Will watch this post with great interest.

 

I haven't been able to get back to the a/c yet. I rebuilt a steering box and have to fix my roof today! I do have tomorrow off though so I hope to get back the garage and will be looking at the duct work then.

Gary

 

thanks for the pic's

 

Gary.. just a warning - my suction tube was bent incorrectly - so I can't get it to mount correctly on the firewall. Make damn sure that when you mount the hoses up, the firewall plate sits exactly like it's supposed to. It's very unfortunate for me now that I've followed their directions and have already put the sticky tape on the suction tube. Bending the hose while attached to the box will most probably break the box.... I'm going to give them a call tomorrow and see what they have to say.

 

That sucks I didn't get to that point yet. Did you take a picture?
Gary

 

same here

 

Tomorrow morning I'm going to take a picture to send it to them - I'll post it here too and label it "What not to do"

 

let us know in here when you do

 

I got to the point of the liquid tube and suction tube fit. I too have a problem with the fit of both.I took some pictures and will post to see if they are the same as yours. The liquid tube is diffinately bent off and the suction tube will fit but the plate is off. I remove the "Z" bracket to see if that would help clearence but it didn't help much.
I'll be calling on Tuesday to see what they want to do.
Gary

 

Here are the tubes in the plate




When I align the tube to the plate then the nut end doesn't fit:



When I align the nut then the tube misses the plate:



When I align the suction tube to the nut then it will fit only at a angle and not perpendicular to the plate. Seems like both tubes are bent.

 

This is the exact same problem I was having.. the smallest tube will not reach the firewall plate!

I was swamped at work today and couldn't take the pictures - but they look 100% like yours.

 

I just called CAA and spoke to Fritz. He sounds like a good guy. He said all the kits are like this and that's why they say to fit the tubes on the bench. Bottom line is we have to rebend them carefully to fit the plate. Looking at my plate I don't see the 2 holes where the 1/4-20 bolts go into the bracket off the back of the box. He said they are supposed to be there aligning the bracket but I don't have it here in the shop. I'll have to get the plate bolted in place then see what I need to do to fit the tubes.
I can't say I'm too pleased with this part as it's not a true "bolt in" retrofit if you have to start modifying the kit.
Gary

 

Well you know what, if I have to rebend the damn kit myself, they better send me some more of that sticky tape for all of my troubles... I guess for me, it might be better to just bend the liquid tube instead of the suction tube - which one are you going to bend?

Also, you know what else didn't fit correctly for me - there's a plastic plate that goes over the side kick panel air flow system - I'll almost bet anything that it won't fit for you (it's too small and the holes aren't drilled correctly) - I put one end on the bolt that was already there and had to lay the other end down with a self tapping screw. I put silicon around it just for better sealing.

 

This is great info for the future. You guys are pioneers.

 

I didn't get to that plate yet. I'm on page 12 I just haven't had time to put into working on it,too many other things are keeping me from it.

You should call and ask for the tape. I'm really trying to do fair assessement of this job. So far it's been ok. I'm going to fit the plate then work the tubes to it. I can easily mill new holes in the plate and mod it but this is supposed to be ready to install with hand tools.

Interesting thing is, if the fitment of the tubing is common then it should refernced on page 13 a little better then "Check for the alignment of the tubes"
Something like "check the tube alignment and carefully adjust them as required"

These instructions are outdated. The parts recieved are a new version and have the a lot of the cutting steps done. The T stat is mounted to the box, not on the dash like the paperwork shows.

Gary

 

I did notice the thing about the thermostat.. I was like "WTF.. I didn't get a thermostat" - but then I saw it on the box.. ! Also, the tubes are pre-cut which makes it a bit more difficult to figure out which tubes go where.

 

I work for an OEM manufacturer of A/C components. Mostly residential and commercial, but the principal is the same.

One of my jobs is floor support for CNC tube bending. We do millions of bent liquid and suction lines every year. Redesigning a tube to fit this system is about a ten minute job and reprogramming the machines takes about five minutes. Not much excuse to be shipping bad parts. I would suspect that they bought a lot of bent tubes and now they have to use them up before making the running change to the new design. That, or they have a a very few line sets to fit multiple platforms.

FWIW, Carrier requires that we hold bent tube tolerances to within .060"...

Our smallest bent tubes are 1/8" and range up to 1 1/8"...for now.

 

I'm watching this thread to see if you guys at the end of the install are satisfied overall with the kit, before I plunk down my hard earned $. So far you have been most informative and I appreciate the efforts you have made to this date. I used to install aftermarket under dash units in the early 70's before that all died out. It was a little different in that you basically set a box usually above the transmission hump and drilled a couple of holes in the firewall. Although pretty basic compared to what you are doing I also noticed that details is what made the unit work in the end. So the better I did at mounting everything and the better I did at connecting hoses the less of them that came back with a problem. Also they would cool in most cases as good or better than any factory unit, if you got it right.

 

thanks for this thread... it is very helpful. I am seriously considering getting that kit.

I may not post much, but I am definately watching!

thanks,
~Jay

 

I had today off so i got back to working on this HVAC retrofit. I left off with the problem of the tubes and heater core tubes not fitting the firewall plate. Keep in mind this kit is sold as "perfect fit"

All 4 tubes were bent wrong and nowhere near to fitting the holes in the plate. I started by fitting the 3/8 liquid tube to the plate. It didn't fit. So I then fit the box in position on the fire wall and fit the plate to the box. This position would be my "home" position and I'd have to fit the tubes to this. It was a 4 hour PITA!!!
I got the liquis line fit then worked on the heater hoses. There was no way they were gong to go into the plate holes and work. I finally had to use a hole saw and make a new upper hole to fit the heater tube through. So far it wasn't too bad a job but it sure isn't a perfect fit either. The last tube was the 1/2" suction tube and this one was the worse. Stevie Wonder could bend it better and I'm not making fun of Stevie here. This tube was not only bent wrong it wsa near impossible to bent by hand, I don't have a 1/2 tubing bender mine only go up to 3/8 tube and my 1/2 emt bender was to big! I finally got it fit to what you see in the picture below but it sure isn't without a flat spot and kink. I blew air through it to be sure there was flow so I know I didn't kink it closed but I'm sure not proud of that line!
To take a brake I looked at the upgraded radio I got in back in June. There was a spot of glue on the lens so I called the guy and he sent me a new lens, only thing is it's for a 66-67 radio not a 72! Then while looking at it a try and move the selector **** and the needle doesn't move, the shaft is turning but there is no tension to move the needle! I guess I'll send it back with the wrong lens to get it fixed right this time.
Then I went back to bending the 1/2 tubing