1969 Ghia Gilmore Air conditioner Install Refined

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I'm finishing up my 69 Ghia air conditioner install. I deviated from the instructions to achieve a more factory look. I installed the compressor per instructions but I manipulated the evaporator/fan assembly to partly mount it in the trunk area to avoid the cramped after market look. I did not have to cut any of the Gilmore hoses. I'll give an overview and provide details if anyone is interested. I cut a hole In the trunk area so the fan housing sits about 60% in the trunk. It was a good bit of work but I am very pleased with the results.

[jeffrey8164]

Admirable work.
Did you save the cut out?
A/C is next on my wife’s list.
I’ve been looking at the ICE kit though as I like their dash unit better.
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[dkbryant]

Looks very nice! I would be interested in the details as I am sure A/C is in our future, can't live in the south without it.

[DORIGTT]

I'm definitely interested in seeing / hearing more of what, and how you did it.
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Here is how to do what I did to install the Gilmore AC in my 69 Ghia.

1. Install compressor and condenser per Gilmore instructions. (I would not even attempt without removing engine.) One variation I did was relocating the fresh air duct in the doghouse. Carefully remove the duct assembly by removing the spot welds and it can be relocated, then weld and body work a patch on original location. The fresh air hose routes nicely and it looks unmodified.

2. Start the forward section work by removing the trunk liner, gas tank, glove box, radio, brake fluid reservoir, and windshield wiper support ( I think I left a tab on that mount to attach to later). You need this access to route the freon hoses and cut the hole for the evaporator to mount up into the trunk.

3. This was the neat part of the install. The evaporator unit is rather bulky and cramps the interior passenger foot space when installed per instructions. I'm sure this was done to simplify installation and I'm not faulting Gilmore for their design, it just didn't look as finished as I would like. I tucked about 60% of the evaporator up into the trunk area. If you look at the stock evaporator assembly you can see it is comprised of a squirrel fan/evaporator unit, an offset transition duct, and the under-panel duct with adjustable outlets. The under panel unit is glued on to the off-set transition piece. This two piece assembly easily removed from the evaporator housing with a few screws.

Now look at the duct section and you can see that the transition piece actually shifts the outlet ducts UP from the bulk of the assembly, thus shifting the bulk of the assembled unit DOWN into the passenger foot well. With a Dremmel cut-off wheel, carefully cut the glue that holds the transition piece to the under-panel duct unit. It was surprisingly to cut the glue lines and separate the pieces with no damage. Now here is the magic! Take the transition piece and flip it over and hold it place up to the under panel unit. It is now positioned to shift the under-panel duct DOWN, thus shifting the bulk of the evaporator assembly UP. There are some details I'll discussed later, but very basically you make sure the interior passages are clear and glue the two parts back together. I used and would highly recommend methacrylate. Of course it can't be installed now because there is no room for the assembly to go UP,....yet. This may be the scary part for some. You have to cut a hole in the trunk floor big enough to mount the evaporator assembly UP into the trunk area. When it is done accurately, the whole assembly looks like it was designed for this installation and hardly affects the cabin area at all! The radio and glove box get reinstalled back in their original places but the brake reservoir has to be relocated.

There are many other details I can add later. I was able to do the install using all the Gilmore provided parts by rerouting some things. I ran the hoses a bit differently and mounted the dryer under the panel. There are no visible hoses in the wheel wells, I routed them under the gas tank. Yes, I took a weekend project and turned it into about three times more work, but I am pleased with the results. If some purist in the future wants to return it to original, it would not be a huge deal. In the mean time, I have a nice looking, very effective AC unit in my Ghia!

[rbsurfguy]

This is a great write up! Is it possible to add pics, if you have, of how you re-routed the various lines under the fuel tank and and the modification you made to mounting the evaporator, from below inside the cab, as well as any pics from the engine view. Looks like you did an excellent job and many will benefit from your installation.
Jeff
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The above photo shows the look from under the panel, with the unit mostly protruding thru the hole in the trunk deck. The hole is edged with pinch welt and there is enough space at fan entrance to draw air from cabin. The drain tube still drains.

