A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C?

Posted By: 70Sbird

A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 02:19 AM

Is there any difference in the firewall (other than the obvious 2 holes for the A/C lines) on a 71 Demon? specifically the airbox mounting holes, countours etc.....in other words is there any reason you couldn't install a standard heater box assembly and controls in place of an A/C box in a car that came with factory air?

Thanks for any help

Posted By: earlybee

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 04:45 AM

Firewalls are the same just redrill/patch some holes.

Posted By: wayfarer1

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 04:53 AM

I am planning on doing the same thing to my 72 Dart that orginally had A/C. The hole for the motor is much larger for the A/C box and of course the A/C lines. I am going to either make a reducer to make the motor hole match the size of the non-A/C motor or just graft in the heater section of the non-A/C firewall I have from a parts car so it looks more correct.

Joe

Posted By: Rhinodart

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 05:10 AM

Quote:

Firewalls are the same just redrill/patch some holes.

You couldn't be more wrong. I guess you never did this conversion.

See the above response for correct info. It takes body work and welding skills to pull off this change. Besides the dozen or so holes that need filled, you need to weld in the correct heater motor mounting sheetmetal, get the correct assembly including controls, and change quite a few things on the engine of course, especially the pulley's and bracketsm not something an ametuer can pull off, make sure you have the skills or get someone who does to make it work correctly.

Posted By: Fab64

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 05:20 AM

Just curious, why do you guys want to get rid of the a/c? I've been thinking of adding a/c to my Barracuda.

Posted By: earlybee

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 06:38 AM

Quote:

Quote:

Firewalls are the same just redrill/patch some holes.

You couldn't be more wrong. I guess you never did this conversion. See the above response for correct info. It takes body work and welding skills to pull off this change. Besides the dozen or so holes that need filled, you need to weld in the correct heater motor mounting sheetmetal, get the correct assembly including controls, and change quite a few things on the engine of course, especially the pulley's and bracketsm not something an ametuer can pull off, make sure you have the skills or get someone who does to make it work correctly.

You can sell that story to your rich car restoring, #s matching boss but not to me. This is not brain surgery Mr. Engineer. Where there,s a will, there,s a way.

Posted By: 70Sbird

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 01:20 PM

Thanks for the replies,
Here is why I am asking. I know the blower motor hole is different, and there are two holes for the A/C lines. take a look at this car. did it have factory air, and now just heat?
Thanks
Ebay demon

Posted By: DemonKyle

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 01:32 PM

Quote:

Just curious, why do you guys want to get rid of the a/c? I've been thinking of adding a/c to my Barracuda.

Hell of alot more clearance to work on the engine. AC was the first thing to go on my car

Posted By: wayfarer1

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 03:05 PM

Quote:

Here is why I am asking. I know the blower motor hole is different, and there are two holes for the A/C lines. take a look at this car. did it have factory air, and now just heat?

By the looks of the big round filler mounted around the motor, I would have to say that that car originally had A/C and someone removed it and installed a non-A/C heater box.

Joe

Posted By: Chris2581

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 07:34 PM

Looks like it had A/C at one time.

Posted By: Rhinodart

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/28/08 11:33 PM

Quote:

Quote:

Quote:

Firewalls are the same just redrill/patch some holes.

You couldn't be more wrong. I guess you never did this conversion. See the above response for correct info. It takes body work and welding skills to pull off this change. Besides the dozen or so holes that need filled, you need to weld in the correct heater motor mounting sheetmetal, get the correct assembly including controls, and change quite a few things on the engine of course, especially the pulley's and bracketsm not something an ametuer can pull off, make sure you have the skills or get someone who does to make it work correctly.

You can sell that story to your rich car restoring, #s matching boss but not to me. This is not brain surgery Mr. Engineer. Where there,s a will, there,s a way.

Most people I have run into in this hobby that ask this kind of question REALLY don't know what is involved!

Posted By: nomore65BelvJim

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/29/08 03:59 AM

what differences were there in the different years/engine sizes A/C car firewalls?

IE: was the firewall cut the same on a 72 A body V8 as a 75 A body /6, both being A/C cars?

