austinbooth

Sure did. Was hoping to see more in the way of pictures and details.

drwet

I missed this thread the first time around and I'm glad it got dredged up. I read through the instructions and it looks like a well engineered system. Interested in more information. I am going to have to at least convert to R-134 someday as R-12 is no longer available in Canada and this looks like a viable option. (Although I dread the amount of disassembly required.)

austinbooth

My recollection is that before they released the surefit kit for 78-82, the previous kit had some figment issues with those later models center dash vents. Hopefully those fitment issues have been resolved and there’s an abundance of pictures out there.

chstitans42

I have installed one. It is identical to the previous years other than they want to you remove your dash pad all the way, which you almost have to do to get the box under it. I can see many owners breaking or cracking their one piece dash pads when trying to get it in. Just be careful

bluegtp

I'll be ordering one here soon for my 79 to replace the classic auto air system. I'll take pictures along the way.

Buccaneer

Nice! Is there ANY chance you can use the stock looking control panel with that kit? Just wondering and thanks.

bschuus

Can’t wait to hear how it’s going. I’m looking forward to doing the same thing. I’m tired of trying to get the original system to work correctly.

Ricks55

The control panel for the 78 looks just about like the factory panel. it just doesnt have the fan switch on the side.

How Are You

Any updates?

bluegtp

Finally came in last Sunday so I'll be starting very soon.

Black72GTS

How long did you have to wait? I have ordered mine from Summit and I am just wondering how long I will actually have to wait to get it.

Buccaneer

Any word on that control panel for 80-82 yet?

bluegtp

I ordered on the 3/19. They told me about an 8 week delay. Which is close

bluegtp

i went with the slim control panel with ***** since it lights up. Guy a va said the slider type did not.

Buccaneer

Yes, the original panels did not light up, but was curious if there was any reason why you can not use the original GM control panel for sack of originality with that VA system? Thank you.

Sus79

Looking at this for a winter project here in AZ on my '78... NEED working AC for sure

Any "good" or "bad" words to pass along with this project?? Should have done it last year when I replaced my radiator

Black72GTS

I just installed the DirectFit kit on my '80 about 2 months ago. It is as straight forward as it gets. The instructions come in different pieces because there are individual sets of instructions for separate elements within the larger kit, but as long as you stay organized you will be fine.

Make sure to invest in some good insulation while you have the dash and carpet out. I used Classic Auto Air Membrane insulation on the firewall, tunnel, and the seat back wall, and then I added Reflectix "blanket" on top of the membrane on the transmission tunnel. I did a 2000 mile road trip in south Georgia during July and never had to turn the fan past halfway power... To me, this was worth every penny and hour spent installing it.

derekderek

the factory ac in the 78 and up is a pretty good setup. and very few cars came without it. fix it. the evaporater on back are pretty good. the stuff that goes bad is from the firewall to the headlights. there are 700 buck kits that replace the compressor, lines, condenser, etc with the sanden style setup. and you don't have to gut the interior. https://www.google.com/search?rlz=1C...&bih=609&dpr=1 always consider all the options. makes you happier with the choice you make in the long run. i did my setup for my 75 piecemeal. not done with it yet.

MLM7447

I purchased the VA “ Gen II mini” builders series of the stand alone kits. It’s marketed to be able to adequately cool/heat small coupes and pickups. ( Corvette is about as small of a coupe as they come). As a kit, it comes with the evap unit, duct hoses, and top dash vents for the windshield defrost. Sells this way for 540.00.
What else will be needed to complete the system is a control panel, ( many different versions to choose from) a hose kit, ( can be purchased with a dryer) dash vents ( either in rectangular or eyeball versions), a binary/trinary valve, the bulkhead plate to pass the hoses through the firewall, ( or you can optionally hack a hole through the firewall and route the hoses through that), and a universal parallel flow condenser. And, depending on what you intend to do for a compressor, one of those as well. ( I purchased the factory R4 compressor before I decided to go this way, and will be using that instead) By the time all of those purchases are made, I’ll have about 11-1200.00 in the DIY kit. But i have a different engine in my car, and intend to create a fully custom interior, the kit intended for the car wouldn’t work for me anyway.

Ive done a few of these now on the other project cars I have built. The kit that is typically marketed for these cars is about as complete as you can hope for, if You want everything “ plug-n-play”. The only drawback to the kit is that it’s huge, and all of the duct hoses exit where the gas pedal lives, which makes routing all of that flexible duct work one of the hardest parts to this install. The smaller unit I purchased has all of its vents on the top. The benefits to doing it as opposed to using the factory stuff are numerous, but the main thing is that everything relative to the evap unit moves into the passenger compartment, instead of hanging all out into the engine bay. W/O having the evap unit in a fiberglass box right next to a 1000 degree exhaust manifold, Cooling efficiency goes way up. It’s also fully servo controlled, meaning that it completely eliminates the vacuum hose/ manual cable menagerie from under the dash. And getting to the #8 spark plug no longer is an exercise in stretch-and-burn.

bluegtp

I installed mine installed for about 1.5 years ago now. Has worked flawlessly. I had to wire mine into my ls3 harness for the switches and so on. No problem with the wiring diagram that was available from VA. Classic auto air was a problematic to install with lack of wiring diagrams, customer support and incompetence from the employees there.

besides the clean up/paint "while I'm there" stuff it's not a terrible job. Just read through instructions before you buy to make sure you think you can handle the work.