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I have a 1976 C3 factory AC car that I am in the process of LS swapping and while the motor is out and things are very easy to get to I'd like to do an AC delete, retaining my heater.
I think I will buy this master kit which includes the cover, a new heater core, blower motor, and sealant. My question is, will I be able to retain all of my factory dash instruments for the AC? I want to keep the interior as original as possible.
Will the heater work when I simply move the controls to heat?
What will happen if I move the controls to AC?
What if any wiring changes do I need to make in the engine bay?
Why do you want to eliminate the A/C system? The car is worth more with it, even if it doesn't work. Once you pull that system out, you will lose significant value...unless it's a "beater" already.
I personally can't understand why anyone would want to remove such a nice thing to have. Upgrade it perhaps, but remove it??
None the less. He's not the first person to want to remove it. It'll look strange having AC on the control panel and yet not have any. But otherwise It'll work just fine. The vent feature will still function as it did before, etc.
Just that these cars really get hot inside, and really NEED A.C. , but it's your car.
I believe I said it in one of your other threads, but your end goal is an LS swap with vintage air, correct?
If that’s the case I would either leave the AC alone how it is or remove the entire HVAC system, heater, blower, and ducts included. It’s what I did.
Much easier to install or make a $20 block off plate and only drive the car when it’s nice out rather than mess with an intermediate step to your end goal. Less work and money that way.
...when I changed over my old '75 Corvette from automatic to a 4spd, I too also made it an A/C delete car and had zero regrets doing it. I pretty much gutted the A/C system and installed a '73 to '76 Corvette non A/C heater box, the correct controls for non A/C, a non A/C heater core & the correct small wiring harness that went to the non A/C blower motor. It came out great, and very, very few people even realized it was an A/C car at one time. Sold it for $8k with 169,000miles on it. Put 63,000 miles on it in 19yrs of ownership. Cruised that car everywhere as long as there was no snow, ice or salt on the roads. Did literally everything & rebuilt nearly everything that can be done to these cars except pull the body from the frame.
...at the Corvette Museum Grand Opening, Labor Day weekend, Sep of '94.
Do I need to now buy a NON-AC heater core to replace my existing heater core, or is the cover panel made to work with the factory AC style heater core?
Is it possible to remove the AC heater core through the engine bay while I have the engine bay clear? I might as well replace it "while I'm in there"
Thanks for the concern, but I have definitely thought about this enough and feel comfortable with my decision to not have AC. I don't plan on going Vintage Air either anymore. I don't like to have the additional complication, space taken in the engine bay, weight, etc. of AC. I like simple machines that I can sort out myself.
Last edited by scuderia_kannan; Apr 8, 2025 at 01:19 PM.
Am I correct in thinking that I need to now buy a NON-AC heater core to replace my existing heater core?
Is it possible to remove the AC heater core through the engine bay while I have the engine bay clear?
Thanks for the concern, but I have definitely thought about this enough and feel comfortable with my decision to not have AC. I don't plan on going Vintage Air either anymore. I don't like to have the additional complication, space taken in the engine bay, weight, etc. of AC. I like simple machines that I can sort out myself.
Nothing wrong with ditching AC. I've done it many times across many vehicle platforms.
On C3s, I've used this block off panel. Gets rid of the bulky box on the firewall, but allows you to retain heat no problem.
That's the same panel I just bought. Did you keep your stock heater core or have to switch to the non-AC version of the heater core? Any other modifications needed or just rip out all the AC and cover with the panel?
Originally Posted by Tranz Zam
Nothing wrong with ditching AC. I've done it many times across many vehicle platforms.
On C3s, I've used this block off panel. Gets rid of the bulky box on the firewall, but allows you to retain heat no problem.
That's the same panel I just bought. Did you keep your stock heater core or have to switch to the non-AC version of the heater core? Any other modifications needed or just rip out all the AC and cover with the panel?
Kept the original core, just removed the firewall side of the AC setup. I usually leave the stuff under the dash alone.
Question guys
I am going to do the same thing and off the AC box from the engine bay. Am I able to pull the leaky heater core from under the hood when I pull the box?. I find it very hard to get under the dash
...as far as I remember, to change out an A/C heater core had to be done from inside the car for replacement, BUT since you are removing the engine side of the whole A/C housing, you should be able to get at the heater core. That A/C delete cover has two "cut-outs" at the bottom I believe for the heater core pipes for an A/C heater core, whereas the non A/C heater cores came out of the side of the heater core cover, at least on a non A/C car. You can see the hose clamps just to the left of the passenger side ignition shielding.
When I pulled the a/c unit out of my 73, I had to do it from the interior side.
The box is big, mounts on the inside and I don’t believe there would be any way to remove it from the engine bay side.
I just removed my entire heating and AC system from my 73. The mice had done such a job to it, it was not worth saving. The compressor and bracket were already gone as well. Bought the nicer fiberglass block off plate and will install a full Vintage Air over the winter. Unsure if the removal really drops value too much, but there was no way those components were reusable. 20+ years of sitting in a garage without being touched, literal garbage stacked on and around it, really fed into the whole infestation aspect. Pics were eye opening.
I’m in the middle of installing a Vintage Air system in my 73.
I had an issue with two of the hard lines.
One was the #6 hard line that attaches to the outlet side of the dryer and connects to the hose which runs to the evaporator fitting at the firewall.
The other is the #8 hard line that connects to the condenser and attaches to the hose going to the compressor.
VA sent me replacement lines that would also not fit.
After some research they concluded that since my car was an early 73 that my inner front fenders may be different than later 73’s.
They ended up sending me the hard lines from a 69-72 kit and they fit perfectly.
When you order your kit ask them to replace the standard rubber hoses for their reduced barrier hose and fittings.
The ID’s are the same and the hoses are both rated for rhe same pressures, however the reduced barrier’s OD’s are much smaller diameter and look so much nicer.
Designer Imagines A Corvette That Looks More Like a Corvette Than the Corvette
Slideshow: A Jaguar designer's personal project imagines what a modern front-engined Corvette might look like if Chevrolet revisited the golden age of the Stingray.
How to do AC delete?
I personally can't understand why anyone would want to remove such a nice thing to have. Upgrade it perhaps, but remove it??
