I bought a 1978 Fairmont 3.3L (200 ci) with the standard heater system. My regular car is a 1979 Fairmont Country Squire 5.0L (302 ci). My engine died, so the 1978 donor car is my spare parts warehouse.
Switching to an Inline 6 for someone who's almost always driven a V-Eight meant cutting all the frills to get the six to haul my car and occasionally a utility trailer. Initially, I thought I'd strip out the Factory AC. Forget it!
I've taken out all the under-hood gear, compressor, evaporator, hoses. BUT that's it! The inside stuff stays! You have to take out the dash to get the final unit out. And then, you lose the vacuum motors that drive the hot/cold air mixture vents, including the two extra centre vents, if you switch the under-dash heater cabinet.
And I wondered why my 1979 Mexican-built car had no rust. As it turns out the AC equipped cars have extra undercoating AND they have two special humidity vents for the AC system that allows the humidity to get pushed out, right at the front floor curve leading up the firewall. I've had my car in Canada's salty winter roads since 1999, and no rust damage to the floorpan.
These vent holes allow inside humid air to get 'pressured out' of the car, along with the internal unit's 'sweating' vent that unfortunately drains onto the 302 Y-pipe.
If you're wondering why a whole system is expensive, even from the scrapyards, it's the labour cost to take them out. It took me about 8 hours to take out the dash and wiring, screw by screw. I won't even try to take out my car's system - the 4 -hi/low vents and the vacuum motors are almost as effective as AC for the month or two that we need AC up here, in Mid-western Canada.
Switching to an Inline 6 for someone who's almost always driven a V-Eight meant cutting all the frills to get the six to haul my car and occasionally a utility trailer. Initially, I thought I'd strip out the Factory AC. Forget it!
I've taken out all the under-hood gear, compressor, evaporator, hoses. BUT that's it! The inside stuff stays! You have to take out the dash to get the final unit out. And then, you lose the vacuum motors that drive the hot/cold air mixture vents, including the two extra centre vents, if you switch the under-dash heater cabinet.
And I wondered why my 1979 Mexican-built car had no rust. As it turns out the AC equipped cars have extra undercoating AND they have two special humidity vents for the AC system that allows the humidity to get pushed out, right at the front floor curve leading up the firewall. I've had my car in Canada's salty winter roads since 1999, and no rust damage to the floorpan.
These vent holes allow inside humid air to get 'pressured out' of the car, along with the internal unit's 'sweating' vent that unfortunately drains onto the 302 Y-pipe.
If you're wondering why a whole system is expensive, even from the scrapyards, it's the labour cost to take them out. It took me about 8 hours to take out the dash and wiring, screw by screw. I won't even try to take out my car's system - the 4 -hi/low vents and the vacuum motors are almost as effective as AC for the month or two that we need AC up here, in Mid-western Canada.
