[C2] What Would YOU Do?
12-12-2016, 10:39 AM
#41
Safety Car
Thread Starter
I appreciate all of your feedback on this. I talk to Mark C fairly often and he knows me well enough to know why I'm hesitating with the A/C installation.
I'm of the old school "no power nothin'" mindset, and despite the fact that the addition will make summer driving more of a pleasure, the look of all that extra hardware will take away from the pleasure I get when I look under the hood. Plus' I shift this thing high enough to throw belts. At the track it's easy enough to remove the A/C belt, but on the streets, when the feeling moves me, that's not possible, so it's a roll of the dice. Very hard to control the urge when the feeling moves me.
Not afraid of the job, by any means. Maybe I'll install John's plugs which will buy some more time. Another year older another wiser and less tolerant of temperature. I possibly could install the VA over winter 17-18, or 18-19. At this point, it's just a stall and eventually one or the other will be accomplished. I like everything to work perfectly.
I'm of the old school "no power nothin'" mindset, and despite the fact that the addition will make summer driving more of a pleasure, the look of all that extra hardware will take away from the pleasure I get when I look under the hood. Plus' I shift this thing high enough to throw belts. At the track it's easy enough to remove the A/C belt, but on the streets, when the feeling moves me, that's not possible, so it's a roll of the dice. Very hard to control the urge when the feeling moves me.
Not afraid of the job, by any means. Maybe I'll install John's plugs which will buy some more time. Another year older another wiser and less tolerant of temperature. I possibly could install the VA over winter 17-18, or 18-19. At this point, it's just a stall and eventually one or the other will be accomplished. I like everything to work perfectly.
Last edited by 65tripleblack; 12-12-2016 at 10:46 AM.
12-12-2016, 10:49 AM
#42
Safety Car
Thread Starter
Not only take a grand off because the heater core was bypassed, but the rest of the car would be suspect, too. In 40 years of buying old cars, every one that I bought that had a bypassed heater core had a myriad of other bubba shortcuts throughout the car. Cars that were maintained properly tended to have good integrity everywhere. Nope, a car with a by-passed heater core is a 'fixer', period. It needs repair right off the bat.
12-12-2016, 11:15 AM
#43
Le Mans Master
And no way I would turn on AC even if I had it, even on 100+ LA Summer Sundays. And to see that modern shiney aluminum compressor unit and new hoses and clamps in my engine bay would make me have to puke. Car guys don't do that to their classic rides. I don't see Jay Leno putting that junk on his old classics. Or Jerry Seinfeld on his old RS Porsches.
Different strokes for different folks, but you and I are of the same old school. You can cope with a little heat. You did it for a living. Hydrate. Sweat is good. Shelve your thoughts of VA.
12-12-2016, 01:53 PM
#44
Melting Slicks
Not only take a grand off because the heater core was bypassed, but the rest of the car would be suspect, too. In 40 years of buying old cars, every one that I bought that had a bypassed heater core had a myriad of other bubba shortcuts throughout the car. Cars that were maintained properly tended to have good integrity everywhere. Nope, a car with a by-passed heater core is a 'fixer', period. It needs repair right off the bat.
100%! This sort of thing is exactly what I was referring to in another thread regarding the integrity of an "already done" car. 
Gary
12-12-2016, 02:28 PM
#45
Safety Car
Thread Starter
I couldn't have said this better. No power nothing on my L76 conv.
And no way I would turn on AC even if I had it, even on 100+ LA Summer Sundays. And to see that modern shiney aluminum compressor unit and new hoses and clamps in my engine bay would make me have to puke. Car guys don't do that to their classic rides. I don't see Jay Leno putting that junk on his old classics. Or Jerry Seinfeld on his old RS Porsches.
Different strokes for different folks, but you and I are of the same old school. You can cope with a little heat. You did it for a living. Hydrate. Sweat is good. Shelve your thoughts of VA.
And no way I would turn on AC even if I had it, even on 100+ LA Summer Sundays. And to see that modern shiney aluminum compressor unit and new hoses and clamps in my engine bay would make me have to puke. Car guys don't do that to their classic rides. I don't see Jay Leno putting that junk on his old classics. Or Jerry Seinfeld on his old RS Porsches.
