jcnst1

I'm a huge fan of the '69 -'72 years with chrome bumpers front and back. I know these cars were built for speed and thrill to drive, but I honestly want to know what those of you who own one without a/c do in the summer. Do most add an after market a/c, of just sweat it out?

BBCorv70

I've had my 70 for over 30 years, coupe, no A/C. We most often drive with the T-roof panels off, back window out, windows rolled down. A/C would be nice but the lack of it hasn't been a problem.

Some have A/C added, Vintage Air being the most common vendor.

slofut

If you do add AC, go aftermarket! Classic Air or Vintage Air.

cdavis03

My '78 doesn't have a/c, I just roll the windows down and pull the T-Tops off haha

joewill

I have a convertible and I have never seen an old corvette convertible in the summer with the top up and the windows rolled up. Most old corvettes do not have AC, and those that do have AC , it is not working, those that do work, probably do not work well... that leaves a small percentage with functional working well AC..

try buying r12 refrigerant at 40$ a can too....

Sunstroked

If you live in the desert SW, any car without ac is just miserable. Im using a vintage air unit. My 72 was an original factory air car. I went for a nice drive the other day, windows up, stereo on, sun a shining. And enjoyed my drive very much.

The13Bats

I am a big paradox, I love convertibles hate sun and heat,
we also live in sultry hot florida,

I run the top rag or hard in the day and drop the top at night of when it's overcast, the few times that I wanna go top down in the sun I wear a hat and long sleeves.

as soon as the 69 is driving again AC is getting added I will likely do the install then have a ac shop check my work vacuum it and fill it,

jcnst1

Thanks...was adding the Vintage Air unit difficult, or did you have it professionally done?

Sunstroked

I did the installation myself. I did it painstakingly slow, I wasnt in any real hurry. The directions are good, but there were 1 or 2 minor little things that required deviation from the directions. 1 was the drivers side plastic box/duct. I modified it a bit to be able run the trip meter reset cable right through the box. Strangely no mention was made of that. Idk what the other guys have done. The other 1 had something to do with a fastener location on the firewall plate. As a former aircraft sheet metal mech, deviating a bit is the norm. Not every car is identical.

7T1vette

Depends on how humid it gets and how much you sweat! If you can tolerage the heat OK, keep tops on and windows open; remove rear window if car is a '72 or older.

If you do a lot of low-speed stop-n-go traffic, you'll need the A/C.

Rescue Rogers

Convertible. In the blazing hot sun in the 80'-90s with 70-80% humidity I don't even bother. Its mostly the seats. They just make my back soaked and its just gross. My but feels like.......well you guys get the idea, its just nasty. Once I get my c5 seats sorted out and get some fake leather on them, maybe some cloth seat covers for cruising that can be removed easily for shows.

CA-Legal-Vette

Said a little differently, I would love to do a survey of how many people have WORKING A/C. Of those, I imagine most would be aftermarket systems. Here in Phoenix it limits my use of the car in the summer to mornings and cool days, but I've never had A/C or heat in my car. It's on my list but pretty low down on it.

news2me

The A/C on my '77 **** the bed a few weeks ago. And its been hot here in the northeast. And I sure miss it, Vette's are hot to being with. Throw in the summer heat and you roast. I love putting the windows down, taking the T-tops off and running down the road. But the wife hates it, she says her hair blows around. I tell her put a ball cap on or put your hair up. She wins, I lose. The tops stay on and the windows goes down a little. I just picked up a new A/C Compressor, hope to put it in this week.
Bottom line, A/C is nice to have

hammadown

The A/C in my 72 small block Coupe works great!! I changed to R134A changed the A6 compressor to an aluminium Pro-10 compressor and upgraded to the C4 blower motor and the longer fan. and upgraded and added bigger ground wires to the blower motor.and added 2 heater core/hose shutoff valves
I am VERY happy with the performance of my FACTORY STYLE A/C SYSTEM with the minimum upgrades I made







Hammadown

0Willcox Corvette

My 72 has factory ac and it works just fine.. I've upgraded it to the later model blower motor and I have no issues pulling the tops out, the rear window out and then hitting the ac on high... Seems to keep me fairly cool... This car is a R12 car.

On my 70 convertible, I went to the trouble of pulling the front clip off the car and adding factory a/c to it.. (huge mistake) with lots of work that could have been avoided by just buying an aftermarket a/c system.

We did a conversion on a 69 in our shop a few years back and used a kit made by "Hot Rod Air". It's a shame these guys went belly up because this system will freeze your huggies off.

Willcox

mrvette

Many many years ago I bought my '72 in '95 and so immediately switched over to a 88-91 serp drive, and so the new compressor is a HUGE improvement over the old junk.....with the move to FLORIDA in '97 the upgrade to the C4 blower motor was done.....And a bit later the switch over to Dual Spal fans.....


still have the OEM evap and condenser coils....put in R134 many years ago......and a C4 blower with upgrades wiring, sealed up the intakes to constant recirculate..... and so can freeze the *** off a brass monkey in summer.....

Richard Daugird

Fixing mine is definitely on the list.

Mgunn

Mine works great in my 72....(knock on wood)

Bad Bird

I don't have A/C on my '69 and I keep going back and forth over whether I will install an aftermarket system.

10Seconds918

For me, it would be hard to not have it. I only have 1 vehicle without it, and thats a Jeep CJ7 with no top on it. Even when I bought my Chevelle, I wanted to find a LS5 with AC instead of the bad boy LS6. It matters to me, I enjoy the cars much more.