air box and slope on top of cowl.
not Vintage Air
 

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lars

Contributor
Been here awhile
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3,041
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NorCal flatlands
Currently installing a vintage air kit in my 74 Sport (302/c4/PS)and was curious if you guys had any tips for running the hoses through the air vent. Is it best to take the passenger side fender off (mine appears to have never been previously removed), gain access by cutting off the top vent section or just trying to feed them through the holes they have you drill from underneath (seems like this would be a major PITA. Any tips appreciated, TIA
Which Vintage Air system do you have? Hose routing for all the versions are different.
 

stretch

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
449
Loc.
Montgomery, TX
If you have the latest Gen IV BC version, look up Lars post regarding his installation. His post has several pics on the hoses layout. Just be warned, the hoses are longer than needed on most installations, ok my installation, so you may need to look at the layout closely to avoid areas where the hose is rubbing.
 

lars

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NorCal flatlands
If you have the latest Gen IV BC version, look up Lars post regarding his installation. His post has several pics on the hoses layout. Just be warned, the hoses are longer than needed on most installations, ok my installation, so you may need to look at the layout closely to avoid areas where the hose is rubbing.
I need to update that thread, because me being me, I've changed a few things. Firstly though, I realize I never posted a photo of the receiver/dryer and related plumbing, which lives in the passenger fenderwell. So, here:

i-v5L48qR-X2.jpg


Other than keeping the heater inlet box, this is the exact dryer installation and hose routing that BCB suggests, per Jason.

As Stretch noted, some of the BCB supplied hose are longer (by a lot, IMHO) than necessary, which is one of the reasons I made my own. The other reason being there is no shop convenient to me that could make custom AC hoses, and I like doing things my own way when it doesn't add too much work.

All of my AC hoses including the ones I made myself more or less follow the BCB suggested routing. Or at least they did. I didn't like the way I ran the compressor to condenser hose, so I've since made a new one. Which required purging and recharging the system, oh joy. And I made things more complicated by being determined to keep the OEM heater air vent box, plus I put a fresh air inlet on the BCB-supplied heater air blank-off plate, which, now that I've driven it, I can say works pretty well.
 

DirtDonk

Contributor
Bronco Guru
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Nov 3, 2003
Messages
47,353
Thanks for the updated pic Lars. Appreciate it.
Did you ever post pictures or detail descriptions of how you made the fresh air vent?

And was it much work to utilize the factory airbox? Seems like that’s a better set up then the new ones.
Not that they don’t pack a lot into those nice compact new design units, but they don’t seem to fit the floor and firewall as slick as the original in my opinion.
Compact, yes. But the wrong shape.
 

lars

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Jun 29, 2001
Messages
3,041
Loc.
NorCal flatlands
Thanks for the updated pic Lars. Appreciate it.
Did you ever post pictures or detail descriptions of how you made the fresh air vent?

And was it much work to utilize the factory airbox? Seems like that’s a better set up then the new ones.
Not that they don’t pack a lot into those nice compact new design units, but they don’t seem to fit the floor and firewall as slick as the original in my opinion.
Compact, yes. But the wrong shape.
Start with post #40 here: https://classicbroncos.com/forums/threads/408-vintage-air-bcb-ac-install.310432/page-2
Once I got the geometry figured out it was pretty easy. No way it can flow the air that the OEM inlet could produce, but it was obvious to my last passenger, who messed with opened/closed. It dumps into the passenger footwell near the inlet to the AC fan, so in theory I'm getting at least a little fresh air when the flapper is open and AC is running. If I've been driving awhile with the AC running, I get a satisfactory condensate drip onto the ground similar to the new vehicles I operate, which pleases me :)

The heater air intake in the pic is a repop that I bought from WH. Fit perfectly. You'll notice that I cut the top grill off. That was to clear the glass hood, to which I added a stainless mesh screen, a topic for a different thread. In any case it fit perfectly. I notched it for the AC hose but otherwise it was a straightforward install.

The V/A evaporator/heater box... shit. Yeah. Talk about a difficult install. Cue my linked thread, above. Which is the polite version.
 

stretch

Sr. Member
Joined
Jun 15, 2005
Messages
449
Loc.
Montgomery, TX
I agree completely with your description of the evaporator. It definitely didn't help that I had the plastic coated firewall insulation as well. One thing that did help with the installation is to remove the threaded studs from the mounting bracket and install rev-nut and add longer threaded rod. The added length really helped lining the bolts up with the existing holes. I then used the nut to stuck the unit into the firewall and then cut the extra length off. Verify that everything works, not leaks prior to cutting the threaded studs off. Sounds like a no brainer, but I did it twice.
 
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