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This shows unit installed and hoses connected. Routing was a bit tricky. The hose holes were hole sawed (that's a mouthful) up thru the floor at an angle so the entered from below, passed at an angle thru the cabin, and up thru the floor in a straight shot. Make sure to leave clearance for gas tank flange. I made the holes undersized then final sized them with rotary file and edge guard. The hoses come up around and under the fuel tank, clamed to clear every thing. It shows better in another pic. I had to carefully straighten out the 90 degree end fitting on one of the hoses but it worked fairly easily. In this pic the brake reservoir is already moved and the windshield wiper motor brace has been repaved with a longer piece. I made new upholstery board trunk liners to fit. I also had to relocate the trunk latch release lever to them left side of then glove box and it is now a push to release but functions just fine.

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This is out of sequence but shows the initial cut out. It should be possible to reference the pressed in seam line in conjunction with the measurements and get the hole pretty close. The original wiper motor brace is still attached, but it must be removed and a longer one made as referenced earlier. Be sure to leave an inch at the top to fasten to. (I think thats what I did!) The hole was cleaned up and I put that black pinch welting on the edges for a finished and safe edge.

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This is the front right hose coming up from the channel under the car, at the right front wheel well, and going up under and behind the gas tank.

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This shows the hose coning up thru the left front wheel well and then it goes past the brake master cylinder clamped in the forward bulkhead to clear everything, then it goes up thru the same doubled out fitted hole as the other hose.

[John Moxon]

Thanks very much Jeff...just right.

Now added to the "Best How To" sticky under the "Modifications" sub-heading.
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Another look to refresh what's going on here. The hoses are installed, the receiver drier is installed with a standoff block, the longer wiper motor brace is in, the brake reservoir relocated, glove box reinstalled with relocated release lever. Fan unit is secured with an couple of 3/4" aluminum angle on the sides of the cutout hole.

[Braukuche]

Impressive installation.
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Backing up again. Here is a pic of the air-conditioner duct assembly during separation. You can see the two pieces parted easily. I inverted the transition piece and glued it back on with methacrylate glue. What you can't see is how I dremmeled out the passages to the outlet ducts. I opened up everything as much as possible. It was "ported" probably to give even airflow to all outlets by restricting some of them. I don't care if the air comes out faster on one than the other. As it worked out, it blows pretty good out of all of them now. I also removed the temperature control and fan switch from the duct assembly and mounted them on the dash. There were a couple of holes on the metal panel already so i just cut the holes thru the plastic woodgrain and mounted them. Oh yeah. I eliminated the low brake fluid light and mounted one there. I put black plastic hole plugs in the duct holes at the old switch mount locations. This clears out the under panel ducts where the switches impeded air flow.

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This pic shows the hose routing under the gas tank and the new brake reservoir lines in place.

[DORIGTT]

Thanks for sharing!

Couple more questions for you.

1 - How effective is the system compared to 'modern cars' HVAC systems?

2 - What is your climate like in summer-time?

Regards,
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This is still an on going project. I'm pretty much doing a restoration. The car is running and drivable but I'm still working on some details. I'm on the Georgia/ Florida border and it is HOT in the summer. You could not hold your hand on the dash cover for more than 3 seconds if the car was sitting in the sun! That being said, I ran the car with the AC running last summer, no windows in yet, and it was blowing ICE COLD with the car not moving. It should be better still when airflow from motion is added across the condenser. I'm certain it will cool the car down quickly and I expect I'll use less than max fan just from how much cold air it puts out. That being said, some my notice that the blower mounted this way draws some air from the hood area. I'm not concerned about that al all. I was going to make a cover for the fan assembly so it can only draw from the cabin, but with the trunk liner and sealed small trunk area, I can't see there being any problem.