PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA

Welcome to FordPinto.com, The home of the PCCA => General Help- Ask the Experts... => Topic started by: Pintocrazed on August 01, 2014, 12:40:54 PM

Title: ac setup
Post by: Pintocrazed on August 01, 2014, 12:40:54 PM
any body know how to tell if I have factory or dealer installed ac in my 73 runabout? everything is under the dash.blower is on driver side under dash instead of it sticking thru the firewall
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: dga57 on August 01, 2014, 01:51:40 PM
That would be dealer-installed.  Factory air on a Pinto looks the same as factory air on any other vehicle.


Dwayne :)
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: 74 PintoWagon on August 01, 2014, 02:09:37 PM
This is what a dealer unit looks like, it sits right behind the glove box between the heater box.

(http://i18.photobucket.com/albums/b131/GoFastRacer/74%20Pinto%20Wagon/ACUnit-1.jpg)
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: dianne on August 01, 2014, 02:59:54 PM
I wonder why they didn't use the normal duct work with an add-on.
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: oldkayaker on August 01, 2014, 03:20:30 PM
Pintocrazed, your description matches what is shown in the 1973 Ford manual for factory installed AC.  The dealer installed AC in my 71 was like pictured by 74 Pintowagon except it was located under the radio and on top of the transmission tunnel.  The dealer installed AC left the factory heating system as is, and added the AC as a stand alone system (much quicker install).  From the 73 manual, the factory AC has these features that distinguish it from dealer installed: heating and cooling controls are on the same dash panel instead of separate, most damper control is via pneumatics instead of all cables, the one heat and cool blower motor is under/in the dash while the dealer has a separate AC blower motor under the dash with the heater blower motor protruding through the fire wall, a pneumatic heater water control valve is located on the firewall while the dealer AC has no heater water valve, the AC expansion valve is located on the fire wall instead of under the dash with the dealer unit.  To confuse things a little more, I have seen Ford dealer install AC with a Ford emblem and after market retrofit AC units form Mark-IV if memory serves right.
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: amc49 on August 02, 2014, 05:05:22 PM
They don't use normal ducting because the heat and cold on dealer installed are totally separate systems, they must merge on factory stuff to get a/c dehumidifying with heat on.
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: 74 PintoWagon on August 02, 2014, 07:51:12 PM
Dealer installed installations will vary because the dealers themselves didn't install them, they were farmed out to A/C shops and each installed them as they saw fit, the dealer I worked for back in the day dealt with 3 different shops and all 3 had their own procedure, all worked well but were different..
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: dga57 on August 02, 2014, 08:01:20 PM
That was true even in more recent times.  I was in need of a basic work truck in the mid-nineties and found a new 1994 Ford F-150 4x4 that filled the bill perfectly except for the lack of air conditioning.  The dealership scheduled it with the independent garage that was going to do the installation and I went ahead and took delivery on the truck, and then took it to the shop myself about a week later to have the work done.  By that time they were no longer doing the under-dash units.  This one was fully integrated with the factory heater controls and from inside the truck was indistinguisha ble from factory A/C, although it looked a bit different out under the hood.  Worked great for the entire time I owned it. 
Dwayne :)
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: 65ShelbyClone on August 03, 2014, 11:55:24 AM
The exact same thing happened when my father bought a new Toyota pickup in the exact same year of 1994. The one on the lot that he wanted didn't have AC, so the dealer sent him to an independent shop that they contracted to install it. The result was a dealer-installed factory system.

I have the opportunity to buy a new universal under-dash heater and A/C unit for a good price, so I'll probably go that route instead of trying to track down 40 year-old factory Pinto parts.
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: amc49 on August 03, 2014, 12:05:46 PM
A lot of them in the yards of the time here were dealer installs but why in Texas of all places??? I didn't get that memo. I did find plenty of parts for them though. The a/c clutch was a one off one with different diameter IIRC.
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: Pintocrazed on August 03, 2014, 12:27:41 PM
All my stuff starts on the driver side an runs over the trans behind the radio to the passenger side.or vise versa however you want to describe it
Title: Re: ac setup
Post by: 74 PintoWagon on August 03, 2014, 01:27:47 PM
I had 3 ducts on mine, one on each side(factory)and one added in the center, the unit itself was on the passenger side behind the glove box.