Quote:
Originally Posted by BlueJeep
Phillip, I'm wondering if you can give a re-cap on your learnings with the A/C and given the chance to start over, what you'd recommend? Sounds like you would advocate for the Vintage Air from the beginning, what about compressor choice? I'm about to start my 5.3 install in my suburban, and I'm aiming for cool air when done. Besides the interior volume difference between my suburban and your blazer, I've also got the rear air I'd like to include in the mix. Thanks for any advice you can provide after your experimentation.
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You know I can't say that I put any effort into getting the factory system to work. However yes, looking back I would likely do the same thing and jump straight to a Vintage Air or Restomod Air system. Both are great. I will say that the smaller evaporator and TXV style of the aftermarket systems are not a good match for the later model bigger compressors like the 10s17 and 10s20 that I was trying to use. What would happen is it would work great at idle or low rpm around town, but the second you got on the freeway and I was running closer to 2k-2200 rpm, when the TXV would open the inrush of freon would be so fast that it would cool too quickly and then close again. If you're familiar with home systems it was like having a 5ton unit on a home that needs a 2ton. So the air would be ice cold but then the compressor would turn off and effectively not cool the truck. Now, it took me almost 2 years of research and trial and error to fully figure that all out. Now I have a 709 compressor and it works great. I say all of that because, with you having a rear air system as well that will help but I still fear that the main system will not work properly if you have everything on low as that's when the problem got real bad. Additionally, I can say that with the factory 78 orifice tube system I didn't have any issues and I think that's because of the style of metering. Late model trucks also use orifice tube and I think that's what that factory compressor is better matched to.
Side note, I'm building a rear air system that will sit within my center console. I don't have much to share at the moment and I've been working slowly on it for a few years now but maybe I'll actually finish it this year and can share that too.
Hopefully that answers your questions. Let me know if it doesn't.