Difficult mounting/fitting VA Surefit evaporator in 1956 task force

[56hotrodred]

I have just mocked up my US Radiator crossflow rad, condenser and now automatic transmission cooler in the core support. I managed to get them all up front but it is tight. Looks like about 1 inch of space between all with 1/4 to 3/8 between front of trains cooler and grille. Have still to run lines but with some more trimming of core support I should be able to run condsenor lines through core.

I will try to do picture tomorrow of the above as it now looks.

Of more immediate concern is mocking up the VA Surefit evaporator in the cab.

I have spent a considerable amount of time searching and really all I can find so far is several statements of how tight the fit is!

Can anyone offer me insights into how they did theirs? So far i am just at mockup stage allowing me to drill holes in firewall and finish welding other holes.

I can get it sitting roughly in place but the rear mounting bracket does seem to line up correctly and can't seem to get the two mounting holes to line up!

What am I doing wrong???

[Wrenchbender Ret]

I had a tough time also. I found you have to scrape all the insulation off the inside where it mounts, down to the bare metal.
George

[dsraven]

if you have a separate trans cooler you could also just remove that from the area and mount it on the frame near the trans with an electric fan and possibly a scoop to direct airflow across the surface. that may free up some space.

[56hotrodred]

We'll I finally got the evaporator sitting under the dash. Man it was tight and the hole locations they said to drill seem to be not alighning things up. I have drilled a new top one on firewall and put front bracket screws in to help align! Now I need to mark bottom hole in firewall and then drill a new one. Looks level so maybe will be alright.

Ya I really wanted to keep the separate transmission cooler up front and I made it all fit by moving the condensor forward. Lots of work and still need to finish installation as things are only mocked up. All solid brackets with about an inch between all.

Also my transmission guy did not particularly like the fact that I was not running the trany lines into a radiator cooler first. He said I should keep it up front so I did.

He was good to lend me a 700r4 case to assist in driveline mockup. It has really helped and I already had to change the rear trany crossmember that I had planned on using. It wants to occupy the same space as the trany oil pan so changes made. I am now glad that I painted the frame and did not powder coat it. I have hit it pretty hard and will have a lot of retouch to do! It really looks like the Eastwood epoxy primer and ceramic chassis paint are holding up well. No flaking off at all just serious sprapes. Appears to have adhered really good.

I am hoping still to be getting engine and transmission in March or April.

Will try to post some pictures later maybe in my build thread.

[bowt1ed]

56, can you post pics of your rad/cooler/cond up front? Did you need to remove the support cross supports, and did the VA condensor mount directly to the outside of rad support? I have my U.S. Radiator in and about to order the VA kit as well.

Thanks, Jim

[nail pounder]

I'll be following along on this as well, I'm planning to do VA this winter.

[56hotrodred]

Originally Posted by bowt1ed

56, can you post pics of your rad/cooler/cond up front? Did you need to remove the support cross supports, and did the VA condensor mount directly to the outside of rad support? I have my U.S. Radiator in and about to order the VA kit as well.

Thanks, Jim

Hey Jim I for sure had to remove the support cross braces! I modified the radiator mount to move the rad a bit closer to the condenser in order to end up with enough room for my VA front runner system and flex-a-lite low profile dual fans. It was a lot of work and to tell you the truth I will need to trim some more of the core support in order to get my hose fittings to fit in there. I am going to order the VA bead lock 14 fitting extended hose kit because the drier will now not be able to mount low on the core support. With the extended hose and various fittings I will mount the drier low on th firewall probably. I have to yet build a new upper rad mounting system with something that will also allow me to mount the dual fan system. I have a few ideas for that.

I have some pictures of where all is at now and will see if they clearly show what I am up to. As said it is not quit done but I think it will work. It was important for me to keep the trains cooler up front because as said that is where my trany builder wants it in order to keep warrantee on transmission he will be building in spring. The trany cooler is a big one also about 11x11 inches. I also got the US crossflow rad without the trany cooler. In hindsight maybe I should have got the rad with the trany cooler but my initial research took me in this direction. If I would have stayed with the downflow rad none of that would have been necessary but I really like the looks of the crossflow in there.

It all physically fits so it's just a matter of getting the fittings and extended lines to move drier.

As said I will see what pictures I do have. I just checked my build thread and did post a couple of pictures of the rad sitting in place. I may have to remove the rad, which is no big deal for you to see the condensor mounted. I am off to the Napa to pick up my magnetic angle finder to complete rear trany mount placement and will be back out in shop and will get some more pictures.

[56hotrodred]

Originally Posted by bowt1ed

56, can you post pics of your rad/cooler/cond up front? Did you need to remove the support cross supports, and did the VA condensor mount directly to the outside of rad support? I have my U.S. Radiator in and about to order the VA kit as well.

Thanks, Jim

So here are some pictures of where I am at now with the rad, condenser and trans cooler. Still a bit of a mock-up and all plastic ties will be replaced with nuts and bolts. Also the aluminum 3/4x3/4 square stock will be replaced with what I believe is called a trim line fan mount bracket (Summit # 32124 or 32125).

You can see from these pictures that I simply flattened the VA condenser brackets to allow me to save some space. A little more work and some cleaning up with paint and they should look okay. I also need to space them out a bit and that is the rubber pieces are doing in there for now. Once the rad is in they can not be seen anyway.

Please note I have removed the rad so you can see the condenser location but the rad sits on the red rubber pad. This was the upper rad mount in the kit but I needed it on the bottom. I will fabricate a new similar mount with fan shroud mounting points for the upper.

Also you can see what I am up against with the condenser hose connections! I will need to cut some more of the core support away and then clean that up but I think it should work. The drier will be moved to a low position on the firewall using the beadlock 14 fitting extended hose kit (Summit #547000).

There is about one inch between each of them and it all appears to fit behind the grill. I hope that is enough space between them!!!

I think or at least hope it will all work fine.

If anyone sees any potential issues please feel free to speak up. I need all the help I can get.

I am undecided on what electric fan set up I am going to use but will do a new post to ask the experts what they recommend.

[56hotrodred]

Originally Posted by nail pounder

I'll be following along on this as well, I'm planning to do VA this winter.

Actually this is about all I will be doing with the air conditioning system, in the cab anyway, this winter. I simply needed to drill the new holes in the firewall for the evaporator under the dash.

I am finishing welding up all the holes in the firewall and drilling any new ones that I will need.

Once you get going I will most likely be following you!

[nail pounder]

Originally Posted by 56hotrodred

Actually this is about all I will be doing with the air conditioning system, in the cab anyway, this winter. I simply needed to drill the new holes in the firewall for the evaporator under the dash.

I am finishing welding up all the holes in the firewall and drilling any new ones that I will need.

Once you get going I will most likely be following you!

Dang it! I was hoping you'd do all the head scratching and post a nice detailed install thread. Then I could breeze right through mine