Posted By: wayfarer1

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/29/08 04:26 AM

There are no differences in how and where the heater box is mounted in a /6 A/C car versus a V8 A/C car. I parted a 74 /6 A/C Dart a few years back and the box was exactly the same and mounted in the same location as the 72 A/C car I have now. The 72 A/C /6 Scamp I had was the same as well.

The only difference is from A/C to non-A/C.

Joe

Posted By: Skeez

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/30/08 12:50 AM

Oh yes there ARE differences from year to year. Green car: 71 A/C, Blue car: 74 A/C.....totally different. Both are V8 cars

Posted By: RapidRobert

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/30/08 01:09 AM

Quote:

I've been thinking of adding a/c to my Barracuda.

me too. Today was the first humid day of 2008 here & as I was driving & feeling the stickiness of my skin to my clothes I know it's only going to be a matter of time before I am PRAYING for working ac

Posted By: nomore65BelvJim

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/30/08 04:22 AM

Quote:

Oh yes there ARE differences from year to year. Green car: 71 A/C, Blue car: 74 A/C.....totally different. Both are V8 cars

here's a 75 /6 A/C

Attached picture 4461047-DSC01524.JPG

Posted By: nomore65BelvJim

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/30/08 04:31 AM

And here's a 68 A/C...looks like 73-76 is different than 72 and back.

Posted By: wayfarer1

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/30/08 05:09 PM

Quote:

And here's a 68 A/C...looks like 73-76 is different than 72 and back.

I said they were the same because that is what I remebered! The only main difference is the size and shape of the hole for the motor!

I bet you I can make a 72 and earlier A/C heater box work with little effort in a 73-76 car and vice versa! I am planning on grafting a 74 Duster non-A/C firewall section into my 72 and I will have very little problems doing this!

Posted By: nomore65BelvJim

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/31/08 04:28 AM

I'm not criticizing Joe!

it looks like the a/c and heater lines moved some as well as the size/shape change of the blower motor hole.
I'd like to see a 72 A/C firewall to figure out when the change occured(72 or 73). It appears they are the same 67(?) up to 71 at least and 73-76 were the same.
Did the change occur in 72 or 73 is what I'd like to know

Posted By: G-Money1320

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/31/08 04:40 AM

I have a 69 Dart that was an A/C car and I installed a non A/C heater box. I didnt cut up my fire wall, I made a plate the same shape as the opening and installed it that way. I will try to get pics tommorrow. If you didnt look really hard you wouldnt notice. And if I remember right I used 1 or 2 of the extra holes to run my tach and gauge wires through with body plugs. Greg

Posted By: wayfarer1

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 05/31/08 05:07 AM

Sorry Jim I may have slightly overreacted

It has been a couple of years since I took a good look at a 73-76 A/C firewall and I just remembered it wrong I guess, nobodies perfect.

I think my 72 Dart has the same firewall as the 67-71 but I will have to check tomorrow. It doesn't seem like it would be that hard though to interchange heaters between years with a little time, observing and of course work.

Greg, I would really like to see the picts of the filler piece you made because I am leaning more towards this option just in case I ever want to reinstall the A/C.

Joe

Posted By: Red383

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 06/27/08 04:26 PM

My 72 /6 a/c car looks just like the 71 green firewall above. Must have changed in 73.

Posted By: 71TA

Re: A Body A/C firewall differences to non-A/C? - 06/27/08 06:03 PM

Quote:

Quote:

And here's a 68 A/C...looks like 73-76 is different than 72 and back.

I said they were the same because that is what I remebered! The only main difference is the size and shape of the hole for the motor!

I bet you I can make a 72 and earlier A/C heater box work with little effort in a 73-76 car and vice versa! I am planning on grafting a 74 Duster non-A/C firewall section into my 72 and I will have very little problems doing this!

I just did the heater box resto kits for early, 67-72 and late, 73-76 A bodies. they are VERY different. Would be no way to make them interchangable without a lot of work.

I wanted to put factory air in my non-ac Challenger. Boggest change would have been to redo the whole FW by the blower motor. I went with an aftermarket instead.