Different strokes for different folks, but you and I are of the same old school. You can cope with a little heat. You did it for a living. Hydrate. Sweat is good. Shelve your thoughts of VA.
I just finished reading about TR. One of my heroes, who in some respects has a lot in common with.......believe it or not.........yes.......Donald Trump (which I decided a long time ago, and which is why I wanted to read more about TR, which confirmed my conclusion). TR insisted on addressing crowds, TWICE, after being shot and bleeding with the bullet still in him. Now, that takes guts.
Last edited by 65tripleblack; 12-12-2016 at 02:34 PM.
12-15-2016, 07:50 AM
#46
Drifting
Fix the heater core and forget about the A/C...... It's a classic mid-year, don't mess it up with under hood components that don't belong. If it's too hot then drive something else that day or stay home in the A/C and have a beer (or 2) while watching some Jay Leno's Garage videos...
12-15-2016, 08:10 AM
#47
Melting Slicks
Fix the heater core and forget about the A/C...... It's a classic mid-year, don't mess it up with under hood components that don't belong. If it's too hot then drive something else that day or stay home in the A/C and have a beer (or 2) while watching some Jay Leno's Garage videos...
Last edited by biggd; 12-15-2016 at 08:10 AM.
12-15-2016, 08:58 AM
#48
Le Mans Master
As someone that has spent plenty of time in Ocean County in the summers and a few semi-brutal winters in South Jersey, one without a thermostat in their '63 Corvette 
, a Vintage Air system is going to make owning your Corvette so much more enjoyable. The systems are much more compact and efficient than anything that GM ever installed back in the day. Unless the car is an NCRS Top Flight car or candidate, I strongly doubt a well installed Vintage Air system is going to negatively impact the value of the vast majority of mid-year Corvettes.
One of the most popular modifications to 60's Muscle Cars here in eastern NC these days is to add a modern AC system to the car. Most of these cars were not so equipped and many of their later day owners are of the "vintage" that spouses are reluctant to travel in them for more than a short cruise here in the heat of summer.
It also can not be too difficult to "black-out" a lot of the shiny components of these systems under the hood either.
Good luck Joe with whatever course of action you decide on...
GUSTO
, a Vintage Air system is going to make owning your Corvette so much more enjoyable. The systems are much more compact and efficient than anything that GM ever installed back in the day. Unless the car is an NCRS Top Flight car or candidate, I strongly doubt a well installed Vintage Air system is going to negatively impact the value of the vast majority of mid-year Corvettes.One of the most popular modifications to 60's Muscle Cars here in eastern NC these days is to add a modern AC system to the car. Most of these cars were not so equipped and many of their later day owners are of the "vintage" that spouses are reluctant to travel in them for more than a short cruise here in the heat of summer.
It also can not be too difficult to "black-out" a lot of the shiny components of these systems under the hood either.
Good luck Joe with whatever course of action you decide on...
GUSTO
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12-16-2016, 12:28 AM
#49
Drifting
I think you are falling into the "project creep" trap if you think you need to decide on Vintage Air before you replace a heater core. A heater core replacement is just a few hours of work and it's nothing compared to the engine and trans work that I know you have done on your car. This is like saying you need to decide on whether to rebuild the heads before you replace the spark plugs!
I suggest that you de-couple the Vintage Air decision (which is a big one) from the heater core replacement (which is no big deal). Just replace the heater core now and think further about Vintage Air until you are certain that it is the right choice for you.
FWIW, when I was searching for a '67 convertible to buy, I was adamant that it had to have factory A/C because I was so accustomed to having A/C in my modern cars. I bought a car with factory A/C and paid $$ more to get that, but it turns out that I rarely use it. I'm north of you (Boston), so my situation is a bit different from New Jersey. In my case though, I have used the heater in my '67 far more than the A/C.
The only exception I can think of was the 2013 NCRS Road Tour to Virginia, where the temperature was about 100 degrees every day. On that trip the A/C was great to have, especially since my wife was with me on that trip. She claims that she enjoyed that trip and has even suggested that we do another one. I think her opinion would be quite different if my car did not have A/C.
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65tripleblack (12-16-2016)