Smooth firewall

[MisterE72]

I'm considering going with a vintage air set up and a new wiring harness for my 72. Can you folks post some pics of which holes I can cover up and which need to stay? Thanks. MisterE

[OhioDan]

Is this kinda what yer looking for?

[bad6772]

hows this........

[boogie67]

hers mine.

[MisterE72]

Now that I know a 700R is going in and i'm going to run a aftermarket wiring harness with the vintage air, what can stay and can get covered up? Please add more pics or modify the existing one? Thanks MrE

[vegaschevy]

tomorrow i am very busy all day however I have a pic of a bunch of holes that i need to cover up and I am sure quite a few more also need to be covered up. But it is a good start. I am starting to grind, weld and do whatever to my cab and want to be sure I have it right.

Ill post pics tomorrow night

[big_al_71]

Here are some shots of mine, we ran my a/c lines (Classic Auto Air) thru the inside of the fender and there is nothing on the firewall but the manual booster (Cleaner look) throthel cable, wire harness (which I should had ran thru the floor)..

[glock35ipsc]

Same deal here, Was going to run an aftermarket A/C and wiring harness, so I only left open holes for throttle, e-brake, steering column, master cylinder and one hole above the throttle. All others will be drilled as needed/if needed.

[MisterE72]

Originally Posted by big_al_71

Here are some shots of mine, we ran my a/c lines (Classic Auto Air) thru the inside of the fender and there is nothing on the firewall but the manual booster (Cleaner look) throthel cable, wire harness (which I should had ran thru the floor)..

Thanks BigAl for the pics. Enlighten me on how the harness can be run through the floor? Any pics of how that works?

[big_al_71]

Originally Posted by MisterE72

Thanks BigAl for the pics. Enlighten me on how the harness can be run through the floor? Any pics of how that works?

What we thought about was to put the fuse block under the seat, then plug the engine harness and extended all the way to the front. My assistant who did all the wiring in my truck wanted to but I chickened out as I did not want risk ruining a $475.00 of wire harness. He still extended the engine harness and ran all the wiring thru the chassis. In my truck you do not see any wires anywhere except for the plug on the firewall which is something I am going to have to live with and I am constantly reminded by him (you should of let me done it) my next project will be done that way..Look at the picture of under the dash after looking at it it was not that many wires to extend this part of it..then there is a pict of what the engine bay looks like. It is a learning process and there are a couple of things that I would had done different but, the next one will have those changes done (hopefully) because I am not into it at this moment I just want to drive the 71...

[big_al_71]

Here is a close up pict of what the master cylinder area looks like, hope it helps.

[Wilson_]

Sooo Clean!!!!

[Hart_Rod]

Pictures of mine....

[big mike71]

Big Al everytime I see your truck the more I like it.

[big_al_71]

Originally Posted by big mike71

Big Al everytime I see your truck the more I like it.

thanks mike I appreciate it......

[Pastdue72]

This is probably a stupid question. Is there a way to keep the factory a/c and some how still cover the driver side firewall? In essence rerouting the evaporator somewhere else.

Dont really have the cash for a aftermarket a/c with everything else I am planning to do with my limited funds.

[haulnrat]

Here are pictures of my dad's '69 GMC. He put Hot Rod Air in his. The stock throttle linkage, wire harness, steering column, etc. were retained. He did reroute the wires to be hidden as much as possible.

[big_al_71]

Originally Posted by Pastdue72

This is probably a stupid question. Is there a way to keep the factory a/c and some how still cover the driver side firewall? In essence rerouting the evaporator somewhere else.

Dont really have the cash for a aftermarket a/c with everything else I am planning to do with my limited funds.

I am pretty sure it can be done, you will have to do some serious measuring and then go to an a/c shop and have all the hoses custom made to the size you need. That is what we did to run my hoses thru the fender...

[Sinisterspeed]

Just got mine together today. I plan on using the Vintage air set up. Thus drilling 4 holes for the hose block on the RHS. but other then that. nothing else is getting opened back up.

Only Holes used are:
Steering Column
Throttle pedal Mounting holes (3)
Hold for the throttle rod
and Brake Master Cyl. Everything else was Welded up

[Tagg33]

I have heard on several builds that the Vintage Air universal kit will allow you direct the lines through the fender but if you purchase the "year specific" kit for our trucks it will be setup to go through the firewall in a stock location. I believe you can order the year specific kit but specify the universal main unit. That way it still connects to your in-dash controls. I hope that helps.

[hemihead]

Originally Posted by Sinisterspeed

Just got mine together today. I plan on using the Vintage air set up. Thus drilling 4 holes for the hose block on the RHS. but other then that. nothing else is getting opened back up.

Only Holes used are:
Steering Column
Throttle pedal Mounting holes (3)
Hold for the throttle rod
and Brake Master Cyl. Everything else was Welded up

Any pics of how you ran the harness to the front?? |M cab is off to the body shop and I am going to see if I can order the engine bay harness again from Painless since my first install was before the body shop work.

[Sinister]

Thanks for the pics guys. Getting ready to do this mod. Ordered the patch panels from Infanti, just waiting for them to get here.

[Sinisterspeed]

Originally Posted by hemihead

Any pics of how you ran the harness to the front?? |M cab is off to the body shop and I am going to see if I can order the engine bay harness again from Painless since my first install was before the body shop work.

I have a couple pics but its easier if I just explain it.

Fuse box is mounted to the bottom of the dash, screws stick up inside the cowl instead of into the engine compartmane.

Run out the side above the fresh air vent in the kick panel.

down the fresh air duct and out the bottom of it on the fwd part it drops right into the engine bay.

Then runs inside the drivers front fender to the core support.

Along the bottom of the core support and splits back to the rail for engine wiring.

Engine wiring comes up from the rail right by the Auto Trans Linkage along the back side of the motor.


Hope that helps.. I can get you pics if you want. but its pretty hard to see whats really going on in them.

[hemihead]

Originally Posted by Sinisterspeed

I have a couple pics but its easier if I just explain it.

Fuse box is mounted to the bottom of the dash, screws stick up inside the cowl instead of into the engine compartmane.

Run out the side above the fresh air vent in the kick panel.

down the fresh air duct and out the bottom of it on the fwd part it drops right into the engine bay.

Then runs inside the drivers front fender to the core support.

Along the bottom of the core support and splits back to the rail for engine wiring.

Engine wiring comes up from the rail right by the Auto Trans Linkage along the back side of the motor.


Hope that helps.. I can get you pics if you want. but its pretty hard to see whats really going on in them.

Sweet, awesome idea....definitely the way I'll go. Sent a Question to Painless to see if I c an order just the engine bay portion of the kit as my harness will be too short now.

[Sinisterspeed]

Originally Posted by hemihead

Sweet, awesome idea....definitely the way I'll go. Sent a Question to Painless to see if I c an order just the engine bay portion of the kit as my harness will be too short now.

Just extend the one you have. Chances are what they send you wont be long enough to do this either.

I just used a factory harness and cut and extended it where I wanted to. Or, I just ran a new wire for Water Temp, HEI (not in the factory harness anyway) Tach, Oil pressure and rear harness was a round 7 wire was ran all the way up and over at the front as well. All had to be done custom.

However, I am not familiar with how long painless' harneses are either so it might work.